On Sunday, the Latvian men’s volleyball national team in Cyprus won the home team 3: 0 in the last game in the qualification group of the 2021 European Championship and ensured participation in the final tournament. The game can be seen live on LTV7 and replay.lv. The Latvian national team will participate in the continent’s strongest country tournament after a 25-year break.
In order to win the first place in the group and be able to go to the final tournament next summer, Latvia had to win the Cypriots in a game of no more than four sets, which was convincingly done by the team led by the head coach Avo Kēl.
Latvian volleyball players had a minimal lead in the first set, until after several effective Denis Petrov servings increased the lead to 15:11. The Cypriots lost the game thread and could no longer cause trouble for their opponents at the end.
The Latvian national team gains a victory point in the first set
The Latvian national team ensures victory in the first set0min
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In the first set, the Latvian national team was superior with 25:15.
Unsuccessful service in the second set led the Latvian national team to the losers for a while (2: 4), but the team quickly recovered. The result was a draw at 15:15, when Hermans Egleskalns, the leader of the Latvian national team, left the field due to an injury, but he did not stop the team.
The victory point for the Latvian national team in the second set
Excellent action in the defense helped to secure a 21:17 lead, Kristaps Platačs successfully joined the game and Latvia also won the set – 25:21.
Latvia was in the lead for a long time at the beginning of the third set, until it diversified its attack tactics and took the lead. In the middle of the set, the Latvian team gained a three-point lead (12: 9), which they failed to increase. Cyprus even took the lead (21:20), but the home team failed to please their supporters at the end of the set. The decisive point was provided by the Latvian national team block – 25:23.
At the end of the third set, the Latvian national team was left without Petrov, who needed the help of doctors due to an ankle sprain.
In the first game of the day, the Spaniards won Moldova 3: 0 and guaranteed the second place in the group, but the 2007 European champions could not overtake the Latvians in the table. Moldova and Cyprus split 3rd and 4th place respectively.
The Latvian national team has not played in the final tournament of the European Championship since 1995.
In other qualifying groups, the games are scheduled for January. The final tournament is scheduled for August and September in Poland, the Czech Republic, Finland and Estonia.
Four home teams and the top eight teams from previous European Championships – Serbia, Slovenia, France, Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Germany and Belgium – have already secured a place in the top 24 teams in the final tournament. The remaining 12 places in the final tournament will be taken by the winners of seven qualification groups and the five best second place winners.
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