Latvia's U18 basketball team starts European Championship against Italy
Latvia's U18 men's basketball team will play their first game of the European U18 Championship against Italy on Friday, July 25, at 19:00 Latvian time, broadcast on FIBA's YouTube channel.
The Latvian U18 basketball team will begin their campaign in the FIBA U18 European Championship Division A on Friday, July 25, at 19:00 local time, facing hosts Italy. The game will be available to watch on FIBA's official YouTube channel with an MVP-level paid subscription.
Latvia has been playing in Division A since 2024, having returned to the top tier after a four-year absence. Italy's youth team, meanwhile, has competed in Division A without interruption since 2003.
Coached by Sandis Buškevics, the team played nine friendly matches, winning three. In Riga, they lost to Israel and Turkey but beat Georgia. At a tournament in Spain, they lost to Serbia and the hosts but defeated Lithuania. In the Baltic Cup, they beat Poland but lost to Estonia and Lithuania.
Unfortunately, two potential leaders, Ričards Aizpurs and Gunārs Grīnvalds, will miss the tournament as they begin obligations with NCAA teams in the United States.
Notably, Italy's roster has only one player listed at 205 cm (Tommaso Acunzo), while Latvia's tallest player is Roberts Valdis Bērziņš at 215 cm, followed by Roberts Rotčenkovs at 207 cm. Four Latvian players (Bērziņš, Olivers Krilkovs, Gustavs Brutāns, and Jēkabs Graudiņš) were born in 2009, whereas all Italian players were born in 2008.
Latvia is in Group D alongside Estonia and Spain. In European youth championships, all teams advance to the knockout stage, so Latvia will face Lithuania, Germany, Slovenia, or Bulgaria in the round of 16.
The championship runs from July 25 to August 2 in Italy. After Italy, Latvia will play Estonia on July 26 at 16:30 and Spain on July 27 at 21:30.
