Latvian U20 handball team to play for 17th place at European Championship
Latvia's U20 men's handball team defeated Serbia 40:37 on Friday and will face Poland on Sunday for 17th place at the European U20 Championship in Romania.
The Latvian U20 men's handball team secured a 40:37 (23:18) victory over Serbia on Friday in a placement match at the European U20 Championship in Romania. This win sets up a Sunday clash with Poland for 17th place.
Valdis Kalniņš delivered an outstanding performance, scoring 20 goals on 27 shots — exactly half of his team's total. This is a new Latvian U20 national team record for most goals in a single match. Marks Lilienfelds and Endijs Šnepsts each contributed four goals.
For Serbia, Urošs Stankovičs netted 14 goals (16 attempts), Vukašins Pavlovičs added eight, and Ivans Šimičs scored six.
Latvia started the tournament in Group C, losing to Spain (25:38), Austria (28:38), and Iceland (29:31). In the second round, they beat Norway (37:35) but lost to North Macedonia (31:35), finishing last in their group. In the first match for places 17–24, Latvia defeated the Czech Republic 40:34.
Serbia, meanwhile, topped the Faroe Islands (32:31) in Group B but lost to Switzerland (25:35) and Turkey (29:30). In the second round, they fell to Greece (28:30) and Portugal (26:36), then beat Greece 32:28 in their first placement match.
Before the championship, Latvia played friendlies: two wins over Finland (34:28, 27:25) in Daugavpils and a split with Estonia (40:26 win, 29:31 loss) in Põlva, Estonia.
The European U20 Championship, featuring 24 teams, concludes on Sunday. Latvia earned its spot by winning silver at the U18 European Championship B Division in summer 2024, returning to the top division after a 20-year absence.
The team is coached by Straume, assisted by Linda Bogdanova and Ņikita Pančenko, with goalkeeper coach Dainis Putra and fitness coach Artūrs Paiķis. The roster includes 16 players from various Latvian sports schools and clubs, as well as foreign teams.
