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Before the game against Israel, the head coach of the Latvian national team, Mārtiņš Gulbis, named 16 candidates who will start preparing on February 5th for the European Championship qualifying tournament match with the Israeli national team on February 11th.
The game starts at 5:00 p.m. in the “Rimi” Olympic Center.
“We will have a training week that we want to use as effectively as possible by operating with three full fives,” says Gulbis. “We will prepare specifically for the game with the Israeli team and continue to develop the team’s signature.”
He noted that the progress of all Latvian players, both at domestic and foreign clubs, is carefully monitored.
“Katrīna Ozola and Līna Loceniece, who have performed well during the season and deserve the opportunity to take part in the work of the national team, were invited to the training,” says the coach.
Loceniece, the leader of the vice-leaders of the Baltic Women’s Basketball League, LCC Klaipėda, did not take part in any official games in the ranks of the women’s national team.
Candidates for the women’s national basketball team. (Photo: Latvian Basketball Association)
The Israeli team continues to be coached by Sharon Drucker. Therefore, Gulbis believes that there are unlikely to be any major changes in the team’s style compared to the games in the previous qualifying cycle.
“More detailed information about the opponents will be available after February 8th, when the Israelis play against the Irish national team, but the most important thing will be to prepare ourselves as best we can,” emphasizes Gulbis.
Latvian and Israeli women’s national teams have played against each other seven times so far, with Latvia winning six times.
In November, the Latvian team started the European Championship qualifying tournament in Group E with an away defeat in France (49:71). France also beat Ireland in this group with 100:48, but both of Israel’s games were postponed to February for security reasons. The Israel-Ireland match will take place on February 8 at 6:00 p.m. at the Rimi Olympic Center in Riga.
The next stages of the qualifying tournament are planned for November 2024 and February 2025.
The winners of the eight groups and four of the eight runners-up receive a ticket to the final round.
Assistants Aigars Nerips and Matīss Rožlapa help Gulbi in the national team.
The European Masters will be held in four countries for the first time from June 9th to 19th, 2025. Each of the four countries will host a group tournament, with the final tournament taking place in the Greek capital Athens.
The list of candidates of the Latvian national team for the match against Israel:
Paula Strautmane (“Kangoeroes” from Mechelen, Belgium), Catija Wichmane (“Rutronik Stars” from Keltern, Germany), Digna Strautmane (“Sleza” from Wroclaw, Poland), Aleksa Gulbe (“Casademont” from Zaragoza, Spain), Evelina Otto, Ieva Pulvere, Vanesa Jas, Luize Sila (all – “TTT Riga”), Anete Steinberga (“Tango” from Bourges, France), Ilze Jákobson (“Emlak Konut” from Istanbul, Turkey), Kitty Laks (“Fenerbahce” ) of Istanbul, Turkey), Enija Vīksne (Nördlingen “Angels”, Germany), Laura Melder (Venice “Umana Reyer”, Italy), Lina Loceniec (Klaipeda LCC, Lithuania), Kate Vilka (“Charnay”, France), Katrína Ozola (Budapest EAC, Hungary).
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