Other events in Baltic States

The Latvian U-18 men's basketball team opened the European U-18 Men's Basketball Championships today with a 55:72 loss to Italy, reports LETA.

The highest scorer for Latvia was Ervins Meznieks with 17 points and nine rebounds, followed by Rihards Lomazs with 11 points.

Latvia will play its next Group A match on Friday against Poland, and on Saturday against Belgium.

The top three teams in each of the four preliminary round groups will qualify for the tournament's second group stage, or qualification round, and will have ensured their participation in the A Division next season, whilst the last placed finishers in the group will play each other in a relegation round to stay in the top division.

At last year's U-18 European Championships, Latvia finished in 4th place.

The roster of the Latvian U-18 men's basketball team participating at this year's European Championships is as follows: Ricards Melderis, Rauls Avenitis, Ervins Meznieks, Davis Cima, Dzeiks Eduards Krumins, Rudolfs Stradnieks, Renars Birkans, Rihards Lomazs, Arturs Grinbergs, Klavs Cavars, Zigmars Raimo and Rinalds Malmanis.