Other events in Baltic States

The Latvian national under-20 women's team opened the second round of the U20 European Championship Women on Monday by knocking off the previously-undefeated Russia 49:46 (13:8, 4:16, 15:19, 17:3), informs LETA.

That means that the Latvian team stands a real chance of reaching the championship's quarterfinals if it plays as successfully in the two remaining Group E games, despite having carried no wins forward from the first round of the tournament.

Although the Latvians opened the match convincingly, leading 8:2 and then 13:6, and remaining in the lead until halfway through the second quarter, the team was trailing 17:24 at the end of the first half.

Latvia was already 13 points down in the third quarter, but at the start of the last minute of the match, the result was just 41:44. With 35 seconds to go, Sindija Kudule nailed an important two-point shot to tie the game at 46:46. The Latvians then proceeded to steal the ball from the Russians, Kudule was fouled, and scored both free throws. The final score was 49:46.

Paula Strautmane was the highest scorer on the Latvian team with 18 points and six rebounds, whereas Vineta Birina had ten points and eight rebounds.

As reported, in the first round Latvia was beaten by Slovakia 48:64 and then lost 21:61 to France, but in the decisive first-round game Latvia defeated Turkey 72:68.

Russia defeated all of its opponents in the first round – Serbia, Poland and Germany.

The Latvian team will play their next game against Germany on Tuesday, and then take on Poland on Wednesday.

At the moment, France and Russia lead Group E with two wins each. Poland and Slovakia have one win from two matches, and Latvia one win from three games. Germany is in last place with two losses.

Last year, the Latvian U-20 women's team finished in overall 5th place at the European Women's Basketball Championships.