Latvia: A dream coming true
A sixth place at EuroBasket 2005. A fourth at EuroBasket 2007. Then a bronze medal at the 2007 U20 European Championship. The Latvians have grown step by step and now their dreams about Beijing came true…
During the long Soviet era (1945 to 1992), the Latvian basketball club of TTT Riga was the best women's club team, not only in the Soviet Union and Europe but probably the entire world. From 1960 to 1983, TTT Riga won the European Champions Cup 18 times and seemed invincible. Many Latvian girls were playing at the highest international level even if the only one included in the USSR Olympic squad was the phenomenal center, Uljana Semenova, who was listed at 2.10m but was probably closer to 2.20m. Uljana won Olympic gold medals at the Montreal Games in 1976 and at the 1980 Moscow Games.
Now is a great chance for a new Latvian generation, one that has made great strides at the last two EuroBaskets, to play at the Olympics. At the EuroBasket Women in 2005 in Turkey, the Latvian National Team won games against teams like Poland, Germany, Greece and Turkey and finished a promising sixth. That was just one step away from getting a birth for the 2006 FIBA World Championship. At EuroBasket 2007 in Chieti, Italy, Latvia's performance was even more impressive. Four big wins in the two first rounds against Turkey, Israel, Lithuania and Belgium, and a 66-62 success in the quarter-final against France that opened the door to the semi-finals, made the trip to Italy a huge success. The two Latvians that won the admiration of everyone last year in Italy were flashy shooting guard Anete Jekabsone-Zogota and exciting playmaker Gunta Basko. The former was the second-leading scorer in the competition at 17.2 points per game while Basko averaged a solid 10.1 points and four rebounds. Basko also had 17 points, six assists and four rebounds in the revenge-getting win over France that clinched a berth for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
The French had beaten the Latvians in a classification game in 2005 to claim the final place on offer to Europe for the 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women in Brazil.
Injuries to both star players undermined Latvia's chances in the EuroBasket 2007 semi-final against Russia. Coach Ainars Zvirgzdins' team instead had to settle for a place in the bronze medal game, which they lost to Belarus. Far from distraught, he praised his players. "This is a great success for the Latvia team," he said. "The entire team did a great job. With all the injuries and tears and happy and sad moments, we did a good job. This team has the potential to come together ..."
The good times continued for Latvia because Jekabsone-Zogota was named FIBA Europe Women's Player of the Year for 2007. Then, all eyes in Riga are on Olympic qualification. Since gaining independence from the former Soviet Union in the early nineties, more than 100 athletes have represented Latvia in four Olympic Games and won 11 medals, but it was only in individual sports. So this women's National Team, after winning all of its three games in Madrid, has become the first Latvia team at an Olympics since 1936. What does it means for this team to reach the Beijing Games? "Words can't describe this," Jekabsone-Zogota said.
Though Jekabsone-Zogota has endured some injury problems with Dynamo Moscow, expectations for Latvia have only grown since Chieti. They were drawn in the same FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament group as Senegal and Japan. Not the worst group… Latvia won both games quite easily before destroying Angola in the crucial quarter-final game (84-26!) to secure the plain tickets for China.
Zvirgzdins is known for his team defence and this aspect of the game will be very important for Latvia. Don't make the mistake of thinking this is just a two-player team. In addition to Jekabsone-Zogota and Basko are power forward Ieva Kublina, who can shoot three-pointers and, in the paint, Liene Jansone and Zane Tamane. The Latvians also have the solid young point guard Zane Eglite and experienced forward Ieva Tare as irreplaceable parts of the team.
How did they qualify?
EuroBasket 2007
4th (6 W - 3 L)
Results
Preliminary round
Sept-24th 2007 Latvia b. Turkey 73-62
Sept-25th 2007 Latvia b. Israel 77-73
Sept-26th 2007 Czech Republic b. Latvia 70-44
Qualifying round
Sept-28th 2007 Latvia b. Lithuania 76-46
Sept-30th 2007 Latvia b. Belgium 69-66
Oct-2nd 2007 Latvia b. Germany 60-47
Quarter-final
Oct-4th 2007 Latvia b. France 66-62
Semi-final
Oct-6th 2007 Russia b. Latvia 67-36
Bronze Medal game
Oct-7th 2007 Belarus b. Latvia 72-63
Olympic Qualifying Tournament
3 W - 0 D
Results
Preliminary round
June 9th 2008 Latvia b. Senegal 94-34
June11th 2008 Latvia b. Japan 83-69
Quarter-final
June1320h 2008 Latvia b. Angola 84-26
