Two of Three Latvian 3x3 Basketball Teams Reach Challenger Quarterfinals

Two of the three teams featuring Latvian players have come through the group stage of the international 3x3 basketball "Challenger" tournament. "Shanghai" and "Shibuya" have reached the quarterfinals, while "Shinjuku" will not continue. The top three finishers at the event will earn berths at the Manama "Masters" tournament scheduled for November.

"Shanghai" wins both games

"Shanghai", represented by Lasmanis and seeded fourth, opened Group D with a 21-13 win over "Seef" (seeded 12th) from Brunei. In the second game it beat "Toronto" (seeded fifth) 22-18. Lasmanis scored six and five points in those games respectively.

"Shibuya" upsets the favorites

"Shibuya" (seeded eighth), represented by Gludītis and Raimo, first beat favorites "Liman" 21-20 in overtime in Group A. It then defeated "Shinjuku" (seeded ninth), the other Latvian trio, 22-13. Gludītis scored 12 points in the first game, including the winning basket, and five in the second. Raimo had two points in each game.

"Shinjuku" out

"Shinjuku" lost its opening group game 10-22 to "Liman". Only the Latvians scored for the team in both games: Kuksiks had five and six points, Osis four and five, and Zviedris one and two.

Next, "Shanghai" and "Shibuya" will play for a place among the top three, which brings the right to compete at the Manama "Masters".