Latvian cup in basketball
The draw for the Latvian basketball tournament Užava Cup will begin on Thursday 6 October at 12 noon, which can be followed live on LBS Facebook. says the organization.
Latvian basketball Užava Cup 2022/2023. 21 teams have applied for the seasonal tournament. Winners will be determined in six rounds. In the first five rounds, the teams will compete in a two-game series, but the new cup winners will be announced in the final match scheduled for February 18. Before the draw, the teams are divided into baskets, taking into account geographical and sporting criteria.
14 teams will participate in the first and second rounds. Four – two pairs – will play in the first round, 10 will enter the fight from the second round. In the east, the Ramirent National League will be represented by “Gulbenes buki” (4th place in the 2022 season), RSU / VEF Riga (5th place in the east), Olympic Center “Limbaži” (6th place in the east), “VEF Basketball Academy Valka “(7. place east) and DSN / Kristapas Porzingis Basketball Academy, while the Regional League – BK” Cēsis “/ Cēsu Sports School and Salaspils Sports School.
The Ramirent National League teams “Kandava / Angăze” (3rd place), BK “Saldus” (3rd place in Rietum), “BS Tukums / TSS” (4th place in Rietum), “BK” Ķekava “will play in the first and second rounds in Rietum (5th place in Rietumos) and the rookies of the championship “Grobiņa” (1st place in RBL last year), as well as the team of the Regional League SK “Jaunpils” (2nd place in RBL) and “Nīca / BLi” (4th place in the RBL).
In the third round, the six winners of the second round will be joined by five teams from the Latvian-Estonian Pafbet league and last season’s Ramirent NBL champions. In the east they will play BK Ogre “(3rd place in the LBL),” University of Latvia “(4th place in the LBL) and” Valmiera Glass VIA “(5th place in the LBL), in the West – BK” Ventspils “(2nd place in the LBL), BK “Liepāja” (6th place in the LBL) and BK “Jelgava” (1st place in the Ramirent NBL).
In the fourth round – the quarter-finals – the six winners of the third round will duel in three pairs, determining the three semifinalists. In the fifth round – in the semifinal – the three winners of the quarter-finals will be joined by the titular team of the Champions League “VEF Rīga”.
The Latvian Cup basketball competition was held for the first time in 1948, when 24 teams participated in the men’s tournament and won the Riga “Dinamo”. Up to 1994 40 tournaments were held and only 9 times the cup was won from the team that won the Latvian championship that year. 2021/2022. 21 teams from 19 cities and regions have applied for the renewed tournament. The “Užava” brewery has become the general sponsor of the competition. In the first season of the Latvian basketball Užava Cup, there were many exciting matches and even surprises: the victories of the regional championship team “Madona / BJSS” over the Ramirent NBL RSU / VEF Rīga and “OC Limbaži” teams, the victory of BK “Līvāni” on future NBL champions “Jēkabpili”, BK “Ventspils” rematch in the quarter-finals against BK “Liepāja” and the intense duel in the semifinals with BK “Ogre”.
In the final match on 7 March in the “Ventspils” Olympic center full of spectators, “VEF Riga” beat the home team with 74:62, winning the beautiful cup. Vefi’s Alexander Madsen was recognized as the most valuable player of the final match.
