Home » Sport » Two safe victories in Dobele: Latvian handball team enters the qualifying round of the 2024 European Championship

Two safe victories in Dobele: Latvian handball team enters the qualifying round of the 2024 European Championship




Latvian handball team and its head coach Sandris Veršakovs (center).

Latvian handball team and its head coach Sandris Veršakovs (center).

Photo: Latvian Handball Federation

Gints Narogs, “Latvijas Avīze”, JSC “Latvijas Mediji”

The Latvian national handball team has entered the qualifying round of the 2024 European Championship, convincingly winning Bulgaria in two matches on its field.


The basis for success in the sum of two games was laid in the first match, “beating” the opponents with 36:23. Already in the first half, the Latvian national team led by Sandra Veršakov had accumulated an eight-goal handicap. The second match was fiercer, after half time the home team was +2 (19:17), the Bulgarians then reached a draw (20:20), but Latvia responded with a 5: 1 break, dispelling doubts about the outcome of the match.

In the first fight Nils Kreicbergs 11, Nikit Panchenko 10 accurate shots, in the second match Rihards Lejas eight goals, Panchenko and Emils Kurzemnieks seven goals. Both games took place at the Dobele Sports Center, where the Latvian national team last played less than seven years ago.

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These victories served us as a patch after the failure to qualify for the World Cup in the Faroe Islands, where one draw and two losses in three games.

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“We played for the pleasure of ourselves, the spectators and the fans. Virtually all the players were on the field and we all enjoyed it together. It would be worthwhile to think about generational change in the future, but it is up to the federation to decide. If I am called, I will drive and help, ”said Dainis Krištopāns, the leader of the national team, in the interview after the second match.

Qualification will start in October – 32 teams will be drawn in eight groups of four. The final tournament, which will take place in Germany in January 2024, will feature the top two teams in each group, as well as the top four third place winners. The Latvian national team debuted in the finals of the Old Continent two years ago, but did not make it to the finals of this year’s European Championships, which are currently taking place in Hungary and Slovakia.

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