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The Latvian men’s volleyball team will compete with Spain today in the fifth game of Group D of the European Championship qualifying tournament in Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus.
The match will start at 5 pm and will be broadcast live on Latvian Television Channel 7.
It has already been reported that on Friday Latvia won Moldova 3-0 in the first game of the second round. In the first round, Latvia beat Moldova 3-0, 1-3 lost to Spain and defeated Cyprus 3-0.
Meanwhile, Spain lost sensationally to Cyprus at the start of the second round with 0-3, suffering the second unexpected failure in a row, as they acknowledged Moldova’s superiority at the end of the first round with 1-3. In the first round, the Spaniards won both Cyprus and Latvia 3-1.
Latvia, winning three or four sets in a match, will provide a ticket to the final tournament. If the Spaniards are not beaten, they will be able to do so in a match with Cyprus on Sunday.
In subgroup D, after four games, the leader with nine points is Latvia, followed by Spain and Moldova with six points, but three points are in the Cyprus account. Latvia, as the only one of the four teams, has won three victories, moreover, it has a much better win / loss ratio, which is an important additional indicator in determining the place in the group, if there are equal wins and points.
Latvia has managed to qualify for the final tournament in 1995, but Avo Kēl with the Estonian national team – twice. Led by head coach Keh, this is the second attempt for Latvians to enter the European Championship final.
In 2019, Latvia played in the subgroup of the European Championship qualification tournament together with the Estonians and the State of Israel. The only victory in the last match was won over the Israelis, but the subgroup had to settle for the last, third, position.
Meanwhile, Spain has played in ten final tournaments, the most successful of which was in 2007, when they managed to win gold medals. Two years earlier, the Spaniards reached the semi-finals, but remained in fourth place.
Even before leaving for Cyprus, the Latvian national team in Estonia held three test matches with the local national team, failing in all dues. Duels with the Polish team Radrad “Cerrad Enea Czarni” were also planned, but they had to be canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The European Championship qualifiers in Group D take place in the capital of Cyprus, Nicosia, where the two-round matches will take place from 30 August to 6 September. In addition to Latvia and hostess Cyprus, Spain and Moldova also participate.
The qualifying tournament for the European Championship in Group D is the only one in which both rings are played at once in one country, and the only one that is played in late August and early September, with the finalists in the other groups being determined in January next year.
The final tournament is scheduled for August and September 2021 in Poland, the Czech Republic, Finland and Estonia. Four home teams and the top eight teams from previous European Championships in Serbia, Slovenia, France, Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Germany and Belgium have already secured a place in the top 24 teams in Europe in the final tournament. The remaining 12 places in the final tournament will be taken by the winners of seven groups and the five best second place winners.
Composition of the Latvian volleyball team:
builders – Deniss Petrovs (Nizhny Novgorod ASK, Russia), Edvin Skruder (Jekabpils “Lynx”);
second tempo – Romans Saušs (“Argo de Sete”, France), Kristaps Šmits (“Limbaži” / MSĢ), Atvars Ozoliņš (“Parnu”, Estonia), Markuss Cielavs (“Savo Volley”, Finland);
diagonal – Hermans Egleskalns (Olympiacos, Piraeus, Greece), Edward Buvids (LINDAREN Volley I, Amrisville, Switzerland), Kristaps Platačs (Parnu, Estonia), Renārs Jansons (RTU / Border Guard);
first tempo – Toms Švans (“Parnu”, Estonia), Vladislavs Blumbergs, Zigurds Adamovičs (both – Jēkabpils “Lūši”);
libero – Ingars Ivanovs (RTU / “Border Guard”).
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