Susijengi took a sweet revenge from their World Cup general from a year ago by beating Latvia 90-84 in Tampere on Friday.
A year ago, Latvia went wild with a 94–57 victory over Finland on their home field in Riga. This time it was different.
Responsible coach of Latvia Luka Banchi gave credit to Susijeng’s 90–84 victory on Friday, although it was reminded on the country’s website that it was more of a test match than an official national basketball game.
– A very difficult game. We lacked energy right at the beginning of the match, while the Finnish team moved well, scored baskets accurately, and contributed to our confidence. Even in these matches, it would be important to stick to the basics and how we want to play next week in the Olympic qualifiers.
– However, we have shown in the past that we can play well if we do things on the field with our usual aggressiveness. Today, the Finnish players worked hard on the floor more intensively than us, and that also brought them victory, Banchi saw.
Lassi Tuovin the protégés begin Olympic qualifying next Tuesday, July 2, against the Bahamas, who have recently lost their warm-up games to Montenegro 80-93 and Greece 75-102.
Susijeng’s second qualifying opponent is Poland, who will meet on July 4th. Today in Katowice, Poland crushed New Zealand by 29 points, 88-59. Finland had beaten New Zealand 73–70 on Tuesday Sasu Salini with a last-second miracle triple.
On Saturday, Poland will face the Philippines in Sosnowiec.
In the six-nation tournament played in Valencia, only the winner gets a place in the Olympic tournament in Paris.
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