Latvians in sport: women’s basketball team win in Vienna, VEF snatch victory in Plovdiv (11 November)

Latvia’s women’s basketball team had the best evening of Lāčplēsis Day, Latvia’s day of remembrance for its fallen soldiers. They beat Austria 81-66 in Vienna, led by Aleksa Gulbe with 14 points, four assists and four blocked shots. In the FIBA Europe Cup, VEF Rīga overturned a 12-point deficit in Bulgaria to win by two, and Latvian champions Valmiera Glass/ViA gained revenge at home over a club from Kosovo. Overnight in California, Jeļena Ostapenko and Hsieh Su-wei won in straight sets for their first victory at the WTA Finals.

Basketball

• Latvia women (EuroBasket 2027 qualifying): beat Austria 81-66 away, with 14 points, four assists and four blocks from Aleksa Gulbe. Next up is Slovenia in Ljubljana on 14 November.
• VEF Rīga (FIBA Europe Cup): won 85-83 at Lokomotiv Plovdiv after trailing by 12 in the second half; Jordan Sears scored 19, Mareks Mejeris had 10 points and eight rebounds, and Aigars Šķēle hit the decisive free throws with 12 seconds left.
• Valmiera Glass/ViA (FIBA Europe Cup): beat Bashkimi of Kosovo 85-77 at home, with 19 points from Jake Heidbreder and 16 from Bryce McBride.
• Rīgas Zeļļi (EuroCup): lost 105-81 at Aris in Thessaloniki; Tony Perkins scored 16 and Tyler Wahl 12.
• Artūrs Strautiņš (Roma, EuroCup): 11 points and four rebounds in 22 minutes as Roma beat Ulm 83-78.
• Artūrs Kurucs (Tenerife, EuroCup): three points in 14 minutes in an 86-71 win in Šiauliai.
• Rodions Kurucs (Baskonia, EuroLeague): 10 points, five rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes in an 80-66 defeat at Partizan in Belgrade.

Ice hockey

• Zemgus Girgensons (Tampa Bay Lightning, NHL): a season-high 18 minutes and six hits against his former club, the Buffalo Sabres, but no points; Tampa Bay won 8-3 in Buffalo.
• NHL: the New York Rangers won 3-1 in Calgary without Alberts Šmits in the line-up, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won 3-2 in San Jose with Artūrs Šilovs as the back-up goaltender.
• Champions Hockey League, last-16 first legs: Kristaps Zīle’s Liberec lost 4-2 in Cologne, and Gustavs Dāvis Grigals’s SaiPa lost 3-2 at home to Pardubice, with Grigals not playing. The return legs are on 17 and 18 November.
• Switzerland: Rodrigo Ābols returned from injury for SC Bern, who won 3-2 in Lugano; he did not score a point.
• Slovakia: Kristaps Bindulis had an assist as Michalovce beat Prešov 4-3 in overtime, and Rodžers Bukarts scored on his debut for Prešov.
• Czech second tier: Edgars Kulda scored for the second game running, but Dukla Jihlava lost 4-3 in overtime to Pardubice’s reserve team.
• Finland and Denmark: Oskars Batņa had an assist as the Pelicans lost 4-1 to Ilves, and Raimonds Vītoliņš set up a goal in Sønderjyske’s 4-2 win at Herlev.
• AHL: Dans Ločmelis’s Providence Bruins won 4-2 in Charlotte, and Anri Ravinskis’s Abbotsford Canucks beat the Colorado Eagles 4-3; neither scored a point.
• Latvian Hockey League: Zemgale/LBTU lost 3-2 to Panter in a shoot-out, with goals for the hosts from R. Vorona and D. Fjodorovs.

Tennis

• Jeļena Ostapenko and Hsieh Su-wei (WTA Finals, doubles): beat Elise Mertens and Zhang Shuai 7-5, 6-3 overnight Riga time for their first group win.

Football

• Virslīga play-off: Tukums 2000 beat Valmiera, runners-up in the second-tier First League, 1-0 at home in the first leg, with Ruslans Deružinskis scoring.
• Youth teams: the under-19s beat Moldova 3-1 in European Championship qualifying, and the under-17s drew 2-2 in Croatia.
• Karlīna Miksone (Czarni Sosnowiec, UEFA Women’s Europa Cup): an assist in a 5-1 home defeat by Brann of Bergen; the Polish club went out in the last 16, 8-1 on aggregate.

Other sports

• Floorball: the women’s team opened their world championship qualifying tournament in Riga with a 7-1 win over Great Britain; captain Jūlija Rozīte had two goals and an assist.
• Lacrosse: the men’s team opened the European sixes championship in Spain with a 24-9 win over Turkey.
• Curling: the men’s team beat India 7-6 at the world qualifying event in Scotland, their first win in five games.

Playing today

• Football: Latvia play Montenegro away in the Nations League (21:45 Riga time).
• EuroLeague: Dāvis Bertāns’s Dubai visit Olympiacos (21:15).
• Ice hockey: Rūdolfs Balcers and the ZSC Lions play in Biel (21:00); in the Latvian league, HS Rīga visit Punks in Vilnius (19:30).
• Floorball: the women play their second group game at the qualifying tournament in Riga (19:00); the lacrosse team face hosts Spain at the European Championship.
• NHL, overnight into Friday: Zemgus Girgensons and Tampa Bay visit Columbus (02:00).

Every game involving Latvians today and over the coming days, plus season statistics, is on the Latvians abroad page.

Match centre

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