This basketball season there was already a precedent when one of the brightest Latvian netball masters changed the sport. In October, the luminary of the “eXi” program, Ansis Medenis, was registered as part of the champion team of the National Basketball League “Ramirent” “Kandavas/Angāze”. Medenis played two matches.
The fifth “Basketball Party” will take place on February 10 at Arena Riga. Fans will first have the opportunity to watch the match of the top league club “Prometey” against the “Ventspils” team, which showed fierce resistance to the Ukrainians on New Year’s Eve. This will then be followed by the match between “Rīgas Zellļu” and the Estonian team “Viimsi”. BS “Riga” student Aleksandrs Samoilovs will make his professional basketball debut in the ranks of the pink team.
😲 Three-time participant of the Olympic Games, beach volleyball legend Aleksandrs Samoilov will join the lineup of the basketball party!
Did you know that he seriously learned the basics of basketball and once wanted to become a professional basketball player?
— Riga Zelli (@RigasZelli) January 20, 2024
Last year the 38-year-old Samoilov ended his collaboration on the beach volleyball court with his long-time partner Jānis Šmēdiņas, focusing on the game together with his brother Mihail. Karalis Lauva represented Latvia in three Olympics, playing alongside Mārtīns Pļaviņas (Beijing), Ruslana Sorokina (London) and Jānis Šmēdiņa (Rio de Janeiro).
“Since Francis will leave the team for a while, we had to look for a replacement for the power forward and decided to attract the talented prospect Aleksandras Samoilova,” laughs club president Edgars Buļs. “Speaking seriously, Alexander graduated from BS” Riga “and his first dream in sports was to become a basketball player. We will let Sasha realize his dream.”
“I have always been open to Edgar’s crazy ideas,” says Alexander Samoilov. “Also, I really like the project “Rīgas Zeļļi”, so I am ready to return to my childhood and become a basketball player.”
2024-01-20 10:12:00
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