LATVIA, the surprise team of the just concluded Fiba World Cup, went back home not only brandishing a historic fifth place finish in one of basketball’s biggest stage, but also a lucrative contract deal that will extend all the way to its next campaign in the world championship.
The Latvijas Basketbol Izlase renewed its endorsement deal with Peak Sports Product Co. for the next four years until the 2027 World Cup in Doha, Qatar.
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The contract signing at the Conrad Hotel was made three days before the closing of the quadrennial showcase at the Mall of Asia Arena between Raimonds Vejonis, the former president of the Republic of Latvia and now head of the Latvian Basketball Association, and Christin Wu, deputy general manager of Peak.
A day after, Latvia went on and demolished Lithuania, 98-63, to finish fifth place and cap a memorable World Cup debut.
The game at the Mall of Asia Arena was made special by Latvian guard Arturs Zagars when he dished off an all-time tournament record of 17 assists.
Incidentally, newly-crowned champion Germany and runner-up Serbia are also being sponsored by Peak.

Also present to witness the deal were Davis Bertans of the Oklahoma City Thunder and his brother team captain Dairis Bertans, team manager Emils Toms, head of marketing department Arta Vecvagare, Head of sponsoring ING Florian Krenz, chairman of German Basketball Federation Marketing Agency Markus Friz, and Peak Philippine distributor Michael Chenglay and his son Jon Chenglay.
Wu said its partnership with Latvian basketball began seven years ago.
“This time that they’re playing in the World Cup, everybody see them hungry as they play. But for us, I think this is no more because we’ve been working together since 2016 and we’ve seen the team prepared for today,” said Wu.
“People see them today shining, but actually they’ve been shining for a long time. This is why we’re working with Latvia.”
Davis Bertans, 30, who also had stints with San Antonio, Washington, and Dallas, said teamwork and cohesion are the main strength of Latvia basketball and helped them pulled off stunning victories in this World Cup against powerhouse teams France, Brazil, and dethroned champion Spain, which they eliminated during the second round of the group phase.
Latvia lost to Germany in the quarterfinals, 81-79, as Bertans missed a potential game-winning three-pointer in the dying seconds, but bounced back in the classification phase with big wins over Italy, 87-82, and Lithuania, 98-63.
“It’s been a great debut for us mainly because of the great teamwork that we had starting from coaches, medical staff, and every single player. It’s all been, thanks to us playing together and playing basketball the right way,” he said.
This one is already history and Latvia is already looking for an encore in Qatar four years from now.
“We’ll see. But I’m sure we want to be in in the World Cup again for the second time,” said Vejonis, noting that Latvia was the first ever EuroBasket champion in 1935 and was a co-founder of FIBA in 1932.
“For us, this World Cup is a historical event. It means if we’re a founder of FIBA, I feel that we must be part of the World Cup every time it is being staged. I’m sure that we will go on 2027.”
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