Basketball: Turkey takes on Latvia in world qualifiers

By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's national basketball team will take on Latvia in a FIBA World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers Group B match on Friday.

The qualifying group matches for Turkey will begin Friday in Bursa's TOFAS Sports Hall at 7 p.m. local time (GMT1600).

The 14-man squad for Turkey is missing some key NBA players, such as Furkan Korkmaz and Cedi Osman are in the U.S. for league matches.

Two Fenerbahce Dogus players, Sinan Guler and Baris Hersek, were also not invited due to their team's Turkish Airlines Euroleague fixture clash.

The last time Turkey was matched against Latvia was during EuroBasket 2017 this summer, with Latvia beating the Turkish side 89-79.

Here is the squad list for the Turkish national basketball team ahead of the Latvia match:

Dogus Balbay, Birkan Batuk (Anadolu Efes), Melih Mahmutoglu (Fenerbahce Dogus), Tolga Gecim (Banvit), Sertac Sanli, Semih Erden (Besiktas Sompo Japan), Furkan Aldemir (Darussafaka), Goksenin Koksal, Ege Arar (Galatasaray Odeabank), Berk Ibrahim Ugurlu, Metin Turen, Alp Karahan (Pinar Karsiyaka), Metecan Birsen (Sakarya Buyuksehir Belediyespor), Baris Ermis (TOFAS).

Here are the full groups:

Group A: Montenegro, Slovenia, Belarus, Spain

Group B: Sweden, Turkey, Latvia, Ukraine

Group C: Poland, Kosovo, Lithuania, Hungary

Group D: Italy, Netherlands, Croatia, Romania

Group E: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belgium, France, Russia

Group F: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Iceland, Finland

Group G: Germany, Serbia, Austria, Georgia

Group H: Israel, Great Britain, Greece, Estonia