Tornadukai at Marupe Cup in Latvia

2026 gegužė 27 d., trečiadienis

From May 22–24, three Tornado KM teams participated in the international youth basketball tournament Marupe Cup 2026 in Latvia. Over three intense days of competition, young Tornado players not only fought for victories on the court but also gained valuable experiences off it – learning independence, teamwork, and true sporting character.

The most successful performance in the tournament was achieved by the Tornado KM – “Fudo” (2014) team coached by Emilijus Petrauskas, who won silver medals and became tournament vice-champions. In the final, the young Tornado team lost to the “Travel Team” composed of players from various European countries. The team MVP was Džiugas Plauška. Meanwhile, another team coached by Emilijus Petrauskas – Tornado KM 2014-2 – although unable to secure victories, showed great fighting spirit in every game and kept their opponents under pressure until the final minutes. The team MVP was selected as Matas Matiukas.

“The three-day competition showed real battles on the court. Although we could not achieve wins, the team was very close in all games and demonstrated a strong will to fight,” said coach Emilijus Petrauskas.

The coach also thanked the tournament organizers for excellent accommodation and catering conditions, as well as the parents who generously gave their time and traveled kilometers to support the teams until the very last seconds.

Fourth place in the tournament was achieved by the Tornado KM 2016 team coached by Tomas Rakauskas. The young players started the tournament with two confident wins, but later faced increasingly stronger opponents and very intense battles. “We tested our strength against the best Latvian teams. With each game, it felt like the opponents were getting stronger. After two easy wins at the start, we had very equal and hard-fought games that we managed to win only in the final minute. In the fight for first place, we had to recognize the superiority of the DNS team. This led to a match against Ogre for third place on the final day. In the second half, we couldn’t hold on, failed to break through their defense, and finished in 4th place. The team MVP was Benas Kartanavičius. The tournament was definitely valuable, with excellent accommodation and food conditions, although one downside was that we stayed quite far from the hall, which limited recovery between games, and fatigue was clearly felt at the end. For many players this was their first international tournament, and for some even their first trip without parents. Therefore, this event was more about team building, independence lessons, friendship, and helping each other than about results. I would also like to thank all parents who trusted us to take their children on this first trip – I believe the players gained valuable experiences both on and off the court. A special thank you to those who came to Marupe and supported the team during games and helped outside the court as well. It is great to see a new, strong Tornado basketball school team forming.”