Highcliffe dentist gets GB basketball call-up for world championships

HIGHCLIFFE dentist Anta Riekstina will compete with Team Great Britain for the first time at the world FIMBA basketball championships in Espoo, Finland.

Anta, who runs Highcliffe Dental Care, will represent Great Britain in the Female 40+ category. This will be her third world championships, having participated for her native Latvia twice, finishing third and sixth in the competition. After residing in the UK for many years, Anta decided to make the switch to play for Great Britain with whom she trains with every month as well regularly playing for Camberley basketball club in Hampshire.

The tournament features over 230 teams and Team GB have a tough qualifying group after they were drawn with Germany A and Russia B. There are nine teams competing in the 40+ Female tournament which include Colombia, Finland and Czech Republic. This is the first time that Team GB have been entered into the category.

Anta told the A&T that she and the team are excited for the event despite having a testing group: “We were unlucky. Normally you have a lottery for the groups so you have an easier game, but we have Germany and Russia, so it will be a challenge.”

“We are looking forward to the event. We have been training really hard and have a social media group, and we are posting every day what we are doing to be ready for the competition. We really encourage each other, which is amazing."