15/08/2016 13:04
Experience prevails over youth at Finnish National Tour Finals
News from the National Federations
Kouvola, Finland, August 15, 2016. The city of Kouvola – some 140 km northeast of Helsinki – hosted this past weekend the final stage of the Finnish Beach Volleyball National Tour. The event was held at the local baseball stadium, aka KSS Energia Areena.
The men’s and women’s competition followed the same script with young, up-and-coming teams determined to take their first crown while challenging more experienced and decorated opponents. Jyrki Nurminen and Pekka Piippo used their experience and strong nerves to claim a close final match (21-18, 17-21, 15-13) with rising stars Santeri Siren and Miro Määttänen who two years ago finished fourth at the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China.
Määttänen, who is also a competitive javelin thrower, hit some impressive aces but Piippo did a good job towards the end of the match to close the door to his rivals’ attempt of a comeback. “It feels great, today we could play well despite the pressure,” Nurminen commented, after he and Piippo claimed their sixth medal from the Finnish National Tour Finals whilst silver was the first ever for youngsters Määttänen and Siren.
Riikka Lehtonen and Taru Lahti won the women’s title stamping a comprehensive 21-18, 21-12 win over rising stars Ida Sinisalo and Niina Ahtiainen. “Winning is always nice, I will never get tired of it,” Lehtonen said. This was Lahti’s fifth gold medal from the National Tour Finals – while Lehtonen’s collection includes nine gold medals plus two silver ones and one bronze since 1997!
Most of the fans were wondering if Lehtonen will continue playing after she and Lahti failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics. “We have been working really hard with Taru and Kaipe [coach Kai Liukkonen] reaching the top level on the global stage. So it would be nice to continue but after such long and tough season it is now time to take a break. We have some plans for the future, but I will make and announce my final decision at a later stage,” Lehtonen explained.
Lehtonen and Lahti will finish their 2016 season in two weeks when playing at the CEV Satellite in Kisakallio which is set to run from August 25 to 28. This will also be the very last competitive tournament for Essi Hasu who will retire from the sport at the end of the season. On that same weekend Siren/Määttänen and Sinisalo/Ahtiainen will represent Finland at the U22 European Championship in Thessaloniki, Greece.
2016 Finnish National Tour Final podiums
Men
1. Jyrki Nurminen / Pekka Piippo
2. Santeri Siren / Miro Määttänen
3. Lasse Maijala / Ville Heiskanen
Women
1. Riikka Lehtonen / Taru Lahti
2. Ida Sinisalo / Niina Ahtiainen
3. Essi Hasu / Anniina Parkkinen
|