shows on Saturday 20.5. volleyball Champions League finals. Broadcast of the women’s final V. Istanbul–E. Istanbul Areena at 18:20. Broadcast of the men’s final Kedzierzyn-Kozle–Jastrzebski in Areena at 21:20. Men’s final also on TV2 at 22:15.
Finnish passenger Eemi Terportti celebrated his second Polish championship earlier in May, when he knocked down Jastrzebski Wegiel, whom he represented, in three straight games Tuomas Sammelvuon coached by Kedzierzyn-Kozle.
Now the Sammelvuo team is trying to take revenge, because the same Polish teams are facing each other in the Champions League final.
On the other hand, Tervaport’s group is also looking for revenge, because a year ago Wegiel lost in the Champions League semi-finals to Kedzierzyn-Kozle, who eventually lifted the trophy. Sammelvuo started as Kedzierzyn-Kozle’s head coach in the fall.
Terportorti, 33, has won seven national championships. The Champions League final, on the other hand, is his first, and at the same time perhaps the most significant moment of his career. He reminds that the best of the best in Europe participate in the Champions League.
Therefore, Tervaportti says that he is looking forward to the final, even though he has already had a tough season behind him. The Champions League final is the 54th match of the season, Passari counted.
– It may be the only time I get to this match. A great event is coming, Tervaportti tasted under the big match to be played in Turin.
– Now the season will surely end. You can put all the bangs here. It’s the crowning glory for this season. I’m not saying it’s exciting, but it probably comes on the field a little before the game.
Sammelvuo, 47, on the other hand, says that the atmosphere is great also because his team’s trip to the final has been very possible. In the semifinals, Kedzierzyn-Kozle beat Italy’s Perugia, which was considered the tournament’s number one favorite. In the semifinals, the new Italian champion Trentino was left behind.
Sammelvuo has won the Champions League as a player. He believes that as a coach the emotional charge is similar.
– This is the most prestigious tournament possible in the world of club teams. The emotional side is the same as when I was a player, but nowadays this event is even bigger than when I played.
In Sammelvuonki’s opinion, the encounter with Finns brings its significant additional spice. He praises the opposing team as “one of the best in the world”.
– Above all, I am happy for Eemi that he has found a place where it is good to be. Even though Eemi didn’t really play against us in the league finals, she has been an important player throughout the season and brought many victories.
Sammelvuo emphasizes that the final is a significant event for the whole of Finnish volleyball.
– It makes me feel proud. Finnish volleyball has a great summer coming up anyway, the European Championships and the return to the Golden League.
In the final of the Polish Cup, Sammelvuo’s team beat Terportport’s team. Instead, in the finals, Wegiel was far ahead. According to Sammelvuo, his team’s game already stalled in the semifinals, and the finals were a continuation of that.
– I would believe that this game will be different. We are playing in Italy, in different conditions, with a different crowd, and only one match will decide. However, the opponent is a clear favorite, we are trying to put the pieces in the cart, outlined Sammelvuo’s settings.
Riikka Lehtonen: Won the Champions League in 2002 and 2003 with the French team RC Cannes.
Janne Heikkinen: Achieved Champions League silver 2022 in Greek club Olympiakos.
Tuomas Sammelvuo: Won Champions League 2005 with French team Tours VB.
“No choice is regretted”
In the decisive final game of the Polish League, Terportorti got on the field only in the second inning in a double substitution. The team’s number one passer is French Benjamin Toniutti33, who celebrated Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021.
– This year I have been able to play more. There were almost double substitutions in every set, and sometimes I was able to play properly. It has worked well for us. I know my role, everyone else knows their role in the team, Terportorti says.
Terportorti has played for the Polish team since the 2020–21 season. Wegiel’s hometown Jastrzebie-Zdroj is located in southern Poland, close to the Czech border. There are more than 80,000 inhabitants.
– Great company and everything is taken care of, it’s good to be with family. So why not, Tervaportti commented on his several seasons in Poland.
After leaving Finland in 2010, Tervaportti has played in France (Avignon and Ajaccio), Belgium (Knack Roeselare), Turkey (Galatasaray), France again (Poitiers), Poland (Szczecin) and Greece (Olympiakos) before joining his current team.
– Quite a lot has been the sum of coincidences and luck. Of course, how the stage of life has gone, having a family and such, have also shaped where we go. I think there have been good choices. No choice is regretted, Terportorti describes his career.
Coincidence or not, Tervaportti has managed to apply to clubs that are playing for the championship. Passari has been able to experience the final series nine times.
– I have played with good teammates. The teams I’ve played in have been well built. There have not necessarily been the brightest stars. For example, in Belgium we were a big family that did a lot of things outside the field as well, Terportorti acknowledges modestly.
2010: Finnish championship in Sun Volley in Oulu.
2013, 2014 and 2015: Belgian Championship in Knack Roeselare.
2019: Greek championship in Olympiakos.
2021 and 2023: Polish Championship in Jastrzebski Wegiel.
A total of seven championships.
What is national team status?
Terportorti had to leave the EC home games in the fall of 2021. Last summer, he was absent from the national team. Finland’s prestigious tournament streak continues in the fall of this year, when Finland plays its opening group of the European Championship in Varna, Bulgaria.
Terportti does not directly say whether he will participate in the fall EC tournament.
– I never close that door. There is still a little enthusiasm to return. The home games went as they did. I wouldn’t want to end such a broken summer.
There are many funny, even raucous stories from national team trips. So, in the end, we had to ask Terport for an example. According to his memory, he dug one from the World Cup 2014, which was played in Poland.
Hotel death threatened, so Olli-Pekka “Lelu” Ojansivu decided that I had to go and get a game console.
– We went to get an Xbox. We went back to the hotel, but we couldn’t get hold of that Xbox anywhere. It was then nicely packaged with us during the tournament. Lelu might still have it somewhere as a memory.
shows on Saturday 20.5. volleyball Champions League finals. Unexplained broadcast of the women’s final V. Istanbul–E. Istanbul Areena at 18:20. Narrated broadcast of the men’s final Kedzierzyn-Kozle–Jastrzebski in Areena at 21:20. Men’s final also on TV2 at 22:15.