Finland’s volleyball players will play in the European Championships next year as well. The team secured its spot in the final qualifying match played in front of the home crowd in Turku.
Aino Paloniemi,
Manu Myllyaho
The Finnish men’s national volleyball team claimed its place in the autumn 2023 European Championships. The place was secured in the last qualifying match against Latvia, which Finland won directly in three sets 25–18, 25–17 and 25–15. Finland’s place in the final tournament was secured immediately after winning the first two sets of the match.
Finland came into the match with the necessary confidence and excelled especially in their defensive game. In the third set, Latvia showed small signs of cheering up and got into the match for a while, but too late considering the final result and especially the place in the European Championships. Finnish central defender Severi Savonsalmi was very satisfied with the team’s preparation after the match.
– We took a little rest and didn’t push so hard, so everyone had the power to play. This clip went well.
Getting a place in the European Championship has been the main goal of the Finnish national team this summer. According to Savonsalmi, who calls himself a former rock star, the place is going to be celebrated in a proper way.
– I’m sure we’ll see each other at night in Turku.
Team captain Antti Ronkainen is, like Savonsalmi, satisfied with the national team’s EC qualifying results.
– We made a pretty great story with this group. The players have changed somewhat, but you have to be proud of this group. A group win in the EC qualification is a great thing.
The Finnish national volleyball team has gone from victory to victory during the summer. The only loss is in the final of the Silver League in June, when Romania was better than Finland. The Finnish players have adopted their new national team roles quickly.
– We are a pretty like-minded group and that was our big strength in these qualifiers. The players also changed somewhat on the field, but the guys who were on the field handled their roles well, Ronkainen describes.
Ronkainen singled out the team’s general player Niko Suihkonen, who became the starting six in the last qualifying match and scored 13 points. In addition, Ronkainen with 11 points and hakukuri also reached more than ten points Aaro Nikulawho scored 16 points against Latvia.
In recent years, the Finnish team’s EC journey has often ended in the first playoff round. According to Ronkainen, we want to avoid this next fall.
– The goal for next year is to go a little further. It’s not enough to get from the first group to the next round, but to get a good ranking from the first group and maybe get a lower opponent from the second group to the first round, Ronkainen describes.
The European Championship will be held in autumn 2023 in Bulgaria, Italy, North Macedonia and Israel. There are 24 teams in total. The organizing countries, Ukraine, and the top eight from the previous European Championships (excluding Russia) have received a direct place in the tournament.