Both Manse and Virkiä won their semi-finals directly 3–0. Urheilu’s expert Antti Yli-Saunamäki raises three issues that will decide this year’s finals.
Anu Karttunen,
Riku Porvari
Radio broadcast of the women’s 1st final at Areena on Saturday 31.8. from 3:50 p.m.
Pori’s Pesäkarhut and Jyväskylä’s Kirittäret have dominated the women’s Superpes in recent years. This season, the champion is either Manse PP from Tampere or Virkiä from Lapua.
Sports expert Antti Yli-Saunamäki according to the preliminaries are very even and the two best teams of the season will meet in the finals.
– Manse goes into the match series as a great preliminary favorite, but especially the home advantage is very important in this final series. If either team is able to turn the away match into a robbery, then the picture of the match series will change a lot, Yli-Saunamäki said.
Manse celebrated the only Finnish championship in its history in 2017, while Virkia has nine championships, but it has been nine years since the previous SM gold. Manse has been SM silver in the previous two summers.
According to Yli-Saunamäki, both teams sense that now the desire for the championship is extremely strong.
– The requirement to win in a single game is very tough. The importance of the first match is absolutely huge. I would think that Lapua’s best place to win in Tampere is the first game.
Lockers a lot as a guard
Both Manse and Virkiä have been tough home teams. The people of Tampere have only lost once at home this year, Lapua twice.
– It only tells about the importance of home advantage – and it is huge. If we think about game-related things, then surely it’s how Lapua’s locker Anni Heikkilä succeeds in playing Mansen’s inside game and against good scorers, says Yli-Saunamäki.
– Can Heikkilä play low? How much can he mess up the repatriation? How to get to Heikkilä Virpi Hukan stuck playing? Huka’s top hitting percentage in the playoffs has been 86.
Similarly, what is decisive is how Mansen’s locker Venla Tanhua able to take on Lapua’s hard-hitting jokers, Janette Lepistön and Riina Kerolanclosed.
– This culminates in a battle between the lockers and the inside game.
Outdoor games have started
Yli-Saunamäki highlights the importance of repatriation and which team’s away game will last. Manse has scored eight runs per game in the playoffs, while Virkiä’s corresponding figure is 7.38. Manse has been able to create a little more than 16 three-point situations per match, while Virkiä’s reading is 13.6.
– In the away game, both teams have points that have changed in the playoffs as well. The games will be tight, games of individual runs. Whoever can keep the outfield tight and especially prevent breakthroughs is on the strong side, Yli-Saunamäki reminded.
Unraveling the number one situations
In Yli-Saunamäki’s opinion, one of the most important things in the final matches is breaking up the number one situations. Lapua Kaisa Peräaho and Mansella Saga-Angelia Raudasoja bear the main responsibility for this.
– Both have a very good basic stroke. In the semifinals, Peräaho was able to decide the game with a breakthrough, and Raudasoja has a very strong breakthrough threat as well.
– Will the teams go to seek and build a single situation and a single run or will they take risks? Through that, you can also apply for a solution for an individual episode.
Radio broadcast of the women’s 1st final at Areena on Saturday 31.8. from 3:50 p.m.