Sweden and Ukraine won the volleyball Golden League championships. The women of Sweden beat the Czech Republic and the men of Ukraine beat Croatia.
A year ago, the Swedish women’s national volleyball team experienced a bitter 0-3 loss to Ukraine in the final of the Golden League, but this year the atmosphere in the team is completely different. Sweden defeated the Czech Republic in the final after a tight five-set twist 3–2 (25–22, 21–25, 18–25, 25–20, 15–11) and took a historic victory.
– Feelings speak for themselves. I’m so happy and what a journey this team has made this year. We never stop surprising ourselves. I am so happy and proud, the powerhouse of the team and scored 26 points in the final Isabelle Haak comment according to SVT.
The men’s Golden League champion Ukraine was also the losing side in the final last year, when Turkey won it 3–2. This year, the team did not let Croatia surprise them. Ukraine rose from the loss of the first set to win 3–1 (23–25, 25–19, 28–26, 25–19).
The Finnish men’s national team finished sixth in the Golden League. The Finnish women played in the final match of the Silver League, but lost the two-part final to Portugal. Portugal moved up to the Golden League for the next season.