The Swedish Super Final in floorball, which will be played at Globen on Saturday, will bring together a large number of the best players in the world. Oona Kauppi talks about how amazing and exceptional this is.
23.4. 08:20 • Updated April 23rd. 08:37
Finnish national team key strikers Oona and Veera Kauppi are two – time Swedish women ‘s floorball champions, but the final of the women’ s series at the Stockholm Globen, which draws 16,000 pairs of eyes on Saturday, will captivate the successful and almost all – experienced floorball stars.
Kauppi’s siblings have been winning the previous two Swedish championships, but the first came because of the Koranavirus with a cabinet decision and the second without an audience.
– This is my fourth year in Sweden and only this is my first real championship final. For a very long time, I have been waiting for me to experience this. You wouldn’t want to talk about Korona, but after that it feels awesome to get to play in a full hall, hopefully. I once won the championship by playing, but Saturday is a new experience. I don’t think Gävle was anything compared to that, Oona Kauppi gets excited.
In the women’s Super Finals, the blue and white winners will be seen with certainty, as Finns will play on both teams. In addition to Kauppi’s sisters, Thorengruppen is represented by a defender My Kippilä and the attacker Tuulia Ahothe opponent in the Pixbon camp championship, in turn, dreamed of a defender Laura Manninen and centers Mia Karjalainen.
Karjalainen, 34, who has played more than a hundred national games, has announced that he will end his major career in the finals.
– There are quite a few national team players on both teams. It’s a game I would love to see myself if I wasn’t playing myself. A stunning match is promised when two top teams hit each other and they are full of star players.
Kauppi’s sisters were the heroes of his team a year ago when Thorengruppen took the Swedish floorball championship in Gävle in front of empty stands. At that time, the Umeå club knocked out Pixbon 5–4 in the Super Final. Kauppi’s star twins rose to the decisive role as the team rose from a 2–3 loss to one in the final with Oona and two to Veera.
– Last year’s final felt quite amazing on the field, although of course the atmosphere was not the same as it will be now. It was great to play when we came alongside in the final installments and then over. I think it’s an advantage considering Saturday that we have that kind of experience below, Oona Kauppi said.
A strong emotional charge from just training
Oona Kauppi states that playing at Globen is something that you have to experience for yourself.
– Just training there without an audience created a pretty feeling. An immediate feeling came. As a player, it is not difficult to load such finals. In last year’s finals, the atmosphere had to be created by itself. I guess Saturday is a whole new experience for me too and that’s why I consider it a “real” final.
The Swedish Super Final is the highest level event in the sport at the club floor level.
– Yes, I would say that this is the number one event in the world. When you look at the audience and the players who play in it. I would say that the biggest game of his career is ahead, although of course the World Cup finals are big events.
How would Oona Kauppi describe the differences between the Super Final and the World Cup final?
– Of course, I dream of a world championship, and I do not underestimate the World Cup in any way. At the World Floorball Championships, the player lives in the bubble for a week and a half, and there’s no time to think about any of those games. However, in this championship final, there has been a whole week of time to recharge and reflect on one try. In terms of pressure, the match is certainly one of the biggest in my career where I’ve gotten to be involved. The experience of the Super Final is quite unique.
The sportsman in the western neighborhood is not overlooked by how big the event is.
– Here, as if all the Swedish floorball people are coming together, and you can see that a lot of people are waiting for the game. There is also a lot of discussion about the match in the media throughout the week and there is enough lift. Only at the World Championships do you experience something a bit similar, Oona Kauppi concludes.