Finland stretched out a victory over Tunisia in men’s volleyball Olympic qualifiers in Tokyo. Finland had lost its five previous matches in the tournament.
Matti Lehtisaari,
STT Sports
The Finnish men’s national volleyball team celebrated its opening victory in the Olympic qualifiers in Tokyo. Finland defeated Tunisia 3–0 (25–19, 25–23, 25–15). Tunisia is in the 21st place in the world ranking, Finland in the 29th place.
In the previous five matches of the tournament, Finland has already lost its chance for an Olympic place. However, the victory over Tunisia brought important ranking points. Among other things, they define the World Cup places for the final tournament in 2025.
The convincing victory ended the long wait. Finland’s previous victory in the actual Olympic qualification was in January 2008, when Finland beat Germany in the Olympic qualification in Izmir, Turkey.
– We came to the game in a completely different way than the Turkey game. There have been many good things in our tournament, but I emphasized to the team that such a half-asleep start is unacceptable. And if we come against Tunisia in the right way, we can thrash them. And so it did, for the most part. The game was much more aggressive, more energetic and the victory was clear, head coach Joel Banks stated with satisfaction in the interview tape of the Volleyball Association.
Construction phase towards a bright future
Even though Finland was reasonably clearly behind the top countries in the tournament, the tournament has offered “a lot of positives” for Banks. The head coach declares that the future is bright for the young team.
– We are building something new, there are many guys involved, for whom the European Championship (at the end of the summer) were the first prestigious competitions. And they are evolving all the time. Of course, it’s nice to win because it’s been a while since the last one. But above all, we deserved this win, and it also speaks to the team’s mental toughness, Banks said.
– The reality is that we are not yet at the (top) level. But I’m so proud of this team and what they’ve put out this summer. Maybe we weren’t ready to challenge others for the Olympic place in Paris, but maybe already in Los Angeles (2028 Games) and the times after that, the situation can be different.
“This was one of the main games of the tournament for us”
Experienced passer of the national team Eemi Terportti praised Finland’s readiness to play.
– We prepared well for this match, this was one of the main games of the tournament for us. After the Turkey match, we tried to rest and be ready, as I think we were right from the first ball, commented Tervaportti.
Terportorti saw that Finland was able to tame Tunisia’s attacking game.
– I think our input reception worked well. That way we got the guy’s reception off and couldn’t celebrate with his attack.
Finland’s work in the Olympic qualifiers ends on Sunday, when they face Egypt. The winner of the match ranks sixth in the tournament and the loser ranks seventh. Again, there are also ranking points in the division.
– Now you can put everything on the line. We are going to take a profit, Terportorti promised.
Sat 30.9. Finland–Japan 2–3
Sun 1.10. Finland–USA 0–3
Tue 3.10. Finland–Slovenia 1–3
Wed 4.10. Finland – Serbia 0–3
Fri 6.10. Finland – Turkey 2–3
Sat 7.10. Finland – Tunisia 3–0
Sun 8.10. Finland – Egypt at 4:00