Denmark and Finland triumph at NEVZA U19 Championships in Rovaniemi

Shortly after the successful delivery of the U17 competition held in Denmark, NEVZA activities continued with the U19 zonal championships organised in Rovaniemi, Finland. Even though teams representing all of the NEVZA members were due to contest the tournament, England and Greenland eventually had to withdraw due to challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions. The women’s team of Norway had to cancel their participation as well at very short notice, after one of their players returned a positive coronavirus test, thus preventing the rest of the team from joining the competition. However, the tournament featured many exciting matches, with Finland and Denmark eventually claiming top honours in the women’s and men’s competition, respectively.

Live streaming of the matches was available on YouTube as well as on lapinkangas.fi.

Rovaniemi, a city in Lapland, in the far north of Finland, is known for being the home of Santa Claus. However, it has developed into a renowned sports centre as well with the Santasport Olympic Centre hosting the home matches of elite Finnish teams Wovo Rovaniemi and Lakkapää in the women’s and men’s leagues.

On October 28, girls and boys from Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden gathered for the three-day 2021 NEVZA U19 Championships, with matches played in two arenas, the Santasport Olympic Training Centre and Keltakangas Sports hall.

With five teams in contention, the women played a single round robin with the top two teams advancing directly to the grand finale. The bronze medal match, on the other hand, featured the third-placed team from the pool phase and the winner of a playoff between those that had finished fourth and fifth. Sweden claimed an extremely tight five-set game against Denmark and thus made it to the final. In the playoff for a spot in the bronze medal game, Iceland got a revenge for their loss to the Faroe Islands in pool play. However, Iceland eventually lost the third-place match to Denmark 0-3, with the Danes conceding only 42 points to their opponents. In the final, Sweden played pool winners and hosts Finland. The first set went well into overtime with Finland securing a 32-30 win – before the home side found very little resistance in the subsequent second and third sets (25-13, 25-12).

Final standing – Women

1. Finland
2. Sweden
3. Denmark
4. Iceland
5. Faroe Islands

Dream Team – Women

Setter: Moona Tarkiainen (Finland)

Middle blockers: Miia-Maria Mäkikyrö (Finland) and Ella Peltomaa (Finland)

Outside hitters: Caroline Stenholt Krogh (Denmark) and Elin Larsson (Sweden)

Opposite: Neea-Maria Joki (Finland)

Libero: Juulia Jäppinen (Finland)

Most Valuable Players – Women

Finland: Neea-Maria Joki

Sweden: Elin Larsson

Denmark: Caroline Stenholt Krogh

Iceland: Jóna Arnarsdóttir

Faroe Islands: Jakobina Joensen

The men’s tournament featured two pools, each consisting of three teams. In Pool A, Finland won both matches against Iceland and Sweden rather comfortably and directly qualified for the semis. Sweden made a good start in their game versus Iceland and took second place. In Pool B, the Faroe Islands started their campaign against Denmark. They lost the first set with big figures, but put up more of a fight in the second and third. Their second pool match against Norway followed the same pattern. In the pool final match, Denmark delivered an impressive performance to rout Norway 3-0. Sweden won rather easily their match with the Faroese team and played well against Denmark in the semi. However, the Danes claimed the most important points, thus advancing to the final. On the other half of the bracket, Norway won a tough five-setter against Iceland and then challenged hosts Finland, losing 11-15 at the tiebreak in the semis.

Norway started the bronze medal match in the best way but after losing the first set, Sweden played better and better, eventually securing a 3-1 win. In the final, Denmark won the first two sets rather easily but Finland came back with a comprehensive 25-14 win taking the match to four sets. They almost made it to a fifth, but the Danes managed to close the set and the match with a tight 26-24 win.

Final standing – Men

1. Denmark
2. Finland
3. Sweden
4. Norway
5. Iceland
6. Faroe Islands

Dream Team – Men

Setter: Anton Dixen Jeppesen (Denmark)

Middle blockers: Miika Haapaniemi (Finland) and Oskar Riis Pontoppidan (Denmark)

Outside hitters: Marius Stenmann Hansen (Denmark) and Hampus Ekstrand (Sweden)

Opposite: Simon Tabermann Uhrenholt (Denmark)

Libero: Joonatan Salpakari (Finland)

Most Valuable Players – Men

Denmark: Simon Tabermann Uhrenholt

Finland: Nico Mäki-Valtari

Sweden: Hugo Morency

Norway: Jo Gladøy Sunde

Iceland: Valens Torfi Ingimundarson

Faroe Islands: Mattias Isakssen

The Finnish Volleyball Federation deserves much appreciation for the excellent organisation of this competition. All participants look forward to coming back next year, together with the teams that unfortunately could not travel to Rovaniemi this time around.