Finland edge past Denmark in straight sets to claim fist victory on home soil

In front of 6,583 people at Nokia Arena in Tampere, the first match of Pool C saw the Finnish home heroes beat Denmark 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-20). It was a great way for Finland to start the competition that stopped here for the fourth time after 1977, 1993 and 2021.

Finland vs Denmark 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-20)

The first set started point on point: Luka Marttila for the home team and Oskar Madsen for Denmark were the two main scorers at the beginning. From 9-6 onwards were the local heroes to take the lead of the set: the Marttila’s brothers (Luka and Nooa, both 4 points at the end of the set) were on fire and they took the momentum of their team to 14-8. Denmark tried to answer with Madsen (5 points at the end of the set) but the Finnish side quickly extended the gap to 21-14. But it was not finished, because thanks to two aces in a row for Denmark's Ulrich Dahl, Denmark eventually recovered to 21-23. But then again Joonas Jokela scored the 25th point to give his team the first set.

The second set seemed easier for the white-and-blue team, who jumped to a 12-6 lead thanks to great blocks and attacks from Luka Marttila and Jokela. The Danish head coach tried to change things up in his team, with the substitution of setter and captain Axel Jacobsen (the oldest player in the tournament), but the score didn’t change: Finland was great in blocking (2 in the set) and Luka Marttila thrilled the fans of Nokia Arena when he had to spike three times to score a single point on 17-10. As per the previous period, quite at the end Denmark got a few points in a row with Ulrich Dahl, but it wasn’t enough to recover from a deficit of 10 points.

In the third set it was Finland which lead from start to finish. Again thanks to the best scorer of the match Joonas Jokela (17 points, like teammate Luka Marttila) and flawless team performance (68% the attack efficiency), there was not a moment where they didn't control the set (10-6, 17-12). Denmark got back the captain Jacobsen but despite his talent, the whole squad could't stage a comeback and the Finnish team won their first match in straight sets.