The finals are set in Rovaniemi, and hosts Finland feature in both
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Saturday carried on where Friday left off: full halls, loud benches and five countries that have not given away a single ball cheaply all weekend as the NEVZA U20 and European Championship qualifiers continued in Rovaniemi. The eventual winners will crown themselves NEVZA U20 champions and also qualify for the Final Round of the European Championship scheduled for the summer of 2027 in Croatia/Montenegro (Men) and Italy/Malta (Women).
Finland took care of its own business the way the home crowd hoped. The boys beat Norway 3-0 before noon and Denmark 3-1 in the afternoon, the first set the hosts have dropped in the tournament. The girls beat Norway 3-0 and then Sweden 3-0 in the evening. Four matches in two days for each team, all of them won, and the girls are still yet to lose a set.
The drama of the day came in the last match of the evening, when Sweden and Norway’s boys settled who faces Finland in the final. Both came in with one loss, and the match was in effect a semi-final. Sweden took it 3-1 and will therefore play for gold on Sunday. Norway will meet Denmark for bronze; Denmark picked up its first win of the tournament in the morning by beating England 3-2, the only five-set match of the weekend this far.
The girls’ final was determined already in the morning when Norway beat Denmark 3-1. Norway’s only loss of the tournament is to Finland, and the same two meet again on Sunday for gold. Denmark and Sweden play for bronze, Sweden having taken its first win on Saturday, 3-0 over England.
For England’s teams the weekend has been hard on the scoreboard, but the boys’ morning match against Denmark shows how they have played: two sets won and the decision only in the fifth.
Sunday is medal day at Santasport. The girls’ bronze medal match Denmark vs Sweden starts at 9:00 and the boys’ bronze medal game featuring Norway and Denmark follows at 11:00. The girls’ final Finland vs Norway is scheduled to begin at 13:00 and the boys’ final Finland vs Sweden follows at 15:00. Every match is streamed live on the CEV official YouTube channel.