The 49-year wait is over, MBF finally wins the Finnish Championship
Mejlans Bollförening is finally also the number one in the Finnish Championship. Over the years, MBF players have won Finnish Championship gold medals in almost all competitions except the Finnish Championship, where the first opportunity arose when the club rose to the highest league level 49 years ago.
Now was the right time. MBF led the regular season from start to finish and was ultimately the clear winner in the Finnish Championship finals. In the semifinals, they defeated reigning champion PT-75 4-2 and in the final, PT Espoo 4-1.
In the semi-finals, we took a 3-0 lead with three clean (3-0) wins, but the missing fourth point only came in the sixth match. The victory was built on Igor Zavadsky's sure-fire defense, which gave no chances to the opponents. In addition, Lassi Lehtola and Madis Moos brought the missing wins with their confident play.
The final match started a bit worryingly when PT Espoo's Swedish reinforcement Johan Barius was the first player of the series to break down Zavadsky's defensive wall. Igor's impressive 24-0 set ratio was immediately "tainted".
Our team quickly returned to the golden path when Madis Moos, with possibly his best game of the entire season, knocked down Finnish national team player Aleksi Räsänen, the third-ranked player, and immediately afterwards Lassi Lehtola beat Lauri Hakaste with his confident performance.
The decisive moments of the exciting final were approaching when our power duo Igor and Lassi faced Espoo's guarantors of success, Räsänen and Barius.
"Even on the way here, my goal was to face Aleksin and try to beat him," says Igor, who lives and trains in Spain.
After two tight sets, Igor went his own way and won the next two sets with clear scores 11-6, 11-5. MBF was only one match win away from the championship.
Barius, who had advanced 11-0 in the series without a loss, faced Lassie. The Swede won the first two sets, but Lassie found extra energy.
I knew that if I could just raise the level of my own game, I could win, says Lassi.
The attacking game settled down, Lassi rhythmized his game with good tempo changes and got level. The sets were 2-2 and the match culminated in a 9-9 situation. After a great ball rally, Lassi got the first match point – which also ended the match when Barius failed to serve.
A little embarrassed, I jumped off the bench, screaming with joy, even though it was my opponent's failure. This brought out more emotions than I've ever experienced before., our club's "iceberg," Moos explains.
The season has been incredibly great and in the final stages we have grown into a good supportive group., continues Moses.
Our fourth player in the final tournament, Johan Pettersson, was left without a match this time as a doubles specialist, as both matches were decided before the doubles.
Better this way, Pettersson smiles.
During the season, the team also featured Leon Viherlaiho and Marina Donner.
The change in policy brought results
Team manager Thomas Hallbäck says that the success in the Finnish Championship is due to a change in policy. MBF has not previously sought success by strengthening the team with outside players, but has focused on junior work.
We are a breeders' association founded in 1969, where junior work has always been a priority.
The last and only time our Finnish Championship team was strengthened by a foreign player was in 1990. At that time, 15-year-old Vladimir Samsonov came to the club to play and train with Linus Eriksson. MBF finished fourth at that time, which was our best Finnish Championship placement until yesterday.
Samsonov was pretty much unbeatable in the series – and seven years later he was already playing in the men's World Championship final against Jan-Ove Waldner. MBF and Finnish table tennis history too.
Many other players have also risen to the top in other clubs through our club – including Mika Räsänen, Miikka O'Connor and Lauri Hakaste – because we have not been able to offer a league place at a sufficiently high level.
When young Lassi Lehtola and Leon Viherlaiho To ensure their development, they left our club as young juniors and decided that our policy had to change., says Chairman Matti Vainio.
When the club was offered a place in the Finnish Championship two years ago after HIK dropped out, the decision to also invest in reinforcements was easy to make.
We were happy that our own graduates Lassi and Leon returned to the club with the arrival of Marina and Johan, and with Marina's tips we found a promising young player in Estonia - Madis Moos, says Vainio.
The Finnish Championship gold tasted especially sweet now, because fifth place a year ago came after minor setbacks.
Our team would have been ready to play for medals last year, but the competition committee had scheduled the Finnish Championship round to be played at the same time as the European Championship qualifiers. We had to play with a weakened team because transfer permits were not granted for Finnish Championship matches, even though two of our players were representing their country at the European Championship. We narrowly missed out on the final tournament., Hallbäck repeats.
This season, one new player, Ukrainian Igor Zavadskyi, strengthened our team decisively in one regular season tournament and in the final tournament.
Igor's contribution was significant, and not just in terms of his game. Igor, who works as a professional coach for the Great Britain Paralympic team for half the year, stressed in the final match the importance of seeking positive energy "from the bench", by rejoicing after successes.
Thank you for your support.
Our entire team was especially grateful to the club members who came to the hall to cheer on the team. The club's supporters turned the Ruskeasuo hall into MBF's own hall.
MBF will continue to rule here, hopes Hallbäck.
Igor also had time between the semi-final and the final to tell the interested club's own players about his stick and its different characteristics for offensive and defensive play. This type of cooperation is already an indication that the decision to invest in a strong representative team has been the right one. Our own young players need role models in their club and an indication of what they can achieve in the ranks of their own club.
Semi-final: MBF-PT-75 4-2:
Lassi Lehtola-Aki Kontala 11-3, 11-5, 11-9, Igor Zavadskyi-Otto Tennilä 11-7, 11-8, 11-5, Madis Moos-Riku Autio 12-10, 11-5, 11-5, Lehtola-Tennilä 4-11, 11-5, 5-11, 8-11, Moos-Kontala 12-10, 8-11, 11-6, 8-11, 4-11, Zavadskyi-Autio 11-7, 11-5, 11-5.
Final match: MBF-PT Espoo 4-1:
Zavadskyi-Johan Barius 3-11, 11-7, 8-11, 4-11, Moos-Aleksi Räsänen 11-7, 14-12, 7-11, 11-8, Lehtola-Lauri Hakaste 7-11, 13-11, 11-5, 11-6, Zavadskyi-Räsänen 11-8, 10-12, 11-6, 11-5, Lehtola-Barius 4-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9.
MBF Finnish Championship winners: Marina Donner, Lassi Lehtola, Madis Moos, Johan Pettersson, Leon Viherlaiho, Igor Zavadsky.