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Santeri Siren
Born: 1996
Hometown: Helsinki
Height: 196 cm
Achievments:
Finnish Championship - Gold 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
innish Championship - Silver 2016, 2017
Fivb World Tour Budapest & Varsova 2021, 1. place
Youth Olympic Games 2014 , 4. place
UU22 European Championship 2017 5. place
World ranking 55
Jyrki Nurminen
Born: 1990
Hometown: Vantaa
Height: 188 cm
Achievments:
Finnish Championship - Gold 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Finnish Championship - Silver 2011, 2015
Finnish Championship - Bronze 2013, 2014
Fivb World Tour Budapest & Varsova 2021, 1. place
European Championship, Jurmala 2017, 25. place
World Ranking 55
TEAM TMR INVEST
“The first Finnish winner on the Beach Volleyball World Tour.”
Beginnig of Story
We first met in the autumn of 2013, when Santeri arrived to study at Mäkelänrinne Sports High School on the beach volleyball program. For Santeri, as well as for Veikka Manninen and Marko Määttänen—who were completing their military service at the Finnish Defence Forces Sports School—organized morning training sessions were arranged twice a week at the biitsi.fi arena under the guidance of national team coach Kai Liukkonen.
The young players lacked regular training partners, so I, along with a group of other players from the Finnish Championship Tour, was selected to join the training group. Unfortunately, there isn’t much time for conversation during practice, so Santeri and I didn’t really get to know each other properly until the spring of 2014, when we were training in Turkey at the same time.
At that point, Santeri was a 17-year-old rising star who was just beginning his transition into adult-level competition.A
My regular partner Pekka Piippo was injured in the spring of 2017, and I was frantically considering where I could find a replacement partner. My game felt strong, and there was an opportunity to play a CEV Satellite tournament in Gothenburg in April. Santeri had spent the semester…
In 2016–2017, Santeri studied business administration in Germany at Berlin International University while training with the German national team group at the Olympic Training Center in East Berlin. His year in Germany had taken his game to an entirely new level. Because of this, I didn’t seriously consider many other options in the end and decided to ask Santeri if he would be interested in teaming up for the tournament. Santeri said yes.
We managed to train together exactly once before the Gothenburg tournament in April. Santeri had spent the entire year in Germany training and playing as a defender, so our roles were not a match made in heaven right away. Nevertheless, the tournament went extremely well. To our surprise, we finished in 9th place, even though our blocking and team play were still a bit inconsistent at times. We celebrated the achievement with a hamburger meal at Gothenburg Airport. It was the first time the idea of playing together in the future truly emerged as a realistic option.
More serious discussions about partnering up began after the Finnish Championship finals in 2017. Santeri had originally planned to return to Berlin after the summer break to continue his studies and training. He had also been considering staying in Berlin more permanently to live there and compete on the German tour. As a result, Santeri’s life and future plans changed significantly when, in the autumn of 2017, we ultimately decided to join forces. Santeri moved back to Helsinki so that we could train together.
Our clear and ambitious goal was to succeed in international tournaments and to achieve every beach volleyball player’s dream: breaking through on the World Tour.
Haag's supriser
We played our first World Tour tournament in The Hague right at the beginning of 2018. The circumstances were challenging. An ankle injury had prevented me from training at full capacity. Despite that, we boldly set out to chase a spot in the main draw of a highly competitive four-star tournament.
The first real shock came when we advanced through the qualification rounds. Nothing like this had ever been seen before in Finnish men’s beach volleyball! And the momentum only continued in the main draw. We fought our way out of the pool with a dramatic third-set comeback, turning a 13–14 deficit into a 16–14 victory against Switzerland’s top pair, Beeler/Krattiger. From The Hague, we brought home a significant haul of FIVB ranking points, which secured us entry into future World Tour events.
The Hague tournament was a clear turning point. Thanks to the opportunities created by those ranking points, all of our plans for the 2018 season were suddenly rewritten. Even more importantly, The Hague was a major mental breakthrough for us. We realized that our level of play was no longer that far from the international elite. The others eat the same porridge for breakfast, and a rainbow shot lands in the sand abroad just as it does in Finland.
Training, training—and even more training.
In Pekka Piippo’s words, we are the first Finnish beach volleyball team to have a true side-out game—that is, a genuinely stable and hard-to-break reception and attacking system on the opponent’s serve. From a playing perspective, we are relatively well balanced across the different aspects of the game. We have had to train our blocking game especially hard, as we are essentially two defensive players. Fortunately, it has been developing steadily all the time.
Our goal is to professionalize our training even further in the future.
During the 2017–2018 season, we averaged only about one beach volleyball-specific training session per week! The rest of the time, we played indoor volleyball. Another peculiarity of our training setup was that we didn’t really have a dedicated coach. You don’t need to be Einstein to realize that this combination does not allow you to reach your full potential. In fact, it is more remarkable how strong our international results were, given the handicap we gave ourselves in terms of training volume.
With the support of the biitsi.fi arena, we have been able to increase our sport-specific training to three to four sessions per week. Jussi Tommola—who had previously assisted us mainly with analysis work before major tournaments—is now, for the first time, involved in all of our training sessions in the role of head coach. In addition to technical training, our weekly schedule includes four strength and conditioning sessions. In the autumn of 2018, our support team was further strengthened with the addition of a strength and conditioning coach to enhance our weight training. On top of the sport-specific and physical training, there is, of course, also supplementary recovery work, massage, and general body maintenance.
Treenien jälkeen Viron maajoukkueparin Tiisaar-Nolvak kanssa
To take our training to a fully professional level, the amount of sport-specific practice would ideally need to be increased slightly in the future—to around four to five sessions per week. However, both Santeri and I have work and study commitments alongside our athletic careers, so for the time being this goal remains more of an aspiration than a reality.
With the opening of the Teräsbiitsi facility in Tallinn, we began a training collaboration with the Estonian national team pair Tiisaar–Nõlvak (pictured). From a development perspective, it is extremely important for us to train regularly against an international-level team. Our aim is to increase the number of joint training sessions going forward, moving from occasional training weekends toward a more regular and close-knit training partnership.
As we train indoors during the winter season, it is essential that we get sufficient exposure to outdoor play well before the competitive season begins. Together with Hietsu Beach Volley, we have built the Jyrki Nurminen Beach Camp, which annually kicks off the outdoor season with a bang at the turn of April and May in Alanya, Turkey. The camp offers not only us, but also several Finnish Championship Tour teams and countless recreational players, high-quality training conditions along with a strong sense of community around beach volleyball. It has been incredibly rewarding to be involved in creating and developing what has already become a future classic for the Finnish volleyball community.
Without our partners, the matches would never have been played
Competing at the international elite level is expensive. Money is spent on competition travel in the form of flights, accommodation, and meals, but surprisingly large sums also go into everyday work: training slots, gym memberships, recovery services, and coaching. An elite athlete’s finances are further strained by time away from work due to international competitions, resulting in lost income. The higher an athlete aims in their career, the more crucial funding and partnerships become.
My first real sponsor was K‑Market Härkönen Karigasniemi. The store owner, Kai‑Erik Härkönen, had followed my early tournament updates on Facebook, which I had been writing since 2010 about my matches with my then partner, Pekka Piippo. Kai—“Kaitsu,” as he’s known—felt that by supporting my team he would not only experience the joy of backing a young athlete, but also gain visibility for his store. In the end, the partnership lasted six years, from 2012 to 2017. During those years, the name Härkönen Karigasniemi became firmly etched in the long-term memory of Finnish beach volleyball followers.
The partnership with Härkönen Karigasniemi came to an end in 2017. Our game with Santeri was just about to take off, and we were searching for a new main partner to support our ambitions on the world stage. I knew Tuomo Rissanen, the entrepreneur behind TMR Invest, who is not only a successful businessman but also an avid volleyball and beach volleyball enthusiast and supporter. It felt natural to ask whether Tuomo and TMR Invest would be interested in sponsoring us. In early September 2017, Tuomo and I sealed a long-term partnership with a handshake. Team TMR Invest was born.
Alongside TMR Invest, the Biitsi.fi arena is our team’s most important supporter. Both Santeri and I have received not only employment through Biitsi.fi, but also the opportunity to train year-round in top-class conditions.
In addition to our main partners, TMR Invest and Biitsi.fi, Santeri and I have several other, smaller partners helping us move closer to our goals. We are deeply grateful for all of these partnerships and for the support they provide.
Crowdfunding Fueled the Breakthrough
Despite our own partnership agreements, our push toward the world stage got off to a financially rocky start. In the autumn of 2017, we received the news that the Finnish Volleyball Federation would not be funding men’s beach volleyball in 2018.
Around the same time, Santeri was working through our competition budget in Excel and one evening asked our friend Sanna Laitala to go over it with him. As they dissected the numbers, our funding problems naturally came up. In her characteristically direct style, Sanna delivered a fiery pep talk to Santeri: “So what if there’s no funding? Then you raise the money yourselves. You have a huge beach volleyball community around you. People like you. Surely they’ll want to help if you just ask.”
Later on, I got to hear the same speech myself. At first, the idea felt a bit foreign. Would you really dare to start asking people for money?
Kiitostilaisuus 2018 tukijoillemme hämyisissä tunnelmissa Salmisaaren biitsihallilla
The idea, however, refused to go away. Together with Heikki Paija and Ilkka Lassila from Beach Volley Team Finland, we began planning our funding strategy toward the end of 2017. We decided to give it a try…
Kauden 2018 kiitostilaisuus tukijoillemme
Salmisaaressa biitsi.fi:n hallilla
…a crowdfunding campaign. Heikki found the platform Mesenaatti.me, a Finnish crowdfunding service, where we created a presentation about ourselves and our goals. Beach Volley Team Finland, run by Heikki and Ilkka, joined in to boost the campaign by promising to match every euro raised through crowdfunding—up to a total of €5,000.
The campaign exceeded all our expectations. A total of 65 backers came on board—mostly private individuals contributing their own money. We raised approximately €9,000, on top of the promised matching funds. While our partners secured the tournament travel for the early part of the 2018 season and made the breakthrough in The Hague possible, the crowdfunding campaign enabled us to train and compete at full capacity for the remainder of the 2018 season.
Beyond the financial relief, the support from the beach volleyball community and the people who participated in the campaign was deeply heartwarming. It truly felt like people believed in us, when so many were willing to help selflessly along the way.
Season 2018 - we went over the expectations
The 2018 season was the first time our competition calendar truly resembled what it needs to look like—at the very least—if you want to compete as a professional. By the autumn of 2018, we had traveled to 12 countries, played in 9 World Tour tournaments, and competed in 3 CEV events. It was only after the season ended that we really realized how many places we had been. During the season itself, you just push forward with blinders on, moving relentlessly from one goal to the next.
Our world ranking climbed from 126 to 55. From the CEV tournament in Gothenburg, we brought home a historic bronze medal. We became a pair that competed regularly in the main draws of World Tour events—and one that also picked up wins there. The leap was enormous, considering that for Finnish men’s teams, even advancing from qualification to the main draw had been an insurmountable barrier for decades. Suddenly, Jyrki and Santeri from Finland were playing alongside international stars—and holding their own against them. Victories over legends of the sport, such as two-time Olympic fifth-place finisher Sean Rosenthal and two-time World Championship fifth-place finisher Ben Saxton, proved that we belonged on the international stage.
The season also included bitter disappointments. The most painful of these was a loss to an Italian pair at the very brink of qualification for the Gstaad tournament, even though the decisive third set was already almost in our pocket. That same Italian team went on to have a deep run in the tournament and immediately took down, among others, the reigning Olympic champions.
A breakthrough into the Gstaad Major would have brought significant prize money and major ranking points. There was plenty of room for “what ifs.” On the other hand, before our 2018 breakthrough, even playing for stakes like that would not have been realistic. Our goals and realities simply changed radically as the season progressed. Surely, the bitter taste of Gstaad also planted the seeds of future success.
Göteborg 2018, CEV, kolmas sija
One thing we’ve learned on this journey is that if you want to achieve something, you’d better set your goals high.
Consistent Growth Throughout the 2019 Season
The 2019 season got off to a dream start in The Hague in January. We fought our way through qualification and into the main draw of a four-star tournament. In pool play, we defeated Brazilian Olympic champion Ricardo and his partner. It was a top-level match that also caught the attention of the Finnish media (Link: Hirmu Paukku – Suomalaiskaksikko kaatoi olympiavoittajan).
Santeri and I played the best beach volleyball of our careers up to that point.
From there, we advanced to the first knockout round and secured a win against a Polish pair. Our losses in the tournament came against Russia’s eventual 2019 World Championship gold medalists and Germany’s World Championship silver medalists. For once, the defeats didn’t sting. The final result marked the best finish in the history of Finnish men’s beach volleyball.
After The Hague, we headed to two-star tournaments in Cambodia in March and Turkey in May. Our confidence was high, and our goal was to break through into the medal matches. Both tournaments ended in ninth-place finishes, following frustrating 2–1 losses in the first knockout round.
Kypros, Continental Cup kultaa 2019
One of the most significant challenges of the 2019 season was the Olympic qualification process, the first phase of which was played in Cyprus in early June. Santeri and I won our pool with a victory over the French top pair Aye / Gauthier-Rath. While the win over the French team may not have been the biggest scalp of our careers, it was certainly one of the sweetest—because it was a golden match. Winning the pool secured our advancement and put us in an excellent position for the second phase of Olympic qualification, scheduled to be played in Madrid in May 2020. Spirits were understandably high.
The Olympic qualification trip to Cyprus remains one of my fondest tournament memories—not only because of the success, but also because for once we traveled with a proper Finnish team. We shared the journey and post‑match debriefs together: the Piippo / Topio pair, Coach Tommola, and team manager and massage therapist Heikki Paija. It felt like a real luxury to have Paija take care of all the logistics—what, where, and when—so the players could focus solely on competing, and to have our muscles taken care of after the matches.
The latter part of the summer was spent on the Finnish Championship Tour and on international courts. As the crowning achievement of the season, we claimed our second consecutive Finnish Championship title in the finals against the Määttänen / Määttänen pair. After that, we took a brief break from training before heading in November to the Jyrki Nurminen Beach Camp in Valencia to build momentum and regain outdoor match feel ahead of the final major international tournament of the season in China.
Overall, the season was a successful one. Coach Tommola’s role grew significantly during 2019, which resulted in higher-quality training, more ball repetitions, and a higher training tempo. We competed in several international tournaments with solid success, even though breakthroughs into the medal matches frustratingly remained just out of reach.
Towarsd to COVID 2020
The 2020 season was supposed to be busy and crucial—the season.
In mid‑February, we headed to Tenerife for a self‑organized training camp to prepare for the outdoor season, together with the Vetriö / Topio pair. Our local contact, Veijo Sievilä—well known to us from the Salmisaari and Pasila beach volleyball scenes—arranged outstanding training conditions and brought in sparring partners ranging from Spanish standouts to the rising Swedish junior stars Åhman / Hellvig.
At the end of February, we flew directly from Tenerife to Cambodia for a two‑star tournament, where we finished in ninth place. It was a decent result, but still a disappointment, as our performance was nowhere near our best. It felt like the travel, time differences, and intense heat had taken the sharpest edge off our game.
After the Cambodia tournament, our plans were clear: train for a solid couple of weeks in Turkey around the turn of April and May in connection with the Jyrki Nurminen Beach Camp, then head to Latvia to gain tournament rhythm, and finally—at peak form—set our sights on Madrid for the second phase of Olympic qualification.
Teneriffalla treenaamassa 2020 Veijo Sievilän hostaamana
Then COVID hit, and everything changed—just like it did for so many others. The competition calendar was wiped out in a single blow. There was huge uncertainty about whether we would be able to play any tournaments at all during the summer—internationally or even domestically. We had had high expectations for the season, and suddenly everything was cancelled. I have to admit that at this point my spirits were pretty low. In addition to our competitive careers being put on hold, it was also disheartening that we had to cancel the Jyrki Nurminen Beach Camp in Turkey. I felt bad for nearly 300 participants, but also personally, as the camp is one of the absolute highlights of my year. It was truly heartwarming how well the participants received the news of the cancellation and how supportive they were during a difficult moment.
At the end of May, it became clear that the Finnish Championship Tour would go ahead, and that there would also be tournaments in the Baltic region that Finnish teams could enter. There was finally a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. At the same time, we began developing JNBV’s activities in Finland, which eventually resulted in one children’s summer camp and two adult Jyrki Nurminen Beach Camps in Hietsu, Helsinki. It was great to be able to run training sessions on a larger scale at home as well. More positive news followed when it was confirmed that TMR Invest would continue sponsoring us—providing a financial foundation for the continuation of our international careers for at least a couple more years.
Santeri and I played all four stops of the Finnish Tour, winning three of them. So far, our only loss in a Finnish Championship Tour event came at the Helsinki stop in July, where we were defeated by the Lithuanian pair Robert Juchnevic / Artur Vasiljev—who, by their own assessment, played the best match of their careers up to that point. The Finnish Tour once again ended perfectly for us with another Finnish Championship title, which made me the most successful male player in Finnish history with six national championships. The previous record—five Finnish titles—had been held by the Haavisto–Vahela duo.
We also managed to play a few international tournaments in the Baltic region. The most memorable of these was the high‑level tournament held in Tallinn at the end of June, which featured top pairs from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. It was fantastic to once again test ourselves against international‑level opposition. We narrowly lost a semifinal match to Latvia’s Olympic bronze medalists, Plavins–Tocs. That match gave us confidence heading into the bronze medal match, where we defeated Lithuania’s top pair to finish the tournament with a satisfying third place.
Strong Momentum as COVID Restrictions Eased in 2021.
In the autumn of 2020, we took a bit of a break and a “COVID holiday” from training. Santeri was reflecting on the longer‑term future of his international career, as his business studies were nearing completion, while Jyrki discovered padel—the breakout sport of the pandemic era—as a new autumn pastime.
At the beginning of 2021, we resumed training with the Olympic qualification in mind. A strong start came to an unfortunate halt when Santeri injured his ankle during an indoor volleyball match. The footage of the injury was quite painful to watch, and it was unclear whether surgery would be required. Had surgery been necessary, it would have been far from guaranteed that the ankle would have recovered in time for the qualifiers.
Fortunately, the injury responded well to rehabilitation, and in April we were able to head to Fuengirola for a training camp together with other national team players. Once again, it became clear how crucial it is to kick off the summer season with an overseas training camp. Training in Finland can easily become fragmented, as everyday life interferes with sport—and in the spring season, outdoor play is often still completely missing.
Padelhommissa Jussi Wainion kanssa. Aina ei kentällä hymyilytä ihan näin paljon :-)
From Fuengirola, we moved directly on to the Olympic qualification tournament in Madrid. Although we didn’t advance, we played a solid tournament relative to our starting point. To be honest, beforehand there was even a bit of fear that we wouldn’t be competitive at all. We were heading into the tournament with limited training, and Santeri’s ankle was still not at full strength.
We had a bit of luck with the pool draw, as the group eased up when Norway’s top pair had to withdraw from the tournament due to a positive COVID test. In the first round of the Olympic qualifiers, we reached a golden match against the legendary Herrera after defeating Spain’s second pair, Menéndez–Huerta, who were hovering close to the top 30 in the world rankings.
Herrera is a formidable competitor. He won his first Olympic medal at a very young age back in 2000 and is still competing at the highest level. His playing style is such that he reads the court extremely late. It was fascinating to go up against a player like him. In the blocking–defense game, we threw everything we had at him, but in the end our firepower just wasn’t quite enough. The match ended in a tight 2–1 loss, decided in extra points at 19–17.
During the summer of 2021, Santeri and I played together throughout the entire Finnish Championship Tour, with the exception of the Kouvola event, when Santeri was sailing in Croatia. We had known already early in the year that Santeri would miss one of the tour stops, and since I still wanted to compete, we needed to find a replacement blocker for the right side.
I initially had three options in mind, and ultimately decided to ask Marko Määttänen, whom I knew to be one of the best blockers in Finland. Marko responded positively to the invitation and agreed on the arrangement with his regular partner. We managed to train an impressive total of three times before the Kouvola tournament.
I still remember Marko saying in the Varisto locker room during practice: “We should try to get you, Jyrki, a good result from this tournament so that my regular partner and I won’t have to play qualifiers in Kalajoki.” I replied with a straight face: “Don’t worry—we’re going to win this tournament.” And we did—quite convincingly, in fact. It was easy to play behind Marko. Defending the sharp cross‑court angle in particular was a pleasure, knowing the ball wouldn’t slip past the blocker’s line.
By the end of the summer, the tally included victories at all Finnish Championship Tour events and a fourth consecutive Finnish Championship title with Santeri, secured in Tampere. The final against Teppo and Pekka was a crowd‑pleasing thriller and extremely tight. At 10–6 in the third set, I briefly found myself thinking that defeat might actually be coming. In the end, however, through our own strong performances, we managed to grind out the win against Pekka and Teppo, who played an outstanding match. The championship victory also sealed a remarkable domestic unbeaten streak—four seasons and 66 matches without a loss.
Suomitiimi vääntämässä punttia Fugessa Ignacio Batallanin Trainme -pajalla ennen Madridin olympiakarsintaturnausta
Madridin olympiakarsintaturnauksessa
Historic Success on the International Stage in Autumn 2021.
At the end of the summer, three World Tour tournaments awaited us: Budapest in late August, followed by Warsaw and Cervia in early September. The closing stretch of the season turned into true Team TMR Invest super weeks, as we achieved something genuinely historic—first securing two consecutive tournament victories, and then adding a bronze medal on top of that.
No one in Finland had ever won a World Tour tournament before. To be precise, no Finnish team had ever even achieved anything particularly notable at that level. When Santeri and I started to find some success in 2018, a modest thought began to form—that it would be amazing to someday stand on the podium of a World Tour event. Now, within a short span of time, we had claimed three medals. The feeling was—and still is—pretty incredible.
Winning even a single tournament is a major achievement. Each event featured completely different opponents and top-level professional teams. Personally, I feel that our hard‑fought comeback victory in the Finnish Championship finals played a key role in carrying us into this strong run of form with Santeri and boosting our confidence in our own game. It would have felt completely different heading into those tournaments had we suffered a loss in the national championship final instead.
Voitonhuumaa Budapestin WT-tournauksessa
After the trio of international tournaments, the plan for late autumn had been to take a break from competition and training. However, another event suddenly appeared on the calendar: a four‑star World Tour tournament in Itapema, Brazil. Santeri and I decided to submit our entry—with the condition that we would go only if we gained direct entry into the main draw. And that’s exactly what happened. Thanks to our strong results at the end of the summer, we secured a historic direct main‑draw spot and headed to the final tournament of the year to challenge the world’s top pairs.
After 27 hours of travel and COVID‑related quarantines, we managed to squeeze in three three‑hour training sessions over three days in the Atlantic winds and were ready for the tournament. In pool play, we suffered a loss to the familiar Belarusian pair but secured a win against an Argentinian team that had competed at the Tokyo Olympics. Our minimum objective was achieved, and we were able to take on a strong German pair without pressure.
We played outstanding volleyball for a set and a half, but in the closing stages of the sets the Germans came out on top and ultimately won the match in the third set, 15–13. The final result for us was 17th place, 320 FIVB ranking points, and $3,000 in prize money.
After the tournament, the overall feeling was very positive. It genuinely felt like we were quite close to the world’s elite level—able to win matches and seriously challenge top pairs even with relatively limited outdoor training.
Biitsikaverit järjestivät yllätysvastaanoton HKI-Vantaan lentokentälle Budapestin WT -voiton jälkeen. Lehdistöä vielä odotellaan... :-)
30 Minutes on a Bumpy Court and a Bit of Late-Night Work – How We Prepare for International Tournaments”
Many people probably have a rather rosy picture of what on‑site preparation for international tournaments looks like. Let alone what it’s like for Santeri and me, when full‑time jobs and everyday life tend to get in the way of sport. In reality, training slots at international tournaments are extremely limited—usually a maximum of about 30 minutes, typically just once per day. That means your homework needs to be done before you ever step onto the court. If there’s one positive to be found, it’s this: you always get to play matches with a well‑rested body ☺
A fairly typical example of tournament preparation would be Budapest in August 2021:
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Jyrki arrives at the destination on Wednesday afternoon.
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Santeri arrives late on Wednesday evening, as he had a workday in Finland.
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Jyrki gets one 30‑minute training session on Wednesday evening as a third wheel with a British pair.
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On Thursday, Santeri works remotely during the day, while Jyrki does a gym session.
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On Thursday evening, Santeri and Jyrki squeeze in a 25‑minute “quick session” with Estonian players—on an absolutely awful, crater‑filled court—just before the actual tournament begins.
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Friday to Sunday: tournament play, resulting in one loss, five wins, and a historic World Tour tournament victory.
A glimpse of more luxurious conditions, on the other hand, would be Cervia in September 2021, where Santeri had taken a vacation day from remote work the day before the tournament, and we even had a combined photographer‑coach with us in the support crew to feed balls during warm‑ups.
I have to give special credit to Santeri, who always works remotely during our trips—for example, in Itapema, Brazil, even in the middle of the night due to the time difference—and still manages to perform at an exceptionally high level on the court.
Cerviassa luksusvalmistautuminen turnaukseen kuvaaja-valmentaja Pekka Törmän johdolla
World Tour Medals and a Place at the 2022 European Championships.
After the remarkable success of autumn 2021, the World Tour competition system was restructured from five tiers down to three. In practice, this meant that the overall level of World Tour tournaments increased significantly, while the number of events decreased. It did make you wonder whether you’d ever again get to wear a medal around your neck at an awards ceremony.
Still, riding high on confidence, Santeri and I set our sights on qualifying for the European Championships in Munich, Germany. We competed in tournaments across Brazil, Greece, Lithuania, Italy, and Slovenia. Along the way, we picked up a solid collection of good finishes and ranking points, as well as two extremely valuable bronze medals—results that ultimately secured our place at the European Championships.
The tournament circuit was particularly enjoyable because other Finnish players were often traveling with us. Anna Rantala and Anniina Muukka joined us at the tournaments in Italy and Slovenia, while Ida and Sara Sinisalo were also part of the Slovenian event. We helped each other throughout the tournaments, cheered each other on during matches, and trained together in the gym. Shared dinners and moments of gossip added to the experience. In Italy, after the tournament had ended, we even held what could best be described as informal “health and well‑being evening festivities” with Anna and Ansku—complete with spontaneous games and challenges born on a whim.
The European Championships themselves, held in Munich in August 2022, were an unforgettable playing experience and a massive multi‑sport event. Other disciplines, such as athletics—which is already a huge operation on its own—were part of the same championship framework. Everything was on a grand scale: a gigantic stadium and crowds everywhere at the venue. One of our matches on the main court was even broadcast on YLE Areena. There were enough Finnish fans in the stands that we could clearly hear Finnish‑language cheering while playing.
We were drawn into a tough pool and played a couple of fairly close matches against two teams that had finished fifth at the World Championships. In the end, however, we came up short and were eliminated. On a personal note, I still count one moment as a small personal victory: a cheeky “reiska” shot I played behind Olympic silver medalist Daniele Lupo. Thanks to that moment, I was able to leave the tournament feeling like a mental winner—even if a podium finish ultimately remained out of reach.
From European Championship to Knee operations
Two weeks after the European Championships, in late August, a long‑nagging jumper’s knee finally received the attention—and tender loving care—it deserved in Turku, at the hands of top sports orthopedic surgeon Lasse Lempainen. Although I’m generally careful with money, this €5,000 pampering session didn’t bother me at all. I had been dealing with the pain for eight years, and by that point the situation had deteriorated to the extent that I couldn’t even take a sudden step, let alone do something like squats in the gym.
Lasse promised to get the knee back in shape within three months. Rehabilitation progressed slowly but steadily throughout the autumn, even if it wasn’t all smiles along the way. At the training camp in Turkey in October 2022, I was already able to play with both feet on the ground, and the knee was clearly improving at a good pace.
However, in February 2023 at the Tenerife camp, competitive instincts once again got the better of common sense. We had trained hard for three consecutive days with Santeri and the other national team players. The fourth day was supposed to be a rest day. As fate would have it, on that very day the beach volleyball camp I was running had a King of the Court–style camp tournament, and one of the participants, Kasper Valtakari, was missing a partner. I figured I’d step in and thought, “Well, we’re obviously going to win this tournament anyway.” I told Kasper that if he covered a one‑meter strip of the court, I’d take care of the rest.
And yes—we did win. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s fair to say that the load on my rest day may not have been entirely optimal. The knee flared up so badly that after the tournament I had to skip about half of my own training sessions.
After the camp, I remember walking in a field near my home and calling my cousin to say that my career might be over. For a couple of weeks, I was only able to play individual sets. My spirits were pretty low.
In the end, though, there was no need for a doctor—at least not this time. I put myself on a two‑week course of anti‑inflammatory medication and forced myself to commit properly to rest and recovery routines. Before long, the knee started working again.
2023: Work - Work but dream Work
After the European Championships, there was a break in both training and competition as my long‑troubled jumper’s knee was surgically treated and rehabilitated back into playing condition. By March 2023, the knee finally felt like my own again, and Santeri and I turned our focus toward the summer international tournament season—once more chasing the ball from court to court at full throttle.
Vantaan Nations Cup in May, Biitsi Vantaa Varisto
It was great to get the chance to challenge the world’s top pair, Åhman / Hellvig. The level was high even at Varisto, although the playing surface clearly posed its own challenges for them as well. The last time we had played against Åhman was back in 2017 at a satellite tournament in Gothenburg, when he was still well underage. Looking back, we couldn’t help but note just how remarkable their development curve has been. It’s been a pleasure to follow the boys’ impressive careers.
Futures-tournament in June , Switzerland
We traveled to Switzerland fully aware that it is famously an expensive country. Even so, the cost level still came as a shock. A night in a basic hotel cost well over €200, and the only thing a Finnish guy’s budget could really afford to eat was local kebab—at the bargain price of €20 per portion.
Despite the expenses, we walked away from the tournament with a very satisfying fourth place to kick off the 2023 World Tour season, along with a lasting mental snapshot of the stunning scenery etched into our memories.
Futures -touranament, French, Lille
The Lille tournament came immediately the weekend after Switzerland, and we probably hadn’t fully recovered from the previous event. On top of that, my general fitness still wasn’t quite back to its old level following knee surgery. Even so, the tournament resulted in a perfectly respectable ninth-place finish.
After our run in the tournament ended, the plan was to head to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower and a few wonders of the big world. Santeri, still a young man, grabbed the opportunity without hesitation. I, on the other hand—now a family man and something of an “uncle figure”—opted for a work evening in a Lille hotel room, happily tapping away at Torneopali, putting together Finnish Tour tournament brackets.
I looked at the photos Santeri sent from the Eiffel Tower and thought, half-jokingly, “Almost like I was there myself.” I was content with my choice and reflected that perhaps I’ve traveled enough over the years that the strongest urge to roam has already passed.
Futures -touranament, Helsinki
It was a historic moment to finally compete in a World Tour tournament in Finland after all these years of playing abroad. For this, immense gratitude is due above all to the tournament organizer, Hietsu Beach Volley ry, its tireless volunteers, and chairman Kimmo Arola. Organizing a Futures‑level tournament requires an enormous amount of long‑term preparation, countless hours of hands‑on work during the event itself, and a strong network of partners willing to support the tournament financially.
Among my own partners, the event was made possible by my long‑time supporter Celsius, Kolmen Kaverin Jäätelö, and the venue company Hiekka Beachspot Oy.
Finnish Championship-finals, Tampere
After the Helsinki Futures tournament, we ended up playing a somewhat fragmented Finnish Championship Tour due to injuries. Despite that, we managed to get ourselves back into shape for the finals, and Santeri and I once again claimed Finnish Championship gold at the Tampere finals. On a personal level, this marked my ninth Finnish championship title, and already the sixth for Team TMR Invest as well.
Later in the summer, we also competed in Futures tournaments in Austria and Poland. We even got to finish the season on a high note in September, when we wrapped things up with bronze medals at the Polish tournament.
