Last Saturday saw the first volleyball tournament of the year, and once again a record crowd turned out, with 78 participants in the table tournament. More would have come, but when a huge wave of registrations came in during the tournament week, it was no longer possible to extend the court reservations.

This time, it was decided to have 13 players in each group, which was clearly a good decision. This way, one of the players can turn the scoreboards, and there is some leeway in case someone gets injured. A table of 13 players is also mathematically as perfect as one with 12 players: each player plays with every other player five times on the same side and six times on the opposite side.

Approximately 2.5 groups worth of players primarily interested in the competition series signed up. It always causes some deliberation as to how to resolve such a situation – this time, one group was placed between the semi-competition and competition series (under the name ”lower competition preliminary group”). After the preliminary rounds, all players continued to play in one of the final rounds.

The relaxed final saw a very close competition for the win, which was only decided in the last round when Petr Anashin’s team took all three points. This put Petr in first place in the group, followed by Teemu Linnavirta in second place. Pekka Mäkiaho and Linda Weaver, who were tied for first place before the final game, had to settle for third place.

In the recreational final, the second and third-to-last matches were decisive in terms of the victory, with group winner Ilpo Virkki grabbing all three points. These points secured him the group victory by a two-point margin, even though he was on the losing side in the final match (only 2-1), with group runner-up Mikko Rajasalon taking the victory in that match.

In the lower semi-final, 13 matches were not enough to determine the winner, with Mikko Lahtinen and Mika Heikkinen both on 22 points. In the ensuing tiebreaker, Mikko’s team was stronger and thus took home the trophy. Taneli Ylitalo was third in the group, just one point behind the pair.

The upper semi-final also saw an exciting tiebreaker, as after 13 matches, Lidia Lipke and Paavo Lähteenmäki were tied at 20 points. In the end, Lidia’s team won a very close tiebreaker, giving Lidia a very valuable group victory, leaving a large number of players behind her. Pinja Ekmark, who had been very active in cheering on her teammates throughout the day, was awarded the Best Team Spirit trophy.

The lower competition final was perhaps the most intense, even, and exhausting battle of the entire tournament, ending only half an hour after the other groups. There were no three-point wins in the group, and about every other game ended with the smallest possible difference. In the final results, all players finished within six points of each other (11-17 points), and as many as four players shared the top spot.

In the upper competition final, the pass is in the air.

This meant that two tiebreaker games had to be played, the first of which saw Petra Järvimäki and Jone Virtanen’s team narrowly defeat Jarkko Myllynen and Pauliina Merra’s team. Jarkko and Pauliina thus had to settle for a shared third place. The second tiebreaker was also a very close and even battle, with Jone’s team ultimately coming out on top – giving Jone the group victory and Petra a hard-fought second place.

The upper competition final was also close, as before the last match, three players – Tuukka Ahonen, Ihor Lakhtionov, and last year’s Iskuri competition winner Hannu-Heikki Turunen – were tied at 19 points. However, no tiebreaker was needed, as Tuukka’s team won the last game and thus the tournament victory went to Tuukka, who was playing in his first Höntsy tournament, while Ihor and Hannu-Heikki had to settle for second place. The trophy for the best female player went to Suvi Solja, the only woman to make it to the final.

Overall competition underway

The first tournament also marked the start of the 2026 Iskuri and Peippaaja competitions. Points are collected from all tournaments, and the winner is awarded in the final table tournament. At the end of the article, you will find an explanation of how points are earned.

In the Iskuri tournament, Tuukka took the lead by collecting all possible points, winning both the tournament and his preliminary group. A couple of others also improved their basic rankings with extra points, of course. Ihor rose to second place on his own, as he was also second in his preliminary group.

Iskuri competition leaders:

1	Tuukka Ahonen	110
2	Ihor Lakhtionov	95
3	Hannu-Heikki Turunen	90
4	Jarkko Skyttä	75
4	Timo Honkola	75
6	Antti Kivimäki	74
7	Jaakko Luttinen	71
8	Sami Eskola	69
9	Suvi Solja	67
10	Kimmo Komulainen	65

The leader of the Peippaaja competition also scored maximum points, which in her case amounted to an impressive 120 points: Lidia was not only the best in her series (100 points), but also the best woman (10 points). These points would have been secured even with a slightly lower ranking, but winning the upper semi-final in the play-off brought an additional 10 points.

Peippaaja competition leaders:

1	Lidia Lipke	120
2	Matti Suohalme	90
3	Taneli Sainio	80
3	Jaakko Peltoluoma	80
5	Mikko Lahtinen	79
6	Tommi Linnavirta	73
7	Mika Heikkinen	72
8	Julia Perämäki	71
9	Taneli Ylitalo	65
10	Jussi Koskimaa	63

Many thanks to everyone who participated and congratulations to the winners! The next game will be played on Saturday, March 7, when it will be time for the team tournament. Registration for that begins NOW. See more information here or go directly to register here.

Attachment: Overall competition points

Basically, the Iskuri competition is for players in the competition series and the Peippaaja competition is for everyone else. For some, it is difficult to know which competition the points will be counted towards (e.g., this time, players in the lower competition group). We have now tried to estimate which series a player will mostly be in during the year. If the situation changes later and it is relevant to the competition, points can be awarded to the other competition as well.

In table tournaments, points are awarded as follows in both series: 1. 100 p, 2. 90 p, 3. 80 p, 4. 75 p. – from this point on, each player always receives two points less than the previous one. In the Peippaaja competition, the 2 points are only deducted from the internal rankings of the series, but in the Iskuri competition, they are also deducted from the Peippaaja series players who have slipped into the rankings.

In addition: the winner of the preliminary round receives 10 points and the runner-up 5 points (in the case of a tie, the points are also divided, and if the first place is shared, the runner-up points are not awarded). The best woman in the series receives 10 extra points. Winning a competition other than the top final will earn you 10 points and second place will earn you 5 points. (If there are several people in second place, they will all receive 5 points).

In team tournaments, points are awarded as follows: the members of the last team in the series receive 5 points, and each place above that brings 5 additional points. As usual, we will publish the results for the top finishers. If you placed lower and would like to know your exact ranking/score, please send a message to ilkka.virjo@hontsy.fi.