Grankulla IFK leads the final series over Dicken with 2–0. On Tuesday, GrIFK can take its first FM gold since 2009.
Dicken won the regular season in the women’s handball league, while Grankulla IFK finished second. The same teams meet in the FM final, but looking at the regular season, the position is currently the opposite: GrIFK have won the first two final matches, Dicken is still chasing his first victory.
Tuesday night match ball, in other words.
Where Cocks has by far dominated men’s handball in recent years, the two giants of women’s handball have been Dicken and HIFK, although GrIFK made it to the final last year as well.
Helsinki IFK this year had to settle for FM bronze, while GrIFK again challenges Dicken for the noblest denominations. And, as I said: at the time of writing, the advantage is the Grankulla team, which is trying to seize its second Finnish championship on the women’s side.
Took match ball in front of packed stands
So far, in any case, things have gone according to plan: in the first final on Wednesday, Grankulla surprised IFK Dicken away from home with the odd goal 24–23, and in the return on Friday in a packed Granigrotta, the home team was better with 27–22.
In last year’s finals, Dicken was better with a clear 3-0, but now the numbers are reversed – unless Dicken gets a new course on the boat.
– None of our players were there the last time we won, so of course this would be a big deal considering that Dicken has dominated the series for several years, Säger Johanna Hilli för Yle.
– It would feel very good to win. A victory tonight would be great, we would have surpassed ourselves then, says Hilli.
The third final match starts in Britas in Helsinki at 19.15. Three victories are required to be crowned Finnish champions.
