The words she writes on her hand say it all – Finland’s lone squash star has learned a cold-blooded attitude: “Thinking about others but yourself is unnecessary”

When Emilia Soini walks onto the squash court, few people cheer. She does everything to win and says it’s okay to be a jerk, as long as you do it for the right reasons. If you want to be a winner, you can’t be friends with everyone.

30 years ago, Finland was one of the great squash nations in the world. Sami Elopuro and Tuula Myllyniemi were the top names who then belonged to the world elite. In connection with the depression in the 20th century, the sport fell in popularity and became a marginal sport.

At the moment, Finland has only one player on the pro tour. Her name is Emilia Soini.

27-year-old Soini is currently among the top 50 in the world ranking and thus has full rights to play on the professional tour. In Finland, she is totally dominant and has not lost to a compatriot in ten years.

– I am quite alone at the moment, as it is about international squash. No other Finn is on the same level as me, says Soini.

Soini is a hard-nosed player who does everything to win. This can sometimes create tension in Finland as others do not see the sport as she does. Her aggressive playstyle and psychs make her a piece of shit in the eyes of many.

Also her own.

The Sportlivs mini-documentary about Emilia Soini:

The raw professional world

– You often make the same mistakes. Instead of hitting a high ball and buying some time, you play your way out of the situation and give me the advantage.

Emilia Soini instructs her training partner during one of the Finnish national team’s training sessions in Tali in Helsinki. The domestic squash top is preparing for the team EC, which will be played in the same hall later in April.

Soini goes straight to the point and gestures with big gestures. It is abundantly clear that this is a colorful person who is not afraid to speak his mind.

She hits the ball against the wall and places her training partner in the same position as before. This time a high ball is returned.

– Good! Do you notice the difference?, Soini shouts on the fly.

When Emilia Soini moved to the USA as a 17-year-old, she was already ranked number one in both Finland and all of Europe. The interest in the promising Finnish lady was great among the schools in the USA and Soini saw here an opportunity to be able to start investing wholeheartedly in the sport.

– I saw this as my chance to develop. If I had remained in Finland, I would not have had the necessary financial conditions.

She started high school in Rhode Island on the east coast. That way she got the chance to participate in the US Junior Open. From there, the chance for a license on the professional tour, PSA Professional Squash Association, opened up.

Soini quickly climbed up the rankings and squeezed into the top 100. In order to get into the cash-strapped major tournaments, you have to be in the top-50. It was the following goal.

– I did everything I could to climb up the rankings but it proved almost impossible to reach that high.

The larger tournaments give higher ranking points than the smaller ones. Although there were victories and final places in the smaller tournaments, the ranking did not rise. She got a place in the elite tournaments only when several top players made late withdrawals and then the preparation time was short and the successes modest.

– It seemed almost hopeless. Every time a new ranking was published I was disappointed.

Soini worked as a coach on the side to manage to pay for his professional venture. But the coaching proved to be valuable. While she taught others, she also developed herself.

After a few years of toil, successes and disappointments, the turnaround came – from a somewhat surprising direction, namely the corona pandemic.

Move back to Finland

When the corona struck, Soini decided to move home to Finland. All sports stopped for a time, even squash competitions. When things eventually started to move again on the competition front, it turned out that the move to Finland became important.

When many of the professional players did not get to travel and participate in competitions, Soini suddenly had a place in the big tournaments. Ranking points rose and Soini finally climbed into the top 50 in the world. She was given direct participation rights in all events and could finally know in advance where and when she will play.

– It is a slightly unfair system. Getting into the top 50 is hard, but when you finally get there, it’s hard to fall out.

It turned out that the move to Finland was a turning point in his career. But at the same time, new challenges arose.

During the years abroad, Soini learned what it takes to reach the top.

– Thinking about others than yourself is unnecessary. On the field you are there to win, not to make friends, she describes the attitude.

Professional life can be very difficult. As the only Finn with the right to participate in the major tournaments, Soini travels alone. She wins and loses alone.

– It requires a strong psyche, you have to be tough-skinned to cope. If self-confidence fails, the match is lost.

It’s okay to be a jerk

In Finland, Emilia Soini has encountered a new problem. Opponents don’t see the sport the same way she does. For Soini, it’s about her profession – not a hobby.

Her attitude on the field is something that others find difficult to adopt. The playing style also makes the rag move.

– I don’t get on the pitch to have fun and make friends. I always play to win, regardless of whether it’s training or a match.

For many people, Soini is a real piece of crap because of his style of play. She also knows that herself.

She takes up a lot of space, plays cheekily, aggressively and can also be annoying and impulsive in the eyes of the opponent. Everything to be able to shake the opponent’s self-confidence and gain a mental advantage.

On the field, I only think about winning

― Emilia Soini

– It is very much about a psychological game with the opponent. I think it’s perfectly ok to be a piece of shit as long as you stick to the rules. Winning is the only thing that matters.

Many people form their opinion of Soini based on how she is on the pitch. They have a hard time understanding that she is a different person outside.

– They take what happens on the field personally and do not understand that I am there to do my job and that I want to do my job properly.

Champions are assholes

Being the obnoxious person on the pitch takes a lot of energy and is also mentally draining. Many times she has doubted herself and felt guilty about her behavior.

To ease the bad conscience, she writes a few words on her hand before each match. To help her remember why she behaves the way she does.

The words are champions are assholesdirectly translated “masters are assholes”.

– The text eases my feelings of guilt and reminds me that my behavior is okay as long as it goes on the field and is rooted in the will to win.

She herself does not feel like a hated person on the field, but more like an unpleasant opponent that no one likes to face. The difficult thing for Soini is when the opponent does not see the difference between the two sides of her.

Another person in the stable

The training clothes in the squash hall have been changed to boots, a large, slightly dirty coat and equally dirty trousers.

Emilia Soini steps into a stable in Espoo. Inside the door, she gets a hug from a girl who is standing with a brush in her hand. Immediately they start talking about their favorite horses.

Soini’s body language is totally different from that on the squash court. She walks with calm movements and pats and talks kindly to the horses.

After moving to Finland, Soini has started riding, as a counterweight to squash. There she encountered a whole new world. She could come to the stable without anyone knowing who she was. There, all contacts have started from scratch.

– It has been refreshing and nice when there were no prejudices, but everyone formed their opinion of me according to how I am in reality. Here I can really be myself.

The stable has become the place where she can relax and not have to feel guilty about what she does or says.

EC at home

On April 26–29, the European team squash championship will be decided in Helsinki, and Soini is a supporting force in the team. Finland plays in the highest league and the association has set the goal of winning a medal.

For Soini, the EC does not mean much for her personal career, but since on the pro tour she always ends up playing without teammates, this is a rare chance to have a team around her.

– The opposition will be tough, but we hope we succeed in consolidating our place in the top league, says Soini.

Soini is happy to share his knowledge with the less experienced teammates. Here, most people know the difference between Emilia Soini on and off the pitch. On the other hand, the opponents must be prepared that the Finnish scumbag will do everything to win.

Champions are assholes will again be carved into the palm of her hand and on the field she will not make any new friends.

But she counters:

– Winners always have friends.