NHL

EKI & Artuzio qualified for NHL19 Finnish Championship

This upcoming week, our two NH19 players will participate in the Finnish Championship. Our player Erik ‘’EKI’’ Tammenpää is heading into the event as the defending champion in 1v1. Will the Sampi players collect a title here after leaving the world championship empty-handed? 

The Finnish Championship has a combined prize pool of €10,000 being split between the 1v1 and the 6v6 event. Both events will take place in the capital of Finland, Helsinki. The 1v1 champion will be determined on Friday, August 2nd and the winner gets €2,500 of the pot. While the following day, we will see the best Finnish team crowned in the 6v6 event. The winning team will claim a prize of €3,000.

New for the 6v6 event is that non-Finnish players can participate in the team tournament. As long as 51% of the team is Finnish. EKI will participate in both, 1v1 & 6v6, tournaments. Artuzio will represent us only in 1v1.

Erik ‘’EKI’’ Tammenpää who recently finished 4th at the world championship in Las Vegas, and is the defending Finnish champion, is invited to the 1v1 event as seed #1. Arttu ‘’Artuzio’’ Mustilla has secured himself a spot in the 1v1 tournament after going through the qualification.

Artuzio interview

Q: We saw you missing out on the NHL GWC. Has this given you more or less motivation heading into this tournament?

• “The GWC is the biggest tournament in the year so it was a big disappointment not to be qualified. The Finnish championship tournament gives me a new chance to shine and to show that I am able to compete with the best players in the world even though I didn’t qualify to the GWC.”

Q: What goals do you have for this event?

• “My the one and only goal are to win of course the whole tournament.”

Q: Who do you see as the strongest challengers?

• “I think that EKI and xDoumi are the strongest challengers for me at the moment.”

Q: What would a victory in a stacked field like the Finnish championship mean to you?

• “The victory would be so important to me! I have only two podium places this year so I’m glad that I still have a chance to achieve one more!”

EKI interview

Q: You’re the defending champion. Does that add any extra pressure for you?

• “Not really any added pressure, of course, there’s always a bit of nerves going in to a tournament but I feel confident in my abilities and will live with the results.”

Q: You ended up leaving Las Vegas without the world title. Has this given you more motivation to claim a title here in Helsinki?

• “Yes.”

Q: Who do you see as the strongest challengers? 

• “I always say PleeMaker because we play so much and I know what he can do. Really hard to say apart from that. I’m intrigued to see how good Hansulinho is now and I know Artuzio has been very good lately so I’m also excited to see how he does.”

Q: Can you try to explain to people how hard it is to win a Finnish championship?

• “I feel like winning the tournament with the best 16 players in Finland is as hard as winning an NHLGWC final.”