Meltron Finnish Masters Open – Squash, summer and Helsinki go together!

Last year we organised the 1^st Meltron Finnish Masters Open (MFMO) in Helsinki and we hoped, it would be the beginning of a new squash tradition in Finland. The history is still short, but we have promising perspectives to the future. We were very happy to welcome this year 40 players more, in total 115. Squash, summer and Helsinki seem to go very well together.

 

We learnt a lot at the 1^st tournament and wanted to upgrade the 2^nd MFMO. Our organising team (7 persons) started to run monthly meetings in January. The local club, Salmisaaren Sisu gathered 15 volunteers for the whole weekend. Another volunteer was Petteri Repo, THE photographer of Finnish squash. It was a nice surprise to many players to find themselves next day in a sporty photo, playing in the full-glass court (see e.g. the enclosed photo of a diving Peter van Heiß).

 

This year we were very pleased to be able to welcome much more foreign players. We heard many of them combined the tournament with a stay in Finland, alone or with family members. While the number of players were increasing, we could also see the competitive level of different events was higher.

 

All players are warmly welcome to Helsinki again. Then we will see, if James Hyatt (ENG) will be the first foreign player taking his 3^rd title at MFMO, if Olli Tuominen (PSA 57) will, at the players´ party, make another unforgettable musical performance or if any new diving squash stars could be photographed. The next MFMO will take place on 02.-04.08.2019. Save the date and see you then!