As ever the Faroese cup finals produced great awareness as they were broadcast live on TV and radio, and again the event 
managed to draw full houses as well. On Saturday Fleyr Tórshavn triumphed in the women’s final to claim their first ever title in the competition as the men of ÍF Fuglafjørður turned the odds in their favour to celebrate their third success in four years.
Women’s Cup Final
Fleyr Tórshavn vs. SÍ Sørvágur 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-20)
Having been a force in Faroese Volleyball back in the eighties and nineties, Fleyr hadn’t won a major trophy since their last national title in 1997 and had never managed to win the Faroese cup final since its inception in 2000, but that agonising wait finally came to an end on Saturday as Fleyr beat SÍ Sørvágur in emphatic style in straight sets.
Fleyr, meaning light breeze in Faroese, started the match like a hurricane, though, and took a massive 14-3 lead before winning the first set 25-14.
SÍ seemed to have recovered in the second set, edging ahead first at 9-4 and afterwards at 17-12. But in no time, their lead was erased as Fleyr won seven points in a row to take a 19-17 lead after magnificent serving from Anna Sára Skálum. It was a neck and neck race up to 22-all when Fleyr got a decisive break to clinch the set 25-22.
It was tight again in the early stages of the third set, but at 12-11 Fleyr made a leap to 15-11 and never allowed SÍ back into the game, winning the set 25-20 and with it also their first ever cup final.
Anja Danielsen, who was voted Fleyr’s best player said: “Throughout the season we have played better and better and we have been on a good run lately. We had confidence on court today and we knew what we had to do to win.”
Men’s Cup Final
ÍF Fuglafjørður vs. SÍ Sørvágur 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 26-24)
For the fourth time in a row the men’s final was between ÍF Fuglafjørður and defending cup winners SÍ Sørvágur, who last year had won the deciding stage of the competition 3-2.
With ÍF trailing SÍ by 15 points in the league, most pundits had made SÍ favourites for the cup, but ÍF had other plans; with wealth of experience in their team, but spearheaded by flying 23-year old Bárður Jacobsen, ÍF were up for the challenge and won in straight sets to lift their third cup in four years.
Although straight sets could indicate a one-sided affair, it was anything but, and the difference was never more than two points throughout the match. In fact, Magnus Tausen, President of the Faroese Volleyball Association described the match as “one of the best three-set-matches I have ever seen.”
17-year old ÍF player Hjørtur Sólstein said: “We lost last year, so we are very pleased to win this time. We have also worked extremely hard for it these last weeks.”
CEV Small Countries Association 