Belarus
The match starring Belarus and Finland turned into an interesting clash right from the early phases of the first set. Finland started out well going up 8:6 and 14:7 and enjoyed a margin of sic by the second technical time-out. However, Belarus fought back to -1 (21:20) before Finland got to the front by three points (23:20). Belarus leveled at 23 and eventually wrapped it up at 26-24.
Belarus set the tone in set going up 8:5 but Finland clawed back for the 11 all; still Belarus could assert their supremacy (16:12, 21:14) and go for the provisional 2:0 (25-19).
Finland opened with a splendid 6:1 break in set 3 and maintained control of the operations (8:6, 13:9) stretching their margin to six points (20:14); even though Belarus fought back to 24:22, it was Finland that this time pocketed the set (25-23).
The score remained very close in set 4 but Belarus eventually claimed a margin of two that was maintained almost all the way through before Finland leveled at 23. However, in the deciding final rush Belarus had the upper hand (27-25) and could celebrate a 3:1 win.
