Ahti Lampi: I played 5 best games in my life in the final against Maxim Borisov

2 times European Champion from Finland, Ahti Lampi, is our guest today. He tell us about his own way in table hockey, about motivation that he found for playing, about his impressions from Saint-Petersburg week-end and about what he’s waiting from European Championship in Riga. (Ahti answered on questions before ECh)


-Ahti, your victory in Saint-Petersburg Masters was the first big victory for you after 2 years break. Was it really important for you to win Masters and how you felt all this period without trophies?

-Yea, it was important victory for me. But I didn&rsquot think when going to Masters that now I must win, I thought more like lets go play some tablehockey. I thought all the time I still have the skill to win but I wasn&rsquot sure I could use the skill as perfectly as newer players like Oleg and Maxim (Dmitrichenko and Borisov – Y.G.).

-What was the reason of these 2 years without big victories, how you think?

-I think it was mostly about the level of my opponents getting stronger so winning became harder.


-What was the most difficult on your way to win Masters?

-The playing system was little bit strange so I decided not to think about it too much and just play, and I had some luck with the opponents. Maxim Borisov was the hardest opponent but I played probably the 5 best games of my life so I won surprisingly easily.

-What can you say about the organization of Masters?

-Good organization, maybe the best organized tournament in Russia where I&rsquove been.


-What are your impressions of the 2nd day in Saint-Petersburg and the World Club Championship?

-The only impression I had after WCCh was Arturs Vercins destroying us in the final.

-Tell us something more about this event please. Galaxy was most ranked team, but you had lot of tough games during the tournament, what was the reason of it?

-Me and Oleg Dmitrichenko were very bad in the group stages and there were many other good teams. But in playoffs our team played quite well and Oleg didn&rsquot lose a single game I think. But Vercins got one point from him and the final was decided by one point, so anything could have happened.

-Will you continue to play in team Galaxy next season?

-No I don&rsquot think so. But the WCCh was a nice experience.

-Which tablehockey tournament is your favorite? And why?

-There are many great tournaments but maybe Helsinki Open is my favorite, because it&rsquos the first big tournament after the summer break, so it always feels interesting to play. And also because it&rsquos played in Helsinki center and I can usually stay in some friends place very near to the tournament venue.

-Let’s talk about European Championship. You won this tournament 2 times in a row in Open category and now Riga is coming and you have a great chance to do the hat trick. Are you preparing for it?

-I had a break from tablehockey after the WCCh until now but now I&rsquoll prepare for Riga for a while. I’m practicing, but don’t have many days for it… (We talked with Ahti more than 1 week before ECh in Riga –Y.G.)

-And how regularly you practicing as usual?

-I haven&rsquot practiced regularly in many years. From 2003 when I began to play I practiced almost everyday until World Championships-2007, but after that the practicing alone turned more to playing with Roni.

-When you are practicing, how your practices look like? Do you play some games or practice some moves or learning opponents or something else?

-I do all that stuff. Sometimes I play some games, sometimes I practice moves alone and sometimes watch videos or maybe think about defence and tactics.

-Ok, and who’s getting your attention now? Who will be your main opponents in Riga, how you think?

-Yanis Galuzo, Edgars Caics and Maxim Borisov. (The interview was before ECh, so now we know that Ahti lost to Maxim Borisov in 1/2 - Y.G.)

-What can you say about team category, who will play for Finland? Will you pretend for being in final?

-I think our top-6 players this year are quite clearly – it’s me, Janne Ollila, Janne Kantola, Teemu Koskela, Santtu Sainio and Juho Rautio. We have a good chance to get in the final and maybe even win Russia as Oleg and Zaharovs are not there, but of course not having Roni makes our chances much smaller than they could be. (Actually, this time team Finland with Ahti lost to Sweden in ? and got only 5th place – Y.G.)

-But last years Finland looks not so good in team competition. Even having Roni Nuttunen can’t guarantee the gold medal on big tournaments for you. What’s the reason? Is it some team spirit problem or something else?

-In Budapest-09 we were really bad, but in Turku-11 we were okay, it’s just getting almost impossible to beat Russia&rsquos best team. All five players in worlds top-10, players like Voskoboynikov don&rsquot even fit in the top-5. No problem with the team spirit and beating Russia is still possible even if it’s unlikely . I still think we are the second best team before Latvia when we have Roni playing too.

-How you started to play tablehockey, when you saw it first time?

-Minerva Martiskainen is my cousin and she met Konsta Jukka in 2003 and Konsta was already playing tablehockey. I had seen a tablehockey before but I became instantly interested about how good Konsta was.

-And what was your next step? How long was your own way to success? Who was your teacher?

-Konsta was my teacher. First I really wanted to be as good as he was and win more games against him. It took me a few years to get to his level but for a while when I was already getting better results than he did he was still winning me in playoffs always we faced. When I started to win against Konsta I also started to practice with Roni more and that&rsquos maybe what got me to the real top players. But I think my main secret has been motivation to be good, motivation is maybe the most important thing in getting to the top in tablehockey or in anything else.

-I absolutely agree with you in it! And which motivation and ambition you still have in tablehockey?

-I guess it’s to win the open category World Championships. But I think playing will stay interesting for me if I&rsquom able to stay among the top players.

-Do you have some more passions besides tablehockey?

-Yea. I like to read fantasy and science fiction books. I like summer, nature and animals. I play some computer or console games sometimes.

-Are you studying now somewhere?

-No, not studying now. I&rsquove tried some schools after the basic nine years everyone has to go but not finished any... Maybe after the summer some new school again. Unfortunately, still not possible to live with only tablehockey money.

-Let us hope that someday it becomes possible. Thank you, Ahti, and see you on next tournaments!