The Women’s Basketball League playoffs start on Saturday with the quarterfinals.
Eight teams are fighting for the championship, but based on the regular season, it is not unclear which team has the most expectations.
Torpan Pojat was the sovereign number one in the regular season, as the team lost only one of the 24 matches they played. The difference to Peli-Karhui, who finished second in the regular season, was crushing.
Captain of ToPo Taru Tuukkanen however, before the start of the season, he could not have expected that the team that finished sixth in the regular season last year would do so well. However, the spark for the championship was ignited already last spring, when ToPo left the finals with silver medals around their necks.
At that time, Peli-Karhut won the match series 3–0, but the struggles were even.
– Last year’s final loss was a pretty hard blow for us. Training for the new season began quickly after that, and a large part of the team immediately committed to the project. We are very hungry, Tuukkanen says.
Intensive training has continued in ToPo throughout the season, and the winning streak has not been just an upswing.
– It has been challenging. We have such a high level of demands in training in everything we do that it has not been easy by any means. You don’t really celebrate and have fun in training, even if you win.
Also the head coach of the team Niko Kuunen according to him, high-quality and fast-paced training has been one of the key factors of success, but he also emphasizes the extent of the player material.
– The players work a lot night after night, and we are a bit more versatile compared to others. We have 10 players who are all very capable of playing this series, Kuusi reflects.
“I don’t see that anyone can even shake”
The Women’s Basketball League has seen overwhelming superiority before.
Kotka’s Peli-Karhut has won the last five championships, and before that, Lappeenrantan’s Catz dominated the women’s main series with five championships and 74 consecutive home wins.
An expert familiar with Urheilu’s basketball broadcasts By Dionne Pounds according to ToPo, what is exceptional about the regular season success is that the team has won most of its matches with a really big point difference.
– ToPo has won almost all of its games really well. In the past, there have usually been two clear favorites in the series, who have fared fairly evenly in the regular season, and it has been expected that they will meet in the finals as well.
Peli-Karhut, the perennial winners of the Women’s Basketball League, finished second in the regular season, but the team has been plagued by numerous injuries. Already in November, Urheilu reported on ToPo’s strong early season and hinted that PeKa’s era may be over.
– PeKa had really bad luck this season. National team players Veera Pirttinen and Lotta Vehka-aho have been on the sidelines for a long time, and they have a narrow lineup anyway, Pounds states.
Pounds predicts that ToPo’s dominance will continue in the playoffs as well.
– ToPo is clearly the strongest team. I don’t see anyone being able to even sway them.
One challenger above all others
So who could be ToPo’s worst opponent?
All three interviewees name the same team as one challenger: Kouvottaret.
Based on the regular season rankings, the choice may sound strange, but the reason is clear. Kouvottaret, ranked sixth, is the only team that has managed to topple ToPo this season.
The other two meetings between the teams ended in favor of ToPo, but Kouvottaret managed to win in these matches as well.
However, ToPo and Kouvottaret may already meet in the semi-finals if both teams clear their way from the quarter-finals to the next round, and PeKa wins the lower ranked Vimpelin Veto in their own match pair.
Among the challengers, Tuukkanen also raises PeKa, who has suffered from injuries, and has won Finnish championships with a narrow lineup before.
In addition, Kuusi mentions Tapiola Honga, who finished third in the regular season and lost to ToPo at the beginning of March by only six points, as a potential playoff winner.
– It’s hard to say just one team. What is clear is that everyone wants to beat us.
Women’s Basketball League quarter-final pairs:
Torpan Pojat – HBA-Märsky
Peli-Kharut – Pennant Bet
Tapiolan Honka – Kouvottaret
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