Espoo is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki and Vantaa, while surrounding the enclaved town of Kauniainen. The city covers 528.03 square kilometres (203.9 sq mi) with a population of 292,913 residents in December 2020, making it the 2nd-most populous city in Finland. Espoo forms a major part of a substantially larger metropolitan area known as Greater Helsinki, home to over 1.5 million people in 2020.
Kiekko-Espoo Naiset are an ice hockey team in the Naisten Liiga. They play in the Tapiola district of Espoo, Finland at the training ice rink of the Tapiolan urheilupuisto. The team was founded as Espoon Kiekkoseura (EKS) in 1989 and has also been known as Espoo Blues Naiset and Espoo United Naiset during its tenure in the Naisten Liiga. Kiekko-Espoo have won the Aurora Borealis Cup as the Finnish Champions in women's ice hockey fifteen times, five more wins than any other team in league history; at least one Finnish Championship medal was won under each of the four names.
Helsinki Seagulls is a professional basketball team, based in Helsinki, Finland. The club is playing in the Korisliiga, the highest tier of basketball in Finland, since 2014.
Espoon Honka, also known as Honka Playboys, was a basketball club based in Espoo, Finland and it played in Korisliiga. The club was dissolved in 2011 due to financial difficulties.
Petteri Johannes Koponen is a Finnish professional basketball player for Helsinki Seagulls of the Finnish Korisliiga. Standing at 1.94 m, he plays both point guard and shooting guard positions. He was drafted as the 30th pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2007 NBA draft, and his NBA rights are currently held by the Dallas Mavericks.
Kauhajoki Karhu Basket, is a Finnish basketball team from Kauhajoki. The team plays in Korisliiga, the highest tier of Finnish basketball.
Tapiolan Honka is a basketball club based in Espoo, Finland. Their men's team plays in Korisliiga and their women's team plays in Naisten Korisliiga, both on highest tiers of Finnish basketball.
Tampereen Pyrintö, more commonly referred to as shortly Pyrintö, is a Finnish basketball team from Tampere. It is the basketball section of a club with the same name. Pyrintö's men's and women's teams play in Korisliiga, the highest tier of Finnish basketball.
Kobrat is a Finnish professional basketball team from Lapua. The team plays in Korisliiga, the highest tier of Finnish basketball.
Naisten Korisliiga is the highest tier of women's basketball in Finland. The competition was formerly known as Koripallon naisten SM-sarja and was renamed Naisten Korisliiga for the 2013-14 season.
Torpan Pojat, shortened to ToPo, is a basketball club based in Helsinki, Finland. Torpan Pojat has their men's and women's team playing in national 1st division and many minor and junior teams in different age categories.
BC Nokia is a professional basketball club based in Nokia, Finland. The team currently plays in the top level Korisliiga.
Vilpas Vikings, also referred to as Salon Vilpas, is a professional basketball club based in Salo, Finland. The team currently plays in the top level Korisliiga. The Vikings are a part of the Salon Vilpas multi-sport club.
Joonas Viljami Suotamo is a Finnish actor and former professional basketball player. He is best known for his role as Chewbacca in the Star Wars saga, taking over the role from Peter Mayhew, first as a body double, with Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), and later as the lead in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) and in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
Carly Boag is an Australian basketball player, who currently plays for the Bendigo Spirit in the WNBL.
The 2017–18 Korisliiga season was the 78th season of the top professional basketball league in Finland. The season started on 28 September 2017 and ended on 18 May 2018. Kataja Basket were the defending champions, but Kauhajoki Karhu achieved their first title ever.
The 2018–19 Korisliiga season was the 79th season of the top professional basketball league in Finland. Karhu successfully defended their title to repeat as Finnish national champions.
Ura Basket, also known as Ura, is a basketball club based in Kaarina, Finland. The club made its debut in the top tier Korisliiga in 2018, after winning the First Division championship.
Lahti Basketball is a Finnish basketball club based in Lahti. It plays in the Korisliiga, the highest tier league in Finland. A phoenix club, the club was established in 2015 as a successor of Namika Lahti. Martin Mustonen and Kari Härkönen, also active with Namika, founded the club in August. Finnish international Vesa Mäkäläinen transferred from Namika to the new club.
Annika Alexandra Holopainen is a Finnish professional basketball player and a member of the Finnish national team. She played college basketball for the University of Portland and later Old Dominion University. Following her college career, she has played professionally in Europe.
