It’s a huge weekend for British Basketball as the Sevenoaks Suns take on the Durham Palatinates in the WBBL Cup Final this Sunday 26 January at Arena Birmingham. 

Both finalists fought off tough competition from 10 other teams in the straight knockout competition to make it to the Cup Final and it’s set to be an interesting match-up. 

In recent years, the Suns have three-peated as WBBL Playoff Champions (2017, 2018 & 2019) and are also the back-to-back WBBL League Champions (2017-18 & 2018-19), as well as being regulars in the Cup and Trophy Finals. Not only does the club hold these impressive credentials but the core of the team that has driven the club’s success and club founder and Head Coach, Len Busch, are back again this season with some serious veteran experience. 

Durham, on the other hand, are entering their first big final this weekend. However, despite the club being in new territory, the Palatinates have assembled a team of experienced players and head into the game with some strong momentum behind them. 

As if teams would need any additional motivation heading into a big game, the Suns have last year’s Cup Final experience driving them to ensure they get a different result this year. The 2019 Cup Final ended with a heartbreaking buzzer-beater three point shot from the Sheffield Hatters to give them the win over the Suns after what had been a tight game right until the end. 

As is the beauty of sports, it’s hard to predict the outcome but one thing is for sure, the match will be a display of the top women’s basketball players in the country and not one to miss. 

The 2020 WBBL Cup Final take place at 12pm on Sunday 26 January 2020 at Arena Birmingham. The game will also be live on BBC Sport via the BBC Red Button. 

• 

• 

Player Perspective from Renee Busch (Sevenoaks Suns)

I’m really looking forward to the final this Sunday and can’t wait to get on court with my teammates. The crowd and the atmosphere at Birmingham Arena were incredible last year. It’s the kind of venue you wish you could play in every weekend so I’m intending to soak up the moment. The heart-breaker loss in last year’s Cup Final seems like a distant memory at this point. So much has happened since then. So much growth personally, and for our team. This is my fourth season with the Suns, and one thing we do especially well is that we keep on learning and getting better. So last year’s experience has become another learning point on our journey. 

We faced Durham just last weekend in a regular season match-up, which we won in pretty close game. We’re familiar with them and they’re familiar with us now. We’ll see how we both adjust for the Final. I’m looking forward to competing. I have full trust in my teammates and coach and everyone who’s been a part of our journey so far. We’ve put in the work and the prep and pretty soon it’ll be time to play on Sunday. We’ll be ready.