Estonian women's curling team 3rd in world cup stage
The Estonian women's curling team placed third at the recent world cup stage held in Sundbyberg, Sweden after losing in the semis to eventual winners Denmark.
The Estonian team, captained by Kerli Laidsalu, beat Norway in the quarterfinals, setting up a face-off with Denmark's olympic squad in the semis.
Estonia played strategically against a strong opponent, forcing the Danes to settle for just one point in the ends where they had the advantage of the last stone. Denmark responded in kind, however, not allowing Estonia to capitalize on its own advantages.
The decisive moments came in the third and fourth ends, where Denmark first scored three points and then stole another three from Estonia. In the later ends, Estonia failed to even out the score, and the match finished with Denmark winning 8:2.
Laidsalu was nonetheless satisfied with both the team's performance and the overall result. "The tournament went successfully, and the overall picture was very good. At the same time, we see areas we can refine before the upcoming major competitions to make our performance even stronger."
Denmark faced Turkey in the final, convincingly winning 4:0.
The team, Laidsalu, Erika Tuvike, Heili Grossmann and Liisa Turmann are next in action before a home crowd at the Tondiraba Ice Hall in Tallinn on November 6, for the Tallinn Ladies Challenger, also a world cup stage.
They will go on to play in the European Championships in Finland, playing in the B Division, starting November 22.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Henrik Laever
