Estonia's mixed wheelchair curling pair lose to US in Milano Cortina Paralympics
Estonia's mixed wheelchair curling pair Kätlin Riidebach and Ain Villau suffered their first defeat in the Milano Cortina Paralympics, going down 8–4 to the United States on Thursday evening.
Riidebach and Villau had got their Paralympics campaign off to a winning start on Wednesday evening with a 10–7 victory over Great Britain and continued this form on Thursday by beating Italy 6–5 in the morning match.
In their third round robin match, the Estonians faced Americans Laura Dwyer and Stephen Emt of the U.S. The duo have been playing together for two years, and finished ninth at last year's World Championships. The Americans were 1:1 at the current games, having beaten Latvia and lost to Japan.
On Thursday evening the Estonians started off with a two-point end, but then played a bit sloppily and conceded seven points over the next three ends. While in the fifth end they did manage to trim the gap down to five points, the Americans played some solid defense and secured an 8–4 win after seven ends.
Riidebach and Villau will continue the campaign today, Friday, when they face their southern neighbors Latvia.
After three rounds, China is in first place, while Estonia, South Korea, and the U.S. each have two wins and one loss. Italy, Great Britain, and Japan have one win each, while the Latvians have yet to open their account after three matches.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
