Sports Round-Up: 'Ragbi' First, Fall Sports Season Begins
The Estonian national rugby team beat Finland 24-17 on Saturday, claiming their first ever official victory.
In Saturday's match, Estonia's 15-player side scored four tries and two conversions to beat the northern neighbors, who are officially the worst team in the world. Estonia do not feature in the world rankings currently.
The national sevens team, an Olympic field where seven players take to the pitch, as opposed to the more traditional 15-player game, has already taken part in two official tournaments, coming last in 2011 and fifth out of eight this year in the lowest division of the European Championships.
Senior team member Ragnar Toompere, who scored the first try on Saturday, told ERR News today that the Finns, fielding a largely second-string team, were bigger and more experienced, but Estonia's team spirit pulled them through.
Toompere said that the Estonian Rugby Union's current goal is to promote the sport among Estonians, especially among students, with a number of universities currently setting up teams.
--
The Estonian basketball league began the new season last week, with nine teams competing for the title: last year's champion BC Kalev/Cramo, KK HITO, KK Pärnu, Rakvere Tarvas, Tallinna Kalev, TTÜ KK, TÜ/Rock, TYCO Rapla and Valga/Maks&Moorits.
BC Kalev and TÜ Rock have shared the previous eight titles between them, while Rakvere Tarvas is also expected to do well, having reached third twice and second once in the last four seasons.
In the first game, BC Kalev beat Rakvere 86-60, then claimed a second victory on Sunday, beating host Pärnu 68-51. In other results, Rapla beat Valga 96-61 and TTÜ KK triumphed over HITO 98-75.
--
Estonian basketball team TÜ/Rock was beaten by Nevezis of Lithuania 82-64 in the final of the Baltic Basketball League's cup competition.
Rock won the first and last quarters by narrow margins, but lost the second and third quarters by a total of 22 points.
--
The figure skating pair of Natalja Zabijako and Aleksandr Zabojev qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics for Estonia, at the last qualifying competition.
The two may compete at European and World championships, but not the Olympic games as Zabojev is a Russian citizen without an Estonian passport.
An source told ERR News that Zabojev is likely to be granted Estonian citizenship before the Olympics.