Estonian curling pair Kaldvee and Lill edged out in final of Tallinn Masters
Estonia's top curling pair Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill lost out narrowly in the final of the Tallinn Mixed Doubles Masters on Sunday. In a hard-fought contest, the Estonian duo were eventually beaten in an extra round by the Norwegain team of Magnus Nedregotten and Kristin Skaslien.
In a close encounter, the Estonian pair eventually went down 7-8 to their Norwegian opponents. Nevertheless, both Kaldvee and Lill took a lot of positives from the tournament as a whole.
"I think that as a team we learned some communicative elements that we might not learn otherwise in some of the simpler games," Kaldvee told ERR afterwards. "You definitely need to have these tougher moments. Also, to be in a losing position, get out of it and learn more from it."
Lill added that win. Lose or draw, there is always something that can be learned. "So many game-related things and technical things. At the same time, there's the psychological stuff. There's always something to improve on, but I think we're in a relatively good place. Even if this wasn't our best game, we still competed very well against one of the best teams in the world."
In the semi-finals, Kaldvee and Lill came up against German pair Emira Abbes and Klaudius Harsch, who last year defeated the Estonians in the semis on route to winning the 2024 final.
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This year, however, Kaldvee and Lill dominated the match to make it through to the final.
This was the ninth time the Tallinn Masters Mixed Doubles event has taken place, with 18 teams competing at the Tondiraba Ice Hall in the Estonian capital.
For Kaldvee and Lill, there is still plenty to play for this season. "In addition to the Estonian Championships, there are still two major competitions remaining," Lill said. "The emphasis is on not overdoing it, keeping up the good performances and tweaking things all the time – improving the technical side. Holding on to what we have. We're not in a bad place, but we can always do a little bit better."
Steffen Walstad, the Estonian national curling coach, said he enjoys working with Kaldvee and Lill "Their work ethic is very strong. What's also admirable is their composure on the ice and their eagerness and desire to win," Walstad said. "I think we're in a good place, we just need to keep working on the things we want to improve on and then we'll see at the World Championships."
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Editor: Siim Boikov, Michael Cole
