16 March 2025
Estonia take World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles bronze
On the last day of the World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2025 title-defenders Korea took on Estonia in the bronze medal game.
Estonia scored a single in the first end. In the second, Korea could have scored three, but the line of Kim Hyemin’s last draw attempt wasn’t perfect, and Korea needed to settle for two.
In the third, Estonia’s Katlin Riidebach didn’t see a chance to put a third stone into scoring position with her last, thus she threw her last stone away and Estonia took two from stones already sitting in scoring position. 3-2 to Estonia after three ends.
In the fourth, Estonia stole two after two missed draws by Korea on their last two stones. Estonia were leading, 5-2, at the break.
Korea put a big three on the board with Power-Play in the fifth to tie the game, 5-5. In the sixth, it was Estonia’s turn to use their Power-Play. Ain Villau’s take-out was perfect, while Kim Hyemin’s was missed, so Riidebach could draw for three. She executed the task at hand and Estonia went up, 8-5.
In the seventh, Kim Hyemin needed to draw against three Estonian counters, but her shot could outcount only two. Estonia stole a single to go into the eighth end with a four-point lead, 9-5. In the eighth, Estonia ran Korea out of stones to win their country’s historic first world championship medal in wheelchair curling.
After their victory, Katlin Riidebach said, “I’m overwhelmed! I don’t even know what to say, because we came to the championship with high hopes, but honestly, not so high hopes, because there were so many strong teams!”
Talking about what this medal means for Estonian wheelchair curling, she added, “I hope it brings more people to play, because we have only three people. So, I hope we inspire them to come.”
When asked about her thoughts on Paralympic qualification, she said, “This was our only opportunity to go to the Paralympics. We don’t have any sports presented. It means so much! We did it! It was mission impossible honestly.”
The bronze medallist Estonian team are female player Katlin Riidebach and male player Ain Villau, supported by their coach Aleksander Andre.
In the last game of the championship, hosts Scotland will play Japan for the world title on Sunday 16 March at 14:00 (GMT).
Find all the results from the championship here.
The final round-robin standings are available here.
Broadcast information about the event can be found here.
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