IIHF – Estonia returns in model

It was a victory 14 years within the making. Estonia’s ladies final contested a World Championship again in 2008, coming fourth out of six groups in Division IV. However the international monetary disaster slammed the brakes on funding for the game and this system’s momentum was misplaced. This week, although, the staff put the pedal to the steel, blazing via World Championship Division IIIB in Belgrade with a dominant show towards the three newcomer groups.

Up towards three nations making their Ladies’s World Championship debuts – host Serbia, Israel and Bosnia & Herzegovina – Estonia recorded three convincing victories and allowed only one objective. A fifth entrant, Iran, needed to withdraw. With an combination rating of 24-1 over three video games, it’s no shock that Estonia’s gamers led the person scoring charts. Edith Parnik got here out on prime with 6 (5+1), defender Christin Lauk had 5 targets, whereas Merlin Griffin and Kirke Kulla and Diana Kaareste all completed with 5 factors. Serbia’s Valentina Vrhoci (1+4) was the best scorer from one other nation.

For Margaret Neering, a 19-year-old ahead on the Estonian staff, this was a World Championship debut to recollect. {The teenager} performs her hockey with Viljandi-based HK Fuuriad within the nationwide championship, the place she’s at present fourth in scoring with 13 (9+4) factors from 11 video games. However a primary style of worldwide motion was one thing particular.

“It feels unreal,” she mentioned after gathering her gold medal. “It’s my first time at a event like this and actually, it’s virtually excessive. I used to be slightly bit nervous firstly, however now it’s finished.”

Though Estonia twice racked up 10 targets on its opponents in Serbia, Neering insisted that the event was a check.

“It wasn’t straightforward to win,” she mentioned. “We had some huge scores, however all of the video games had been laborious and we had some actually robust opposition.”