Team Sinclair (L-R: Monica Walker, Vicky Persinger, Alex Carlson, Jamie Sinclair) celebrates its victory at the 2018 USA Curling National Championships on March 10, 2018 in Fargo, N.D.
It was the best finish at a world curling championships for the U.S. women since 2013, but they came oh so close to bringing home hardware.
Jamie Sinclair and Team USA finished fourth in the women’s world championship in North Bay, Ontario, after a hard-fought 6-5 loss to Russia in the bronze-medal game on Sunday.
Sinclair, Alex Carlson, Vicky Persinger and Monica Walker were seeking the first world medal for the U.S. women since 2006. It was the first time since 2013 that the U.S. women made it to the playoffs at the tournament. They also finished fourth that year.
The lead went back and forth throughout the match with Team Sinclair picking up two points late to take a 5-4 lead into the last end. After Sinclair’s last rock ran long, Russian skip Victoria Moiseeva drew to the four-foot ring for a game-winning deuce.
Team Sinclair fought throughout the tournament to put themselves in playoff position. They were 2-3 after a pair of losses to Sweden and Japan early on, but after a three-game winning streak, they improved to 6-4 with two games left in the round robin and had the playoffs in sight. They would finish 6-6 in the round robin.
A 10-3 win over South Korea on Saturday morning put them into the semifinals, where they lost a tough 9-7 decision to Canada, also on a last-rock deuce, that night to set up the bronze-medal match against Russia.
Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
