CURLING: USA finishes fourth at 2012 World Mixed Doubles in Turkey
Terry Kolesar |
(715) 344-1199 ext. 202 |
April 29, 2012 12:04 PM |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 2012
USA finishes fourth at 2012 World Mixed Doubles Championship
(STEVENS POINT, Wis.) - Despite leaving Turkey without a medal, USA's team of Brady Clark and Cristin Clark of Lynnwood, Wash., recorded the USA's best-ever finish with a fourth-place showing at the 2012 World Mixed Doubles Championship in Erzurum, Turkey.
The Americans fell to Austria's Christian Roth and Claudia Roth, 12-7, in the bronze-medal game this afternoon at the Milli Piyango Curling Hall. This was Austria's first ever world curling medal.
"We hope to continue to improve and learn some lessons from this year, and hopefully win the U.S. another time and come back to improve our rankings," Brady Clark said. "We had opportunities. We wish we could have medalled. It is what it is. It was a great championship, and congratulations to the Swiss."
Switzerland clipped Sweden, 7-6, as Swedish last-rock thrower Per Noreen tried to score three points to win the gold medal but one of the Swiss stones he was trying to remove jammed and remained in second count and the Swedes came up short. Switzerland has now won four of five gold medals since the event debuted in 2008.
This was the third appearance for the Clarks, who also have won nine U.S. mixed national titles, and their best finish after reaching the playoffs for the first time for the U.S. last year in St. Paul.
"Well, it's better than last year. I guess we were seventh last year, and now we're fourth," Cristin Clark said after the game.
After Austria opened with a deuce, the Americans answered with four points in the second end to take their first lead. Austria quickly answered with another deuce to tie the game 4-4. The U.S. was limited to a single in the fourth when Brady Clark was forced to throw away his final stone as there wasn't a shot to make more than one point. With the momentum now in their corner, the Austrians capitalized tapped forward a stone of their own stone to score four points in the fifth end. The Austrian duo scored four more again as they capitalized on missed shots by the U.S. in the seventh end, which prompted the Americans to concede the match.
"It's a really great feeling to win a medal," Claudia Toth said. "Austria's never won a medal, neither at Europeans or Worlds. We thought we could make it but we just tried our best and we're still getting our head around that it actually happened."
The 2013 World Mixed Doubles Championship will take place April 13-20 in the new Grant-Harvey Centre in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. This will be the first time Canada has hosted the World Mixed Doubles.
Line score, bronze medal:
*Austria 202 040 4x - 12
USA 040 102 0x - 7
Line score, gold medal:
Switzerland 010 103 20 - 7
*Sweden 102 020 01 - 6
*last rock in first end
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