Team Canada left gutted after heartbreaking loss
SWIFT CURRENT, SASK.— Canadian third Amy Nixon couldn’t stop the tears, let alone hide her disappointment.
Russia’s Anna Sidorova edged Canada’s Chelsea Carey 9-8 to capture the bronze medal Sunday at the women’s curling world championship.
The loss effectively puts Carey’s Calgary-based rink of Nixon, lead Laine Peters and second Jocelyn Peterman back to square one for Olympic qualifying.
Nixon, who won bronze at the 2006 Turin Games, was heartbroken after watching an Olympic qualifying berth slip through her fingers.
“I’m not going to lie — I’m gutted. I’m gutted,” said Nixon, as tears streamed down her face. “One of the hardest losses of my career.”
Canada’s Olympic trials for the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, will have the top nine teams from each gender enter into a standard curling tournament starting Dec. 2, 2017.
One way for a women’s team to guarantee an invitation is to win the Scotties Tournament of Hearts — which Carey’s rink did Feb. 28 — but that invitation is conditional on winning a medal at the worlds.
“The work that goes into getting this far and knowing it took me 10 years to get back in this situation,” said Nixon. “I just feel like this was maybe my chance.”
Switzerland’s Binia Feltscher defeated Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa 9-6 in the final Sunday.
Despite the loss it was a successful inaugural season for the Carey rink. She joined the team as skip after two-time Canadian champion Heather Nedohin stepped away to devote more time to her family.
With Carey at the helm, the squad rolled through the Alberta playdowns then captured the Scotties Tournament of Hearts to become national champions before finishing fourth at the world championship.
“I certainly learned a lot,” said Carey, who will play as Canada at next year’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts. “I feel like just having the experience would certainly help me if I were lucky enough to get back to a world championship.”