Don’t Read Too Much Into USA’s Mixed Doubles Finish

Americans don’t like eighth place finishes, let alone the six spots above that. It’s either winning or disappointment. That’s an “us” problem. Once the cameras were flicked to the “on” position, all we saw was USA’s 3-6 record in the mixed doubles pool play where Vicky Persinger and Chris Plys struggled down the stretch, losing their last four games.

Let’s spend a paragraph on the raw numbers because they mean something but aren’t the whole story. First, the positives: Persinger played great. She made a ton of precise shots. She and Plys also put together a full match against potential bronze medallists Sweden. And their run to qualify for the Olympics was nothing short of dominant.

But on the bad side, Plys ranked second to last among all men throwing percentage at 74.3 percent. In terms of the fabled power play, they were also near the bottom of the fixtures, scoring a net five points (second worst) and three times not scoring at all. And in terms of points for versus points against, they were dead last with negative 17 points, including 11 ends of allowing three or more points, also an Olympic worst.

The numbers underscore the struggles but also it should be known that mixed doubles is an incredibly volatile discipline. We can rattle off some of the best men’s and women’s teams. But the best mixed doubles teams? It’s a long scroll of good teams. The last coed tandem to win two world titles (Palancsa/Kiss of Hungary) still hasn’t qualified for the Olympics.

More nations are pouring resources into the discipline and the very infrastructure of the mixed doubles tour is still being formed. What we have now doesn’t quite highlight the top teams even in specific countries. Persinger and Plys are both on terrific men’s and women’s teams, but in terms of mixed doubles titles, they had never won one until they captured the American Trials. I couldn’t tell you who is the favorite to win it next year.

The game is heavily centered on draw weight, which is not unlike a pitcher’s feel for throwing strikes. There’s just too much randomness at the moment.

None of this is said to give their performance a pass. They’ll be the first ones to tell you they just didn’t make enough shots. But putting all your chips into a run at mixed doubles is a fool’s errand, at least for now. Which means it’s hard to hold up high expectations, especially in a 10-team field in which, no lie, every single team had a decent chance at medaling. It may merit a closer look at how the event is run, particularly making the whole tournament a triple-knockout event and expanding the field to allow countries fielding multiple teams. Or just tinker with the basic rules of mixed doubles, I’m getting concerned the athletes have finally figured them out.

So we’ll table the disappointment for now, because the Americans are expected to do very well in the impending four-person events. And if they don’t, then maybe we’ll simply repeat much of what was said above.