Now it’s top two in Holland—or bust
Just a few months after capturing the 2021 national mixed doubles title, Vicky Persinger and Chris Plys have captured the U.S. mixed doubles Olympic Trials.
The win sees them advance to the Olympic Qualification Event Dec. 5-9 in the Netherlands, where the pair will need to finish within the top two of the 14-team field to qualify for February’s Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
Persinger and Plys defeated the pairing of Jamie Sinclair and Rich Ruohonen by a 7-6 count in the championship final in Eveleth, MN. The scoreline seesawed back and forth up to the seventh end, when a light draw attempt for two—utilizing the power play—meant Sinclair and Ruohonen scored just one for a 6-6 tie.
In the final frame, Persinger muscled two opposition stones off the button for the winning single.
Sinclair/Ruohonen won three games in a row to make the final, including a 9-7 semifinal victory over Sarah Anderson and Korey Dropkin, who had lost the Page 1 versus 2 playoff to Persinger/Plys. Earlier, the finalists had won a tiebreaker over Cory Christensen and John Shuster, followed by a Page 3 versus 4 victory over Tabitha Peterson and Joe Polo.
Peterson/Polo made the playoffs after defeating Rebecca and Matt Hamilton in another tiebreaker.
The champions went 6-3 in the round-robin to claim the first playoff spot, and finished 8-3 overall.
U.S. residents can watch the final via an NBC Olympics stream by signing in with their cable provider. Those without a subscription can watch 45 minutes for free.