Scotland second Sophie Sinclair’s inclusion in the LGT World Women’s Championship All Star team has capped a satisfying week for the team after they achieved their principal goal of earning Olympic qualification for next year’s Winter Olympics.
The 27-year-old from Edinburgh admitted it had been a pleasant surprise to discover, ahead of the play-offs, that she had earned her place in the line-up which is picked annually on the basis of the player in each position who has the best playing statistics over 12 round-robin matches.
“It was quite a nice thing to wake up to this morning, because I tend to never tend to look at the stats during the week I just focus on one game at a time and one shot at a time, but I could not have done that without my team,” she said. 
However Sinclair, whose sweeping and shot-making performances had earned her a rest ahead of the play-offs when alternate Fay Henderson was given a taste of the action in the final round-robin match against China - was quick to share the credit with teammates Sophie Jackson, who has skipped the team while playing lead stones, third Jen Dodds and Rebecca Morrison who plays last stones.
“To get an All Stars is a huge achievement for me, so I am over the moon with that and it’s a huge achievement because as a team we have worked so hard on the placement of the second stones and how we have improved our tactical game so it has just been so nice to see those shots coming off,” Sinclair continued.
“It’s been a really good week and we’re now looking forward to working hard next year.
“I mean everyone has played so well this week, the team has made some amazing shots.
“It shows what potential we have as a team, which is super exciting.”
With 28-year-old Jackson now vastly experienced and calling the shots at what was her sixth World Championship, 28-year-old Aberdonian Morrison repeatedly producing crucial shots under pressure and 2022 Olympic gold medallist Jen Dodds from Edinburgh now gelling into a powerful unit, their skip paid tribute to Sinclair’s achievement, but echoed her view that it was also a reward for the team effort.
“Every single one of the team had multiple stellar performances this week and it’s fantastic to have Sophie sitting at the top of the stats for seconds,” said Jackson. 
“It is testament to her persistent drive for excellence every day.
“We have really focussed on her shots as a team throughout training, strategy wise and also how to make them, so it’s great to see that hard work paying off.
“I’m super proud of the whole team for how we approached this week and the quality performances that we were able to put together because of that.”
She reckoned that the way they had performed indicated that they are on track to challenge powerfully for the right to defend the Olympic title won by Dodds and teammates Eve Muirhead, Vicky Wright and Hailey Duff in 2022.
“Looking at where we are now compared to where we were this time last year is so encouraging and just shows us where we can be in another year’s time,” Jackson continued.
“We know how small the margins are at this level, particularly proved with having so many tight games this week, so we are all excited by the prospect of where we can get to.
“We will have some time training before having a break for summer where we can come back energised and ready to improve on those small margins.”
The Scots exited the competition in the first round of the play-offs after coming up against Canada’s World number one ranked Team Homan, whose skip was in rampant form.
Having inflicted a rare defeat on the Canadians in the opening match of the event, they were playing well enough to believe they could challenge them again in the knockout stages, but a spectacular raise double take-out by Homan in the second end earned her team a three and when she repeated that in the fourth end to put them into a 7-1 lead the contest was all but over, Canada running out 10-4 winners.
The BKT World Men’s Curling Championship gets underway in Moose Jaw, SK, Canada from March 29 – 6 April.
Please click here for draw and results
Watch LIVE games on The Curling Channel
Scotland Team
Rebecca Morrison
Jen Dodds
Sophie Sinclair
Sophie Jackson (skip)
Fay Henderson
Team Coach: Ross Paterson
Olympic Head Coach: Greg Drummond
SCHEDULE:
Saturday 15 March
Scotland – Canada 8-7
Sunday 16 March
Scotland – Norway 7-8
Scotland – Korea 4-5 (EE)
Monday 17 March
Scotland – Italy 7-5
Scotland – Switzerland 5-6
Tuesday 18 March
Scotland – Sweden 3-5
Scotland – Lithuania 9-2
Wednesday 19 March
Scotland – USA 7-6 (EE)
Scotland – Japan 6-5
Thursday 20 March
Scotland – Turkiye 10-6
Friday 21 March
Scotland – Denmark 10-5
Scotland – China 2-7
Saturday 22 March
Qualifiers
Scotland – Canada 4-10
Sweden – China 7-8
Semi Finals
Korea – Canada 5-6
Switzerland – China 4-2
Sunday 23 March
1.00am Bronze Medal Game China - Korea
7.00am Gold Medal Game Switzerland – Canada
Images: World Curling
