1947
Almost back to normal, 17 participants, with our Axis friends returning as well: AUT, BEL, CZE, DEN, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, HUN, JAP, NED, NOR, POL, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. Thus we need a preliminary round of 1 match. The quarter-finalists from last year, CZE, BEL, SWE, POL, NOR, FIN, SWI and URS are exempt. The draw is: USA-NED. The match:
USA-Netherlands 1-7
The first round proper consists of: AUT, BEL, CZE, DEN, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, HUN, JAP, NED, NOR, POL, SWE, SWI, URS. The participating semi-finalists from last year, URS, BEL, SWE and NOR, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: SWE-AUT, NED-POL, BEL-HUN, CZE-DEN, GBR-NOR, JAP-FRG, FIN-SWI, FRA-URS. The matches proceed as follows:
Sweden-Austria 8-0
Netherlands-Poland 8-3
Belgium-Hungary 1-4
Czechoslovakia-Denmark 10-0
Britain-Norway 0-11, unlucky draw
Japan-West Germany 7-1
Finland-Switzerland 10-1
France-USSR 0-11
The quarter-final then consists of: CZE, FIN, HUN, JAP, NED, NOR, SWE, URS. The finalists from last year, URS and NOR, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: CZE-HUN, NOR-NED, FIN-URS, JAP-SWE. Results of the matches:
Czechoslovakia-Hungary 7-3
Norway-Netherlands 10-1
Finland-USSR 5-6 unlucky draw yet again, I almost feel like cheating...
Japan-Sweden 3-6
Semi-final draw: NOR-CZE, URS-SWE. Matches:
Norway-Czechoslovakia 11-0
USSR-Sweden 6-5
Bronze final: Czechoslovakia-Sweden 5-6
FINAL: Norway-USSR
50,0 - 49,2 (0-1) 1.48,4 - 1.41,2 (0-2) 2.47,6 - 2.40,2 (0-3) 6.06,2 - 5.32,0 (0-4) 11.13,5 - 9.48,4 (0-5) 43,3 - 43,6 (1-5) 1.31,2 - 1.39,8 (2-5) 2.19,5 - 2.24,5 (3-5) 4.57,7 - 5.04,7 (4-5) 8.35,6 - 8.46,2 (5-5) 17.37,0 -18.08,3 (6-5)
Final result 6-5
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 42x URS GOLD 5x FIN GOLD 4x NED GOLD 2x SWE GOLD 2x AUT Silver 4x FRG Silver 2x HUN Silver 2x JAP Silver 1936 USA bronze 2x CZE bronze 1895 CAN bronze 1897 LAT bronze 1940 SWI 4th 3x FRA 4th 1902 DEN 4th 1912 GBR 4th 1914 ITA 4th 1945 BEL 4th 1946 EST QF 5x POL QF 3x LIT QF 1927 ROM 1R 2x AUS 1R 1936 COL PR 1933