1951
Participants growing slowly to 20 in the first Medeo winter: AUS, AUT, BEL, CZE, DEN, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, HUN, ITA, JAP, NED, NOR, POL, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. Thus we need a preliminary round of 4 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, JAP, GBR, SWI, URS, NED, FIN, NOR and SWE, are exempt. The draw is: DEN-HUN, POL-FRG, USA-AUT, ITA-FRA. The matches:
Denmark-Hungary 0-9
Poland-West Germany 5-4
USA-Austria 3-1
Italy-France 4-0
The first round proper then consists of: AUS, BEL, CZE, FIN, GBR, HUN, ITA, JAP, NED, NOR, POL, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, URS, NOR, GBR and NED, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: URS-FIN, ROM-HUN, BEL-NED, JAP-CZE, SWE-NOR, POL-SWI, ITA-AUS, GBR-USA. The matches proceed as follows:
USSR-Finland 11-0
Romania-Hungary 0-9
Belgium-Netherlands 0-9
Japan-Czechoslovakia 8-1
Sweden-Norway 2-9
Poland-Switzerland 4-5
Italy-Australia 4-1
Britain-USA 6-0
The quarter-final consists of: GBR, HUN, ITA, JAP, NED, NOR, SWI, URS. The finalists from last year, NOR and NED, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: ITA-NED, JAP-NOR, GBR-SWI, HUN-URS. Results of the matches:
Italy-Netherlands 0-9
Japan-Norway 0-11
Britain-Switzerland 6-0
Hungary-USSR 0-11
Semi-final draw: NED-NOR, GBR-URS. Matches:
Netherlands-Norway 1-10
Britain-USSR 0-11
Bronze final: Netherlands-Britain 9-0
FINAL: Norway-USSR
49,4 - 46,9 (0-1) 1.42,6 - 1.36,8 (0-2) 2.38,6 - 2.29,5 (0-3) 5.45,7 - 5.22,2 (0-4) 9.54,8 - 9.10,7 (0-5) 42,6 - 42,9 (1-5) 1.37,1 - 1.35,6 (1-6) 2.19,1 - 2.16,5 (1-7) 4.53,6 - 4.59,7 (2-7) 8.07,3 - 8.23,5 (3-7) 17.02,1 -17.37,0 (4-7)
Final result 4-7, beginning the catching-up process
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 45x URS GOLD 6x 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 GBR bronze 1949 SWI 4th 3x FRA 4th 1902 DEN 4th 1912 ITA 4th 1945 BEL 4th 1946 EST QF 5x POL QF 3x LIT QF 1927 KOR QF 1949 ROM 1R 3x AUS 1R 2x COL PR 1933