1953
No post-Olympic bleed this time, rather an increase to 22 participants, equal to the record, including 2 debutants: AUT, BEL, CAN, CZE, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, GDR, HUN, ICE, ITA, JAP, KOR, NED, NOR, POL, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. Thus we need a preliminary round of 6 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, FRG, USA, NED, NOR, GBR, JAP, SWE and URS, are exempt. The draw is: USA-CAN, FIN-POL, ITA-ICE, ROM-KOR, CZE-HUN, SWI-AUT. The matches:
USA-Canada 5-0
Finland-Poland 10-1
Italy-Iceland 8-2
Romania-Korea 5-4
Czechoslovakia-Hungary 4-6
Switzerland-Austria 0-5
The first round proper then consists of: AUT, BEL, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, GDR, HUN, ITA, JAP, NED, NOR, ROM, SWE, URS, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, JAP, USA, NOR and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: JAP-ROM, SWE-URS, ITA-USA, BEL-FRA, NOR-GDR, FIN-HUN, FRG-NED, AUT-GBR. The matches proceed as follows:
Japan-Romania 9-0
Sweden-USSR 2-9, again!
Italy-USA 6-2
Belgium-France 5-1
Norway-East Germany 11-0
Finland-Hungary 9-1
West Germany-Netherlands 3-5
Austria-Britain 4-1
The quarter-final consists of: AUT, BEL, FIN, ITA, JAP, NED, NOR, URS. The finalists from last year, JAP and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: ITA-FIN, URS-BEL, NED-AUT, JAP-NOR. Results of the matches:
Italy-Finland 2-8
USSR-Belgium 11-0
Netherlands-Austria 7-0
Japan-Norway 0-11
Semi-final draw: NED-FIN, URS-NOR. Matches:
Netherlands-Finland 5-5; distances: 7-10—Netherlands win
USSR-Norway 9-2
Bronze final: Finland-Norway 4-7
FINAL: Netherlands-USSR
62,4 - 46,6 (0-1)
- - 1.36,4 (0-2)
3.14,0 - 2.25,5 (0-3)
- - 5.13,8 (0-4)
- - 9.01,6 (0-5)
42,9 - 40,9 (0-6)
- - 1.38,2 (0-7)
2.14,9 - 2.14,5 (0-8)
4.40,2 - 5.01,9 (1-8)
8.06,6 - 8.12,9 (2-8)
17.13,0 -16.50,5 (2-9)
Final result 2-9
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 45x URS GOLD 8x FIN GOLD 4x NED GOLD 2x SWE GOLD 2x AUT Silver 4x FRG Silver 2x HUN Silver 2x JAP Silver 2x 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 5x AUS 1R 2x GDR 1R 1953 COL PR 1933 ICE PR 1953