1958
In 1958 we have 25 participants, a new record, including three interesting debutants this time: AUS, AUT, CHN, CZE, DEN, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, GDR, HUN, ICE, ITA, JAP, NED, NOR, NZL, POL, PRK, ROM, RSA, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. Thus we need a preliminary round of 9 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, SWE, ITA, HUN, FIN, URS, NED, GDR and NOR, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is: POL-HUN, AUT-FRA, CHN-URS, JAP-ITA, NED-PRK, FRG-NZL, NOR-RSA, GBR-FIN, ROM-ICE. The matches:
Poland-Hungary 7-2
Austria-France 6-0
China-USSR 0-9
Japan-Italy 5-5; distances: 9-9; Japan win on samalog points
Netherlands-North Korea 5-4
West Germany-New Zealand 5-0
Norway-South Africa 10-0
Britain-Finland 0-10
Romania-Iceland 8-2
The first round proper then consists of: AUS, AUT, CZE, DEN, FIN, FRG, GDR, JAP, NED, NOR, POL, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, SWE, FIN, URS and NOR, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: NOR-AUS, SWE-USA, FIN-GDR, CZE-AUT, SWI-NED, POL-FRG, JAP-ROM, DEN-URS. The matches proceed as follows:
Norway-Australia 10-0
Sweden-USA 10-0
Finland-East Germany 6-4
Czechoslovakia-Austria 4-6
Switzerland-Netherlands 1-9
Poland-West Germany 9-0
Japan-Romania 8-2
Denmark-USSR 0-9, that was close...
The quarter-final consists of: AUT, FIN, JAP, NED, NOR, POL, SWE, URS. The finalists from last year, FIN and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: URS-AUT, POL-JAP, NOR-FIN, NED-SWE. Results of the matches:
USSR-Austria 9-1
Poland-Japan 6.5-2.5
Norway-Finland 6-4
Netherlands-Sweden 2-8
Semi-final draw: SWE-POL, URS-NOR. Matches:
Sweden-Poland 7.5-2.5
USSR-Norway 6-4, again!
Bronze final: Poland-Norway 4-6
FINAL: USSR-Sweden
47,4 - 49,8 (1-0) 1.37,8 - 1.43,7 (2-0) 2.32,6 - 2.40,8 (3-0) 5.22,7 - 5.38,9 (4-0) 40,9 - 43,2 (5-0) - - 1.31,0 (5-1) 2.10,7 - 2.16,5 (6-1) 4.50,8 - 4.53,7 (7-1) 8.11,4 - 8.22,3 (8-1) 16.48,8 -17.03,4 (9-1)
Final result 9-1
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 45x URS GOLD 13x FIN GOLD 4x NED GOLD 2x SWE GOLD 2x AUT Silver 4x FRG Silver 2x HUN Silver 2x JAP Silver 2x CZE Silver 1955 USA bronze 2x CAN bronze 1897 LAT bronze 1940 GBR bronze 1949 SWI 4th 3x POL 4th 2x FRA 4th 1902 DEN 4th 1912 ITA 4th 1945 BEL 4th 1946 EST QF 5x LIT QF 1927 KOR QF 1949 GDR QF 1957 ROM 1R 7x AUS 1R 5x CHN 1R 1957 ICE PR 2x COL PR 1933 ESP PR 1957 PRK PR 1958 NZL PR 1958 RSA PR 1958