1972
Olympic boost gives 27 participants, equal to the record, with an interesting debutant: AUS, AUT, BEL, CAN, CHN, CZE, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, GDR, HUN, ITA, KOR, JAP, MGL, NED, NZL, NOR, POL, PRK, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA, VIR. Thus we need a preliminary round of 11 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, NOR, CAN, NED, FIN, URS, SWE, JAP and USA, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is: FRA-SWE, CAN-HUN, USA-GBR, ITA-POL, ROM-FIN, GDR-URS, CZE-FRG, AUS-KOR, CHN-PRK, JAP-MGL, NZL-BEL. The matches:
France-Sweden 0-10
Canada-Hungary 9-1
USA-Britain 10-0
Italy-Poland 6-4
Romania-Finland 0-10
East Germany-USSR 0-10
Czechoslovakia-West Germany 0-10
Australia-South Korea 5-5; distances: 10-8 — South Korea win
China-North Korea 7-3
Japan-Mongolia 10-0
New Zealand-Belgium 1-8
The first round proper then consists of: AUT, BEL, CAN, CHN, FIN, FRG, ITA, KOR, JAP, NED, NOR, SWE, SWI, URS, USA, VIR. The semi-finalists from last year, NED, NOR, SWE and USA, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: FIN-KOR, CAN-SWI, NED-VIR, NOR-URS, SWE-CHN, FRG-JAP, AUT-ITA, BEL-USA. The matches proceed as follows:
Finland-South Korea 10-0
Canada-Switzerland 8.5-1.5
Netherlands-Virgin Islands 10-0
Norway-USSR 4-6, well, well
Sweden-China 10-0
West Germany-Japan 5-5; distances: 10-10; Japan win on samalog points
Austria-Italy 1-9
Belgium-USA 0-10
The quarter-final consists of: CAN, FIN, ITA, JAP, NED, SWE, URS, USA. The finalists from last year, NED and SWE, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: FIN-SWE, ITA-NED, URS-CAN, JAP-USA. Results of the matches:
Finland-Sweden 7.5-3.5
Italy-Netherlands 0-10
USSR-Canada 10-0
Japan-USA 4-6, just like last year
Semi-final draw: FIN-USA, NED-USSR. Matches:
Finland-USA 5.5-4.5, first final since 1960
Netherlands-USSR 5-5; distances: 10-10; Netherlands win on samalog points
Bronze final: USA-USSR 6-4!
FINAL: Finland-Netherlands
44,2 - 44,23 (1-0) 1.29,2 - 1.29,12 (1-1) 2.17,2 - 2.16,67 (1-2) 4.52,7 - 4.50,69 (1-3) 38,0 - 38,8 (2-3) 1.19,3 - 1.19,93 (3-3) 2.01,5 - 1.58,8 (3-4) 4.21,6 - 4.08,3 (3-5) 7.35,4 - 7.09,8 (3-6) 15.38,87-15.01,35 (3-7)
Final result 3-7
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 46x URS GOLD 21x NED GOLD 7x FIN GOLD 4x SWE GOLD 2x AUT Silver 4x FRG Silver 2x HUN Silver 2x JAP Silver 2x CZE Silver 1955 USA Silver 1964 CHN Silver 1965 CAN bronze 1897 LAT bronze 1940 GBR bronze 1949 PRK bronze 1963 SWI 4th 3x POL 4th 2x FRA 4th 2x DEN 4th 1912 ITA 4th 1945 BEL 4th 1946 GDR 4th 1964 EST QF 5x LIT QF 1927 KOR QF 1949 ROM 1R 9x AUS 1R 8x MGL 1R 3x NZL 1R 3x VIR 1R 1972 ICE PR 2x RSA PR 2x COL PR 1933 ESP PR 1957