1973
Surprisingly, only a very mild post-Olympic trauma in this crucial season, and we have 26 participants: AUS, AUT, BEL, CAN, CHN, CZE, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, GDR, HUN, ITA, KOR, JAP, NED, NZL, NOR, POL, PRK, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA, VIR. Thus we need a preliminary round of 10 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, FIN, SWE, ITA, NED, URS, CAN, JAP and USA, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is: SWE-PRK, GDR-POL, SWI-ITA, CZE-NOR, CAN-FRG, GBR-VIR, NED-HUN, FIN-BEL, AUT-KOR, URS-CHN. The matches:
Sweden-North Korea 10-0
East Germany-Poland 5-5; distances: 10-10; GDR win on samalog points
Switzerland-Italy 7-3
Czechoslovakia-Norway 0-10
Canada-West Germany 3-7
Britain-Virgin Islands 6-0
Netherlands-Hungary 10-0
Finland-Belgium 10-0
Austria-South Korea 4-6
USSR-China 10-0
The first round proper then consists of: AUS, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, GDR, KOR, JAP, NED, NZL, NOR, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, FIN, USA, NED and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: SWI-SWE, NZL-KOR, URS-NOR, AUS-GDR, FIN-JAP, NED-GBR, FRG-FRA, ROM-USA. The matches proceed as follows:
Switzerland-Sweden 0-10
New Zealand-South Korea 1-8
USSR-Norway 7-3, again!
Australia-East Germany 4-6
Finland-Japan 1-9
Netherlands-Britain 10-0
West Germany-France 10-0
Romania-USA 0-10
The quarter-final consists of: FRG, GDR, JAP, KOR, NED, SWE, URS, USA. As only one finalist survives from last year, there is no seeding. The draw is as follows: KOR-GDR, SWE-URS, JAP-FRG, NED-USA. Results of the matches:
South Korea-East Germany 4-6
Sweden-USSR 2-8
Japan-West Germany 5.5-4.5
Netherlands-USA 7-3
Semi-final draw: GDR-NED, USSR-JAP. Matches:
East Germany-Netherlands 0-10
USSR-Japan 10-0
Bronze final: East Germany-Japan 0-10
FINAL: Netherlands-USSR
44,17- 42,6 (0-1) 1.29,51- 1.26,1 (0-2) 2.18,3 - 2.13,4 (0-3) 4.50,26- 4.43,0 (0-4) 38,7 - 38,6 (0-5) 1.19,4 - 1.19,0 (0-6) 2.01,8 - 1.58,0 (0-7) 4.15,7 - 4.08,2 (0-8) 7.22,27- 7.27,5 (1-8) 15.23,26-15.13,4 (1-9)
Final result 1-9, beacon of things to come
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 46x URS GOLD 22x 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 GDR 4th 2x DEN 4th 1912 ITA 4th 1945 BEL 4th 1946 EST QF 5x KOR QF 2x LIT QF 1927 ROM 1R 10x AUS 1R 9x NZL 1R 4x MGL 1R 3x VIR 1R 1972 ICE PR 2x RSA PR 2x COL PR 1933 ESP PR 1957