1977
No trauma in this post-Olympic season, instead a new record of 30 participants: AUS, AUT, BEL, CAN, CHN, CZE, ESP, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, GDR, HUN, ISR, ITA, JAP, KOR, MGL, NED, NOR, NZL, POL, PRK, ROM, RSA, SWE, SWI, URS, USA, YUG. Thus we need a preliminary round of 14 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, JAP, CHN, USA, NOR, SWE, NED, GDR and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is: SWI-AUS, HUN-FRG, POL-YUG, FIN-USA, NOR-KOR, RSA-GBR, ESP-PRK, CZE-CHN, ROM-ISR, MGL-ITA, NZL-BEL, GDR-FRA, JAP-AUT, CAN-SWE. The matches:
Switzerland-Australia 7-3
Hungary-West Germany 0-10
Poland-Yugoslavia 10-0
Finland-USA 3-8
Norway-South Korea 10-0, unlucky draw for the 4th year running!
South Africa-Britain 3-6
Spain-North Korea 0-9
Czechoslovakia-China 1-9
Romania-Israel 9-0
Mongolia-Italy 5-5; distances 9-10 — Mongolia win!
New Zealand-Belgium 6-4, winning their first match!
East Germany-France 10-0
Japan-Austria 10-0
Canada-Sweden 4-7
The first round proper then consists of: CHN, FRG, GBR, GDR, JAP, MGL, NED, NOR, NZL, POL, PRK, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, NOR, URS, JAP and NED, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: PRK-GDR, CHN-ROM, JAP-USA, SWI-NOR, GBR-NZL, POL-URS, MGL-NED, FRG-SWE. The matches proceed as follows:
North Korea-East Germany 0-10
China-Romania 4-6, first quarter final!
Japan-USA 4-6
Switzerland-Norway 1-9
Britain-New Zealand 6-4, first quarter final since 1952!
Poland-USSR 0-11
Mongolia-Netherlands 0-11
West Germany-Sweden 3-8, again!
The quarter-final consists of: GBR, GDR, NED, NOR, ROM, SWE, URS, USA. The finalists from last year, URS and NED, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: SWE-ROM, GDR-NOR, USA-NED, GBR-URS. Results of the matches:
Sweden-Romania 11-0
East Germany-Norway 5-5; distances: 10-10; Norway win on samalog points
USA-Netherlands 5-6, Fenny Abbring securing it for the Dutch
Britain-USSR 0-11
Semi-final draw: NED-SWE, NOR-USSR. Matches:
Netherlands-Sweden 8-3
Norway-USSR 1-10, again!
Bronze final: Sweden-Norway 4-7
FINAL: Netherlands-USSR
42,62- 41,7 (0-1) 1.25,63- 1.23,72 (0-2) 2.14,51- 2.10,07 (0-3) 4.39,15- 4.32,7 (0-4) 10.20,1 - 8.33,1 (0-5) 38,40- 37,44 (0-6) 1.17,67- 1.14,65 (0-7) 1.59,19- 1.53,8 (0-8) 4.09,54- 3.56,65 (0-9) 7.06,40- 6.58,88 (0-10) 14.49,98-14.34,33 (0-11)
Final result 0-11, slaughtered
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 46x URS GOLD 26x 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 GDR bronze 1975 SWI 4th 3x POL 4th 2x FRA 4th 2x DEN 4th 1912 ITA 4th 1945 BEL 4th 1946 EST QF 5x KOR QF 2x LIT QF 1927 AUS QF 1974 ROM QF 1977 NZL 1R 5x MGL 1R 5x VIR 1R 1972 RSA PR 4x YUG PR 3x ICE PR 2x ESP PR 2x ISR PR 2x COL PR 1933