1983
With some more losses than gains we have only 26 participants for this pre-Olympic season: AUS, AUT, BEL, CAN, CHN, CZE, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, GDR, HUN, ITA, JAP, KOR, NED, NOR, NZL, POL, PRK, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA, YUG. Thus we need a preliminary round of 10 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, NED, JAP, KOR, CZE, URS, GDR, FRG and NOR, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is: AUS-NED, FRG-ITA, POL-GDR, KOR-GBR, CHN-SWI, JAP-FIN, URS-NZL, AUT-CAN, YUG-PRK, BEL-USA. The matches:
Australia-Netherlands 0-11
West Germany-Italy 11-0
Poland-East Germany 0-11
South Korea-Britain 9-1, again!
China-Switzerland 6-5, Franzl is getting too old
Japan-Finland 11-0, but closer than it looks
USSR-New Zealand 11-0
Austria-Canada 3-8
Yugoslavia-North Korea 0-9
Belgium-USA 0-11
The first round proper then consists of: CAN, CHN, CZE, FRA, FRG, GDR, HUN, JAP, KOR, NED, NOR, PRK, ROM, SWE, URS, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, KOR, NOR, NED and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: HUN-JAP, CHN-FRA, KOR-PRK, FRG-ROM, CAN-SWE, GDR-NED, NOR-USA, CZE-URS. The matches proceed as follows:
Hungary-Japan 0-11
China-France 3-8
South Korea-North Korea 5-5; distances: 10-9 — North win! (fun draw)
West Germany-Romania 10-1
Canada-Sweden 3-8
East Germany-Netherlands 8-3, unlucky draw
Norway-USA 7-4
Czechoslovakia-USSR 0-11
The quarter-final consists of: FRA, FRG, GDR, JAP, NOR, PRK, SWE, URS. The finalists from last year, NOR and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: PRK-GDR, URS-FRG, FRA-JAP, NOR-SWE. Results of the matches:
North Korea-East Germany 0-11
USSR-West Germany 11-0
France-Japan 3-8
Norway-Sweden 8-3
Semi-final draw: GDR-JAP, URS-NOR. Matches:
East Germany-Japan 9-2
USSR-Norway 11-0
Bronze final: Japan-Norway 4-7
FINAL: East Germany-USSR
39,69- 40,39 (1-0) 1.21,05- 1.19,31 (1-1) 2.05,86- 2.04,04 (1-2) 4.25,90- 4.27,64 (2-2) 7.40,97- 7.47,45 (3-2) 37,40- 36,57 (3-3) 1.16,46- 1.12,58 (3-4) 1.56,46- 1.54,26 (3-5) 4.11,58- 4.05,08 (3-6) 7.10,68- 6.51,17 (3-7) 15.00,83-14.17,61 (3-8)
Final result 3-8
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 46x URS GOLD 32x NED GOLD 7x FIN GOLD 4x SWE GOLD 2x AUT Silver 4x FRG Silver 2x HUN Silver 2x JAP Silver 2x USA Silver 2x GDR Silver 2x CZE Silver 1955 CHN Silver 1965 CAN bronze 1897 LAT bronze 1940 GBR bronze 1949 PRK bronze 1963 SWI 4th 3x POL 4th 3x FRA 4th 2x DEN 4th 1912 ITA 4th 1945 BEL 4th 1946 KOR 4th 1982 EST QF 5x LIT QF 1927 AUS QF 1974 ROM QF 1977 MGL 1R 7x NZL 1R 5x VIR 1R 1972 YUG PR 9x ESP PR 7x ISR PR 5x RSA PR 4x ICE PR 2x COL PR 1933