1996
Down to 30 in this mid-interolympic season, with two notable absences and despite an interesting return: AUT, BEL, BLR, BOS, CAN, CHN, CZE, FIN, FRA, GER, HUN, IRE, ITA, JAP, KAZ, KOR, LAT, MGL, NED, NOR, NZL, POL, POR, ROM, RSA, RUS, SWE, SWI, UKR, USA. Thus we need a preliminary round of 14 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, CHN, JAP, NOR, CAN, NED, RUS, AUT and GER, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is: NOR-HUN, RUS-UKR, LAT-KAZ, MGL-BLR, SWI-AUT, GER-ITA, BOS-JAP, POL-CAN, FIN-KOR, NED-CZE, USA-IRE, CHN-NZL, ROM-FRA, SWE-RSA. The matches:
Norway-Hungary 11-0
Russia-Ukraine 11-0
Latvia-Kazakhstan 0-11
Mongolia-Belarus 0-10
Switzerland-Austria 1-10
Germany-Italy 10-1, unlucky draw again!
Bosnia-Japan 0-11, like last year
Poland-Canada 2-9
Finland-South Korea 0-11, Suomi at a low ebb
Netherlands-Czechia 11-0
USA-Ireland 11-0
China-New Zealand 10-1, again!
Romania-France 5-6, just like last year, curiously many repeated draws here
Sweden-South Africa 11-0
Then the first round proper consists of: AUT, BEL, BLR, CAN, CHN, FRA, GER, JAP, KAZ, KOR, NED, NOR, POR, RUS, SWE, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, NOR, NED, JAP and GER, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: KAZ-SWE, CAN-GER, USA-AUT, RUS-BEL, FRA-KOR, JAP-BLR, POR-NOR, CHN-NED. The matches proceed as follows:
Kazakhstan-Sweden 8-3
Canada-Germany 6-5
USA-Austria 8.5-2.5
Russia-Belgium 8-3, with a new interesting recruit, but it doesn’t help
France-South Korea 2-9
Japan-Belarus 11-0
Portugal-Norway 0-11
China-Netherlands 0-11
The quarter-final consists of: CAN, JAP, KAZ, KOR, NED, NOR, RUS, USA. The finalists from last year, NED and JAP, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: KAZ-NOR, CAN-RUS, KOR-JAP, NED-USA. Results of the matches:
Kazakhstan-Norway 4-7
Canada-Russia 3-8
South Korea-Japan 0-11
Netherlands-USA 8-3
Semi-final draw: JAP-NOR, RUS-NED. Matches:
Japan-Norway 11-0
Russia-Netherlands 4-7
Bronze final: Norway-Russia 3-8
FINAL: Japan-Netherlands
38,92- 39,88 (1-0) 1.19,56- 1.19,26 (1-1) 2.01,92- 2.01,60 (1-2) 4.16,48- 4.16,92 (2-2) 7.18,63- 7.19,08 (3-2) 35,39- 36,49 (4-2) 1.11,67- 1.12,36 (5-2) 1.50,61- 1.51,64 (6-2) 3.57,45- 3.53,06 (6-3) 6.42,84- 6.37,55 (6-4) 13.58,01-13.51,14 (6-5)
Final result 6-5, Japan are dominating these last preklap seasons
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 46x RUS GOLD 36x NED GOLD 10x FIN GOLD 4x SWE GOLD 2x GDR GOLD 2x GER GOLD 2x JAP GOLD 2x AUT Silver 5x HUN Silver 2x USA Silver 2x CZE Silver 1955 CHN Silver 1965 CAN Silver 1993 LAT bronze 1940 GBR bronze 1949 PRK bronze 1963 ITA bronze 1991 SWI 4th 3x POL 4th 3x FRA 4th 2x DEN 4th 1912 BEL 4th 1946 KOR 4th 1982 KAZ 4th 1994 EST QF 5x ROM QF 2x LIT QF 1927 AUS QF 1974 UKR 2R 2x MGL 2R 1989 BLR 2R 1995 NZL 1R 10x IRE 1R 6x YUG 1R 4x POR 1R 4x GRE 1R 2x ISV 1R 1972 ESP 1R 1989 IRN 1R 1993 ARG 1R 1994 PAN 1R 1995 BOS 1R 1995 ISR PR 5x RSA PR 5x ICE PR 2x COL PR 1933 HKG PR 1986 TPE PR 1986