1999
Some losses take us down to 30 in the post-Olympic season: AUT, BEL, BLR, CAN, CHN, CZE, FIN, FRA, GBR, GER, HUN, IRE, ITA, JAP, KAZ, KOR, LAT, MGL, NED, NOR, POL, POR, ROM, RSA, RUS, SWE, SWI, TPE, UKR, USA. Thus we need a preliminary round of 14 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, USA, CAN, NED, KAZ, CHN, JAP, KOR and GER, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is: AUT-SWI, TPE-KAZ, IRE-POR, NED-NOR, MGL-CHN, KOR-BEL, CAN-LAT, GBR-FIN, BLR-ROM, FRA-POL, SWE-USA, UKR-GER, ITA-JAP, CZE-RSA. The matches:
Austria-Switzerland 11-0
Taiwan-Kazakhstan 0-11
Ireland-Portugal 5-4, decisive 5000m by FitzGerald
Netherlands-Norway 9-2, better luck next year
Mongolia-China 1-10, local derby
South Korea-Belgium 7-4
Canada-Latvia 11-0, unlucky draw, again!
Britain-Finland 0-11, the Finns are finding some quality again
Belarus-Romania 7-4, Romania are ebbing
France-Poland 3-8
Sweden-USA 1-10
Ukraine-Germany 0-11
Italy-Japan 3-8
Czechia-South Africa 11-0
Then the first round proper consists of: AUT, BLR, CAN, CHN, CZE, FIN, GER, HUN, IRE, JAP, KAZ, KOR, NED, POL, RUS, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, CAN, NED, GER and JAP, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: KOR-CZE, CHN-NED, AUT-POL, FIN-IRE, BLR-JAP, GER-HUN, KAZ-CAN, USA-RUS. The matches proceed as follows:
South Korea-Czechia 11-0
China-Netherlands 0-11
Austria-Poland 7-4
Finland-Ireland 11-0, luck of the Finns
Belarus-Japan 0-11
Germany-Hungary 11-0
Kazakhstan-Canada 3-8
USA-Russia 6-5, unlucky draw again
The quarter-final consists of: AUT, CAN, FIN, GER, JAP, KOR, NED, USA. The finalists from last year, NED and GER, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: CAN-FIN, USA-AUT, JAP-GER, KOR-NED. Results of the matches:
Canada-Finland 10-1
USA-Austria 9-2
Japan-Germany 2-9
South Korea-Netherlands 0-11
Semi-final draw: USA-CAN, NED-GER. Matches:
USA-Canada 4-7
Netherlands-Germany 6-5
Bronze final: USA-Germany 1-10
FINAL: Canada-Netherlands
37,86- 38,47 (1-0) 1.15,57- 1.15,41 (1-1) 2.00,11- 1.55,50 (1-2) 4.13,03- 4.07,49 (1-3) 7.22,74- 7.05,16 (1-4) 34,76- 34,87 (2-4) 1.08,58- 1.08,55 (2-5) 1.48,36- 1.47,76 (2-6) 3.45,23- 3.46,04 (3-6) 6.33,13- 6.29,39 (3-7) 13.52,72-13.26,3 (3-8)
Final result 3-8
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 46x RUS GOLD 36x NED GOLD 13x 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 4x 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 POR 2R 1998 NZL 1R 11x IRE 1R 8x YUG 1R 5x GRE 1R 2x BOS 1R 2x ISV 1R 1972 ESP 1R 1989 IRN 1R 1993 ARG 1R 1994 PAN 1R 1995 RSA 1R 1998 ISR PR 5x ICE PR 2x TPE PR 2x COL PR 1933 HKG PR 1986