2003
An expected reduction in the post-Olympic season, but only slight, to 32: ARG, AUS, AUT, BEL, BLR, CAN, CHN, CZE, DEN, FIN, FRA, GER, HKG, HUN, IRE, ITA, JAP, KAZ, KOR, LAT, MEX, MGL, NED, NOR, POL, POR, ROM, RUS, SWE, SWI, UKR, USA. Thus we can arrange a full first round proper of 16 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, GER, NOR, USA, UKR, JAP, FIN, RUS and NED, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is: AUS-POR, NOR-CAN, KOR-SWE, MGL-FIN, NED-DEN, POL-HUN, SWI-CHN, USA-ROM, IRE-BLR, LAT-UKR, FRA-ITA, JAP-HKG, BEL-AUT, CZE-MEX, ARG-GER, KAZ-RUS. The matches:
Australia-Portugal 5-0, lucky draw
Norway-Canada 1-10, unlucky draw
South Korea-Sweden 8-3
Mongolia-Finland 0-11
Netherlands-Denmark 11-0
Poland-Hungary 8-3
Switzerland-China 0-11
USA-Romania 11-0
Ireland-Belarus 0-9
Latvia-Ukraine 0-10
France-Italy 0-11, France hang in a thread
Japan-Hong Kong 11-0
Belgium-Austria 5-6, by .04 500m seconds
Czechia-Mexico 10-0
Argentina-Germany 0-11
Kazakhstan-Russia 0-11
Then the second round consists of: AUS, AUT, BLR, CAN, CHN, CZE, FIN, GER, ITA, JAP, KOR, NED, POL, RUS, UKR, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, NED, GER, USA and JAP, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: CZE-FIN, BLR-JAP, KOR-CAN, NED-ITA, USA-AUT, AUS-UKR, CHN-POL, RUS-GER. The matches proceed as follows:
Czechia-Finland 6-5, the Czech, only genuine ones now, are coming, and Sábliková wins her first distances
Belarus-Japan 1.5-9.5
South Korea-Canada 0-11
Netherlands-Italy 11-0
USA-Austria 11-0
Australia-Ukraine 2-8, very lucky draw, again!
China-Poland 6-5
Russia-Germany 6-5!
The quarter-final consists of: CAN, CHN, CZE, JAP, NED, RUS, UKR, USA. The finalists from last year, NED and USA, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: CAN-CHN, NED-UKR, JAP-CZE, USA-RUS. Results of the matches:
Canada-China 11-0
Netherlands-Ukraine 11-0
Japan-Czechia 11-0, no chance, but one 15 year old says, “Just you wait!”
USA-Russia 7-4
Semi-final draw: NED-JAP, CAN-USA. Matches:
Netherlands-Japan 8-3
Canada-USA 8-3, revenge from last year
Bronze final: Japan-USA 2-9
FINAL: Netherlands -Canada
38,25- 37,66 (0-1) 1.15,42- 1.14,71 (0-2) 1.58,21- 1.54,63 (0-3) 3.58,94- 4.04,99 (0-4) 7.06,34- 6.54,91 (0-5) 34,61- 34,41 (0-6) 1.07,33- 1.07,89 (1-6) 1.46,11- 1.46,71 (2-6) 3.45,20- 3.44,46 (2-7) 6.25,29- 6.29,86 (3-7) 13.21,33-13.46,02 (4-7)
Final result 4-7, Canada’s first win!
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 46x RUS GOLD 36x NED GOLD 15x FIN GOLD 4x JAP GOLD 3x SWE GOLD 2x GDR GOLD 2x GER GOLD 2x CAN GOLD 2003 AUT Silver 5x USA Silver 3x HUN Silver 2x CZE Silver 1955 CHN Silver 1965 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 UKR QF 2x LIT QF 1927 AUS QF 1974 POR 2R 2x BLR 2R 2x MGL 2R 1989 NZL 1R 13x IRE 1R 11x YUG 1R 5x MEX 1R 3x GRE 1R 2x BOS 1R 2x ARG 1R 2x ISV 1R 1972 ESP 1R 1989 IRN 1R 1993 PAN 1R 1995 RSA 1R 1998 HKG 1R 2003 ISR PR 5x ICE PR 2x TPE PR 2x COL PR 1933