2013
Kenya and Portugal are out since last year but our good old Mexicans are back as well as the Chileans, and with the debut of Singapore, we again set a new record of 43 participating countries, one more than last year’s record: ARG, AUS, AUT, BEL, BLR, CAN, CHI, CHN, COL, CZE, DEN, ESP, EST, FIN, FRA, GBR, GER, HUN, IND, IRE, ISR, ITA, JAP, KAZ, KOR, LAT, MEX, MGL, NED, NOR, NZL, PHI, POL, PRK, ROM, RUS, SIN, SVK, SWE, SWI, TPE, UKR, USA. Thus we need a preliminary round of 11 matches. The 2nd round participants from last year, BEL, CAN, CHN, FIN, GER, HUN, ITA, KAZ, KOR, NED, NOR, NZL, POL, ROM, RUS, USA, are exempt. The draw is: ARG-LAT, COL-TPE, SIN-CZE, AUT-CHI, AUS-IND, IRE-PHI, PRK-UKR, SWE-DEN, ESP-JAP, SWI-SVK, FRA-ISR. The results of the matches:
Argentina-Latvia 0-9
Colombia-Taiwan 1-3
Singapore-Czech Republic 0-11
Austria-Chile 11-0, but the Chileans are building a good team
Australia-India 7-3, good showing by the Indians there
Ireland-Philippines 2-2; 4-2 in distances, and the Philippines win! Going through to the 1st round for the 2nd time.
North Korea-Ukraine 8-1, not much left here
Sweden-Denmark 10-1, classic
Spain-Japan 0-11
Switzerland-Slovakia 10-0
France-Israel 6-0
The first round proper then consists of: AUS, AUT, BEL, BLR, CAN, CHN, CZE, EST, FIN, FRA, GBR, GER, HUN, ITA, JAP, KAZ, KOR, LAT, MEX, MGL, NED, NOR, NZL, PHI, POL, PRK, ROM, RUS, SWE, SWI, TPE, USA. The quarter-finalists from last year, CAN, GER, ITA, KAZ, NED, NOR, RUS, and USA, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. Here is the draw: KOR-USA, MEX-SWI, ITA-CHN, FIN-HUN, EST-CZE, KAZ-NZL, LAT-CAN, GBR-TPE, PRK-AUS, RUS-AUT, NED-BEL, ROM-BLR, JAP-FRA, SWE-GER, PHI-MGL, NOR-POL. The matches:
South Korea-USA 6-5, tough draw! And payback from last year!
Mexico-Switzerland 0-10
Italy-China 7-4
Finland-Hungary 8-3, Finno-Ugric match
Estonia-Czech Republic 3-8
Kazakhstan-New Zealand 10-1
Latvia-Canada 1-10
Britain-Taiwan 0-3, lucky draw, proceeding to 2nd round for the first time
North Korea-Australia 6-4, quite the match
Russia-Austria 11-0
Netherlands-Belgium 11-0, another classic, but unlucky draw for one of the better teams
Romania-Belarus 0-11
Japan-France 7-4, tight enough
Sweden-Germany 0-11
Philippines-Mongolia 0-9
Norway-Poland 4-7, tough match...
Then the second round consists of: BLR, CAN, CZE, FIN, GER, ITA, JAP, KAZ, KOR, MGL, NED, POL, PRK, RUS, SWI, TPE. The remaining semi-finalists from last year, CAN, GER, and NED, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: POL-FIN, KAZ-BLR, TPE-CZE, SWI-PRK, RUS-CAN, NED-MGL, KOR-GER, JAP-ITA. The matches proceed as follows:
Poland-Finland 9-2
Kazakhstan-Belarus 11-0
Taiwan-Czech Republic 3-8
Switzerland-North Korea 9-2, first quarter-final since 1997
Russia-Canada 4-7, tough draw
Netherlands-Mongolia 11-0
South Korea-Germany 6-5, what a battle!
Japan-Italy 9-2
The quarter-final consists of: CAN, CZE, JAP, KAZ, KOR, NED, POL, SWI. Only one finalist from last year survives, so there is no seeding. The draw is as follows: JAP-NED, POL-CZE, KAZ-SWI, CAN-KOR. Results of the matches:
Japan-Netherlands 2-9
Poland-Czech Republic 6-5, first semi-final since 1981!!
Kazakhstan-Switzerland 11-0, first semi-final since 1994!
Canada-South Korea 7-4, tough draw, but if you aim for the top, you must beat them all...
Semi-final draw: CAN-KAZ, NED-POL. Matches:
Canada-Kazakhstan 9-2
Netherlands-Poland 11-0
Bronze final: Kazakhstan-Poland 5-6, tight and exciting, giving the Poles their first bronze medals! Gold next?
FINAL: Canada-Netherlands
37,83- 37,06 (0-1) 1.12,91- 1.13,88 (1-1) 1.56,16- 1.54,67 (1-2) 4.04,53- 3.58,68 (1-3) 7.10,67- 7.01,95 (1-4) 34,36- 34,32 (1-5) 1.07,85- 1.07,43 (1-6) and it’s all decided already, again. 1.44,73- 1.45,31 (2-6) 3.43,70- 3.39,46 (2-7) 6.24,44- 6.10,37 (2-8) 13.18,41-12.50,40 (2-9)
Final result 2-9 again, the 21st Dutch win.
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 46x RUS GOLD 36x NED GOLD 21x FIN GOLD 4x JAP GOLD 3x CAN GOLD 3x SWE GOLD 2x GDR GOLD 2x GER GOLD 2x USA GOLD 2x AUT Silver 5x HUN Silver 2x CZE Silver 1955 CHN Silver 1965 ITA Silver 2006 LAT bronze 1940 GBR bronze 1949 PRK bronze 1963 POL bronze 2013 SWI 4th 4x KOR 4th 3x FRA 4th 2x KAZ 4th 2x DEN 4th 1912 BEL 4th 1946 EST QF 5x ROM QF 3x UKR QF 2x LIT QF 1927 AUS QF 1974 BLR QF 2008 MGL 2R 4x POR 2R 2x IRE 2R 2005 COL 2R 2007 NZL 2R 2012 TPE 2R 2013 ARG 1R 7x MEX 1R 7x YUG 1R 5x SVK 1R 5x GRE 1R 4x ESP 1R 4x IND 1R 3x BOS 1R 2x ISR 1R 2x PHI 1R 2x ISV 1R 1972 IRN 1R 1993 PAN 1R 1995 RSA 1R 1998 HKG 1R 2003 SER 1R 2004 CHI 1R 2008 QAT 1R 2011 KEN PR 3x ICE PR 2x BRA PR 2010 SIN PR 2013