1956
For the new Olympic season we have 22 again: AUS, AUT, CAN, CZE, DEN, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, GDR, HUN, ITA, JAP, KOR, NED, NOR, POL, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. Thus we need a preliminary round of 6 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, JAP, POL, NOR, FIN, CZE, HUN, NED and URS, are exempt. The draw is: KOR-USA, ROM-SWI, GDR-CAN, FRG-AUT, ITA-AUS, SWE-GBR. The matches:
Korea-USA 6-4
Romania-Switzerland 5-4
East Germany-Canada 7-3
West Germany-Austria 2-4
Italy-Australia 6-4
Sweden-Britain 10-0
The first round proper then consists of: AUT, CZE, DEN, FIN, FRA, GDR, HUN, ITA, JAP, KOR, NED, NOR, POL, ROM, SWE, URS. The semi-finalists from last year, CZE, POL, NOR and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: CZE-FIN, JAP-NED, AUT-POL, GDR-URS, KOR-SWE, NOR-ITA, DEN-FRA, HUN-ROM. The matches proceed as follows:
Czechoslovakia-Finland 4-6
Japan-Netherlands 6-4
Austria-Poland 5-5; distances: 6-8—Austria win
East Germany-USSR 1-8
Korea-Sweden 0-10
Norway-Italy 7-3
Denmark-France 0-4
Hungary-Romania 9-1
The quarter-final consists of: AUT, FIN, FRA, HUN, JAP, NOR, SWE, URS. Since only one finalist survives from last year, there is no seeding. The draw is as follows: JAP-URS, AUT-HUN, FRA-FIN, NOR-SWE. Results of the matches:
Japan-USSR 1-9
Austria-Hungary 6-4
France-Finland 0-10
Norway-Sweden 1-9, a thrashing...
Semi-final draw: AUT-SWE, URS-FIN. Matches:
Austria-Sweden 0-10
USSR-Finland 9-1
Bronze final: Austria-Finland 0-10
FINAL: Sweden-USSR
50,7 - 47,6 (0-1) 1.45,3 - 1.39,2 (0-2) 2.45,6 - 2.30,8 (0-3) 5.42,3 - 5.20,4 (0-4) 41,9 - 40,2 (0-5) 1.28,5 - - (1-5) 2.11,0 - 2.08,6 (1-6) 4.45,3 - 4.37,8 (1-7) 7.56,7 - 7.48,7 (1-8) 16.35,9 -16.36,4 (2-8)
Final result 2-8
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 45x URS GOLD 11x FIN GOLD 4x NED GOLD 2x SWE GOLD 2x AUT Silver 4x FRG Silver 2x HUN Silver 2x JAP Silver 2x CZE Silver 1955 USA bronze 2x CAN bronze 1897 LAT bronze 1940 GBR bronze 1949 SWI 4th 3x FRA 4th 1902 DEN 4th 1912 ITA 4th 1945 BEL 4th 1946 POL 4th 1955 EST QF 5x LIT QF 1927 KOR QF 1949 ROM 1R 5x AUS 1R 3x GDR 1R 2x COL PR 1933 ICE PR 1953