Speedskating - The Annual September Skøytenytt Nations Knockout Competition

1958

In 1958 we have 25 participants, a new record, including three interesting debutants this time: AUS, AUT, CHN, CZE, DEN, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, GDR, HUN, ICE, ITA, JAP, NED, NOR, NZL, POL, PRK, ROM, RSA, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. Thus we need a preliminary round of 9 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, SWE, ITA, HUN, FIN, URS, NED, GDR and NOR, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is: POL-HUN, AUT-FRA, CHN-URS, JAP-ITA, NED-PRK, FRG-NZL, NOR-RSA, GBR-FIN, ROM-ICE. The matches:

Poland-Hungary 7-2
Austria-France 6-0
China-USSR 0-9
Japan-Italy 5-5; distances: 9-9; Japan win on samalog points
Netherlands-North Korea 5-4
West Germany-New Zealand 5-0
Norway-South Africa 10-0
Britain-Finland 0-10
Romania-Iceland 8-2

The first round proper then consists of: AUS, AUT, CZE, DEN, FIN, FRG, GDR, JAP, NED, NOR, POL, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, SWE, FIN, URS and NOR, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: NOR-AUS, SWE-USA, FIN-GDR, CZE-AUT, SWI-NED, POL-FRG, JAP-ROM, DEN-URS. The matches proceed as follows:

Norway-Australia 10-0
Sweden-USA 10-0
Finland-East Germany 6-4
Czechoslovakia-Austria 4-6
Switzerland-Netherlands 1-9
Poland-West Germany 9-0
Japan-Romania 8-2
Denmark-USSR 0-9, that was close...

The quarter-final consists of: AUT, FIN, JAP, NED, NOR, POL, SWE, URS. The finalists from last year, FIN and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: URS-AUT, POL-JAP, NOR-FIN, NED-SWE. Results of the matches:

USSR-Austria 9-1
Poland-Japan 6.5-2.5
Norway-Finland 6-4
Netherlands-Sweden 2-8

Semi-final draw: SWE-POL, URS-NOR. Matches:

Sweden-Poland 7.5-2.5
USSR-Norway 6-4, again!

Bronze final: Poland-Norway 4-6

FINAL: USSR-Sweden

   47,4 -   49,8 (1-0)
 1.37,8 - 1.43,7 (2-0)
 2.32,6 - 2.40,8 (3-0)
 5.22,7 - 5.38,9 (4-0)
   40,9 -   43,2 (5-0)
      - - 1.31,0 (5-1)
 2.10,7 - 2.16,5 (6-1)
 4.50,8 - 4.53,7 (7-1)
 8.11,4 - 8.22,3 (8-1)
16.48,8 -17.03,4 (9-1)

Final result 9-1

Statistics:

NOR GOLD 45x
URS GOLD 13x
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
POL 4th 2x
FRA 4th 1902
DEN 4th 1912
ITA 4th 1945
BEL 4th 1946
EST QF 5x
LIT QF 1927
KOR QF 1949
GDR QF 1957
ROM 1R 7x
AUS 1R 5x
CHN 1R 1957
ICE PR 2x
COL PR 1933
ESP PR 1957
PRK PR 1958
NZL PR 1958
RSA PR 1958