1961
This post-Olympic season we are down to 23 participants, including one interesting debutant: AUS, AUT, CHN, CZE, DEN, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, GDR, HUN, ITA, JAP, NED, MGL, NOR, NZL, POL, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. Thus we need a preliminary round of 7 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, GDR, FIN, NOR, FRA, NED, USA, SWE and URS, are exempt. The draw is: CZE-CHN, ITA-AUS, POL-NZL, JAP-FRG, DEN-MGL, AUT-SWI, HUN-GBR. The matches:
Czechoslovakia-China 0-9
Italy-Australia 6-4
Poland-New Zealand 9-0
Japan-West Germany 9-1
Denmark-Mongolia 5-3
Austria-Switzerland 4-2
Hungary-Britain 9-2
The first round proper then consists of: AUT, CHN, DEN, FIN, FRA, GDR, HUN, ITA, JAP, NED, NOR, POL, ROM, SWE, URS, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, NOR, URS, FIN and USA, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: ROM-JAP, AUT-SWE, ITA-POL, USA-CHN, NED-NOR, GDR-URS, HUN-DEN, FIN-FRA. The matches proceed as follows:
Romania-Japan 0-9
Austria-Sweden 1-9
Italy-Poland 6-4
USA-China 0-9, the East is Red
Netherlands-Norway 5-5; distances 10-10; Norway win on samalog points
East Germany-USSR 0-9
Hungary-Denmark 8.5-1.5
Finland-France 4-5 !
The quarter-final consists of: CHN, FRA, HUN, ITA, JAP, NOR, SWE, URS — many new and exciting nations, and some old ones. There is no seeding as only URS remains from last year’s final. The draw is as follows: FRA-URS, NOR-HUN, SWE-ITA, CHN-JAP. Results of the matches:
France-USSR 1-8
Norway-Hungary 10-1
Sweden-Italy 6-4
China-Japan 6-3, and the East is even redder
Semi-final draw: NOR-CHN, URS-SWE. Matches:
Norway-China 6-4
USSR-Sweden 7-3
Bronze final: China-Sweden 1-9
FINAL: Norway-USSR
49,5 - 46,6 (0-1) 1.45,4 - 1.37,8 (0-2) 2.46,0 - 2.27,1 (0-3) 5.44,6 - 5.14,1 (0-4) 42,4 - 41,5 (0-5) 1.32,3 - - (1-5) 2.15,8 - 2.14,8 (1-6) 4.48,1 - 4.51,6 (2-6) 8.12,0 - 7.59,3 (2-7) 16.54,3 -16.31,2 (2-8)
Final result 2-8
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 45x URS GOLD 16x 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 3x 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 CHN 4th 1961 EST QF 5x GDR QF 2x LIT QF 1927 KOR QF 1949 ROM 1R 8x AUS 1R 6x ICE PR 2x PRK PR 2x RSA PR 2x NZL PR 2x COL PR 1933 ESP PR 1957 MGL PR 1961