1963
Down to 25 in this memorable season: AUS, AUT, CAN, CHN, CZE, DEN, FIN, FRA, FRG, GBR, GDR, HUN, ITA, JAP, MGL, NED, NOR, NZL, POL, PRK, ROM, SWE, SWI, URS, USA. Thus we need a preliminary round of 9 matches. The quarter-finalists from last year, JAP, SWE, NOR, POL, FRA, CHN, GDR and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is: NOR-FIN, FRA-HUN, GBR-NED, SWI-ITA, ROM-URS, POL-USA, CAN-CHN, JAP-FRG, AUT-NZL. The matches:
Norway-Finland 6-4, tough luck, not for the first time
France-Hungary 5.5-4.5, pretty close
Britain-Netherlands 0-10
Switzerland-Italy 0-9
Romania-USSR 0-10
Poland-USA 1-7
Canada-China 2-8
Japan-West Germany 6-5, that’s pretty close, too
Austria-New Zealand 6-4, and that
The first round proper then consists of: AUS, AUT, CHN, CZE, DEN, FRA, GDR, ITA, JAP, MGL, NED, NOR, PRK, SWE, URS, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, SWE, NOR, FRA and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: NOR-ITA, SWE-AUS, JAP-CHN, URS-GDR, PRK-DEN, AUT-FRA, USA-CZE, MGL-NED. The matches proceed as follows:
Norway-Italy 10-0
Sweden-Australia 10-0
Japan-China 4-7
USSR-East Germany 10-0
North Korea-Denmark 6-3
Austria-France 4-6
USA-Czechoslovakia 7-1
Mongolia-Netherlands 1-9
The quarter-final consists of: CHN, FRA, NED, NOR, PRK, SWE, URS, USA. The finalists from last year, SWE and URS, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: PRK-FRA, CHN-SWE, NOR-USA, NED-URS. Results of the matches:
North Korea-France 8-0
China-Sweden 4-6, pretty close
Norway-USA 5-5; distances: 10-7 — USA win!
Netherlands-USSR 1-9
Semi-final draw: USA-URS, PRK-SWE. Matches:
USA-USSR 0-10
North Korea-Sweden 1-9
Bronze final: USA-North Korea 2-6
FINAL: USSR-Sweden
45,4 - 46,7 (1-0) 1.31,8 - 1.35,1 (2-0) 2.23,2 - 2.30,1 (3-0) 5.10,1 - 5.19,4 (4-0) 39,5 - 41,9 (5-0) 1.25,5 - 1.28,2 (6-0) 2.08,1 - 2.10,1 (7-0) 4.36,0 - 4.27,6 (7-1) 7.50,5 - 7.34,3 (7-2) 16.26,7 -15.33,0 (7-3)
Final result 7-3
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 45x URS GOLD 18x 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 PRK bronze 1963 SWI 4th 3x POL 4th 2x FRA 4th 2x 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 MGL 1R 1963 NZL PR 4x ICE PR 2x RSA PR 2x COL PR 1933 ESP PR 1957