2007
In 2007 there’s no Olympic bleed — we have a rew record again with 40 participants, including another very interesting debutant: ARG, AUS, AUT, BEL, BLR, CAN, CHN, COL, CZE, DEN, ESP, EST, FIN, FRA, GBR, GER, GRE, HUN, IND, IRE, ITA, JAP, KAZ, KEN, KOR, LAT, MEX, MGL, NED, NOR, POL, POR, PRK, ROM, RUS, SVK, SWE, SWI, UKR, USA. Thus we need a preliminary round of 8 matches. The 2nd round participants from last year, POL, SWI, FIN, GER, RUS, KAZ, NED, JAP, NOR, BEL, ITA, KOR, MGL, CAN, USA and ROM, are exempt. The draw is: EST-LAT, CZE-POR, DEN-GBR, SWE-FRA, IRE-AUT, GRE-BLR, HUN-IND, MEX-KEN. The results of the matches:
Estonia-Latvia 9-0, Baltic clash
Czechia-Portugal 11-0
Denmark-Britain 10-1
Sweden-France 10-1
Ireland-Austria 0-11
Greece-Belarus 0-10
Hungary-India 9-0
Mexico-Kenya 3-1
The first round proper then consists of: ARG, AUS, AUT, BEL, BLR, CAN, CHN, COL, CZE, DEN, ESP, EST, FIN, GER, HUN, ITA, JAP, KAZ, KOR, MEX, MGL, NED, NOR, POL, PRK, ROM, RUS, SVK, SWE, SWI, UKR, USA. The quarter-finalists from last year, RUS, ITA, POL, NOR, GER, CAN, USA and NED, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. Here is the draw: ROM-CHN, POL-CZE, GER-BLR, KAZ-CAN, ITA-AUS, NOR-ESP, KOR-SWI, BEL-MGL, COL-SVK, JAP-UKR, RUS-DEN, PRK-ARG, USA-MEX, AUT-HUN, SWE-EST, NED-FIN. The matches:
Romania-China 0-11, Romania seem to be in a backwater
Poland-Czechia 8-3
Germany-Belarus 11-0
Kazakhstan-Canada 0-11
Italy-Australia 11-0
Norway-Spain 11-0, at least the away team don’t need to travel so far
South Korea-Switzerland 11-0
Belgium-Mongolia 6-4
Colombia-Slovakia 4-4; distances: 4-4; points behind leader: 33.140-34.962 — Colombia win!
Japan-Ukraine 11-0
Russia-Denmark 11-0
North Korea-Argentina 7-4, quite a battle
USA-Mexico 11-0, local derby
Austria-Hungary 11-0, as is this one
Sweden-Estonia 11-0, and this one, kind of
Netherlands-Finland 10-1
Then the second round consists of: AUT, BEL, CAN, CHN, COL, GER, ITA, JAP, KOR, NED, NOR, POL, PRK, RUS, SWE, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, USA, CAN, NOR and ITA, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: ITA-NED, GER-USA, POL-KOR, BEL-CAN, COL-AUT, NOR-JAP, CHN-SWE, PRK-RUS. The matches proceed as follows:
Italy-Netherlands 0-11
Germany-USA 6-5
Poland-South Korea 3-8
Belgium-Canada 0-11
Colombia-Austria 0-11, lucky draw
Norway-Japan 6-5
China-Sweden 9-2
North Korea-Russia 0-11
The quarter-final consists of: AUT, CAN, CHN, GER, KOR, NED, NOR, RUS. Only one finalist survives from last year, and so there is no seeding. The draw is as follows: NOR-RUS, GER-NED, AUT-KOR, CHN-CAN. Results of the matches:
Norway-Russia 6-5
Germany-Netherlands 2-9
Austria-South Korea 1-10, first semi-final since 1982!
China-Canada 1-10
Semi-final draw: NOR-NED, KOR-CAN. Matches:
Norway-Netherlands 1-10
South Korea-Canada 2-9
Bronze final: Norway-South Korea 6-5
FINAL: Netherlands-Canada
37,91- 38,30 (1-0) 1.13,83- 1.14,02 (2-0) 1.52,38- 1.53,40 (3-0) 3.58,41- 3.58,50 (4-0) 7.01,25- 6.58,41 (4-1) 34,72- 34,48 (4-2) 1.07,57- 1.07,24 (4-3) 1.42,80- 1.42,88 (5-3) 3.42,42- 3.44,75 (6-3) 6.07,48- 6.15,39 (7-3) 12.41,69-13.11,10 (8-3)
Final result 8-3
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 46x RUS GOLD 36x NED GOLD 17x FIN GOLD 4x JAP GOLD 3x SWE GOLD 2x GDR GOLD 2x GER GOLD 2x CAN GOLD 2x USA GOLD 2005 AUT Silver 5x HUN Silver 2x CZE Silver 1955 CHN Silver 1965 ITA Silver 2006 LAT bronze 1940 GBR bronze 1949 PRK bronze 1963 SWI 4th 4x POL 4th 3x FRA 4th 2x KOR 4th 2x DEN 4th 1912 BEL 4th 1946 KAZ 4th 1994 EST QF 5x ROM QF 2x UKR QF 2x LIT QF 1927 AUS QF 1974 BLR 2R 3x MGL 2R 3x POR 2R 2x IRE 2R 2005 COL 2R 2007 NZL 1R 13x YUG 1R 5x MEX 1R 5x ARG 1R 5x ESP 1R 3x GRE 1R 2x BOS 1R 2x IND 1R 2x ISV 1R 1972 IRN 1R 1993 PAN 1R 1995 RSA 1R 1998 HKG 1R 2003 SER 1R 2004 TPE 1R 2006 SVK 1R 2007 ISR PR 5x ICE PR 2x KEN PR 2007