2010
With the long-awaited debut of Brazil and the return of Colombia and Israel we have again a new record with 41 participants: ARG, AUS, AUT, BEL, BLR, BRA, CAN, CHN, COL, CZE, DEN, ESP, EST, FIN, FRA, GBR, GER, GRE, HUN, IND, IRE, ISR, ITA, JAP, KAZ, KOR, LAT, MEX, MGL, NED, NOR, NZL, POL, PRK, ROM, RUS, SVK, SWE, SWI, UKR, USA. Thus we need a preliminary round of 9 matches. The 2nd round participants from last year, RUS, GER, GBR, JAP, USA, KOR, CAN, KAZ, SWE, SWI, BLR, NED, NOR ,CHN, AUS, and ITA, are exempt. The draw is: EST-LAT, IRE-POL, FRA-GRE, COL-DEN, NZL-BRA, IND-ESP, FIN-BEL, UKR-AUT, MGL-PRK. The results of the matches:
Estonia-Latvia 5-5; 10-8 in distances, and Latvia wins this Baltic battle.
Ireland-Poland 0-11
France-Greece 10-0
Colombia-Denmark 2-8
New Zealand-Brazil 6-0
India-Spain 1-5
Finland-Belgium 8-3
Ukraine-Austria 0-11
Mongolia-North Korea 3-8
The first round proper then consists of: ARG, AUS, AUT, BLR, CAN, CHN, CZE, DEN, ESP, FIN, FRA, GBR, GER, HUN, ISR, ITA, JAP, KAZ, KOR, LAT, MEX, NED, NOR, NZL, POL, PRK, ROM, RUS, SVK, SWE, SWI, USA. The quarter-finalists from last year, USA, ITA, GER, JAP, CAN, NOR, NED, and SWE, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. Here is the draw: USA-POL, PRK-FRA, HUN-KOR, SWE-SVK, LAT-ROM, AUS-JAP, GBR-NOR, AUT-SWI, ARG-GER, FIN-KAZ, ESP-CHN, ITA-MEX, ISR-DEN, CAN-NZL, NED-BLR, RUS-CZE. The matches:
USA-Poland 11-0, unlucky draw again
North Korea-France 6-5
Hungary-South Korea 0-11
Sweden-Slovakia 11-0
Latvia-Romania 4-5
Australia-Japan 0-11
Great Britain-Norway 0-11
Austria-Switzerland 7-4
Argentina-Germany 0-11
Finland-Kazakhstan 3-8
Spain-China 0-11
Italy-Mexico 10-0
Israel-Denmark 4-6, lucky draw
Canada-New Zealand 9-2, 16 times in round 1 so far; maybe round 2 next year...
Netherlands-Belarus 11-0
Russia-Czechia 9-2
Then the second round consists of: AUT, CAN, CHN, DEN, GER, ITA, JAP, KAZ, KOR, NED, NOR, PRK, ROM, RUS, SWE, USA. The semi-finalists from last year, NED, USA, GER, and CAN, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw: CAN-ITA, DEN-ROM, NOR-PRK, KOR-AUT, RUS-NED, GER-JAP, SWE-KAZ, CHN-USA, looks like a fine one. The matches proceed as follows:
Canada-Italy 8-3
Denmark-Romania 3-7, lucky draw
Norway-North Korea 9-2
South Korea-Austria 10-1
Russia-Netherlands 2-9, but several of the distances were extremely close
Germany-Japan 7-4
Sweden-Kazakhstan 4-7, the Kazakhs are on the rise
China-USA 2-9
The quarter-final consists of: CAN, GER, KAZ, KOR, NED, NOR, ROM, USA. The finalists from last year, CAN and USA, are seeded and cannot be drawn against each other. The draw is as follows: KOR-USA, ROM-NOR, CAN-NED, GER-KAZ, not really a good one. Results of the matches:
South Korea-USA 3-8
Romania-Norway 0-11, lucky draw
Canada-Netherlands 7-4, almost worty of a final
Germany-Kazakhstan 10-1, lucky draw
Semi-final draw: NOR-CAN, GER-USA. Matches:
Norway-Canada 4-7, for the third year in a row, but this time at a more proper stage
Germany-USA 4-7
Bronze final: Norway-Germany 4-7
FINAL: Canada-USA
38,12- 37,74 (0-1) 1.13,36- 1.14,57 (1-1) 1.52,77- 1.54,19 (2-1) 3.58,11- 4.03,70 (3-1) 6.55,73- 7.03,28 (4-1) 34,36- 34,35 (4-2) 1.07,57- 1.06,67 (4-3) 1.42,74- 1.41,04 (4-4) 3.47,90- 3.44,63 (4-5) 6.24,31- 6.13,51 (4-6) we have a winner! 13.33,28-13.15,62 (4-7)
Final result 4-7, and the USA secure their 2nd win, catching up with their northern neighbours.
Statistics:
NOR GOLD 46x RUS GOLD 36x NED GOLD 18x FIN GOLD 4x JAP GOLD 3x CAN GOLD 3x SWE GOLD 2x GDR GOLD 2x GER GOLD 2x USA GOLD 2x 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 3x UKR QF 2x LIT QF 1927 AUS QF 1974 BLR QF 2008 MGL 2R 3x POR 2R 2x IRE 2R 2005 COL 2R 2007 NZL 1R 16x ARG 1R 7x MEX 1R 6x YUG 1R 5x GRE 1R 4x SVK 1R 4x ESP 1R 4x 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 CHI 1R 2008 ISR 1R 2010 ICE PR 2x KEN PR 2x BRA PR 2010