India at the 1956 Summer Olympics

India at the
1956 Summer Olympics
India at the; 1956 Summer Olympics
IOC code	IND
NOC	Indian Olympic Association
Website	olympic.ind.in
in Melbourne/Stockholm
Competitors	59 (58 men, 1 woman) in 8 sports
Flag bearer	Balbir Singh Sr.
Medals; Ranked 24th	Gold 1 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 1
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
	1900; 1904–1912; 1920; 1924; 1928; 1932; 1936; 1948; 1952; 1956; 1960; 1964; 1968; 1972; 1976; 1980; 1984; 1988; 1992; 1996; 2000; 2004; 2008; 2012; 2016; 2020; 2024;

India competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. 59 competitors, 58 men and 1 woman, took part in 32 events in 8 sports. Their solitary medal, a gold, came in men's field hockey.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Medalists edit

Medals by sport
Sport				Total
Field hockey	1	0	0	1
Total	1	0	0	1

Medal	Name	Sport	Event
Gold	Leslie Claudius Ranganathan Francis Haripal Kaushik Amir Kumar Raghbir Lal Shankar Lakshman Govind Perumal Amit Singh Bakshi Raghbir Singh Bhola Balbir Singh Dosanjh Hardyal Singh Garchey Randhir Singh Gentle Balkishan Singh Grewal Gurdev Singh Kullar Udham Singh Kullar Bakshish Singh Charles Stephen	Field hockey	Men's Field hockey

Athletics edit

Men's High Jump

Ajit Singh

Qualification Round — 1.96m (14)

Men's 200 metres

Milkha Singh

Heat — 22.47 (→ did not advance)

Men's 800 metres

Sohan Singh

Heat — 1.52.4(→ did not advance)

Women's 100 metres

Mary Rao

Heat — DNF(→ did not advance)

Football edit

First round

India	w/o ¹	Hungary

Melbourne

Quarterfinals

1 December 1956
12:00

Australia	2–4	India
Morrow 17' 41'	Report	D'Souza 9' 33' 50' Kittu 80'

Melbourne

Referee: C.H. Wensveen (IDN)

Semifinals

4 December 1956
12:00

Yugoslavia	4–1	India
Papec 54' 65' Veselinović 57' Salam 78' (o.g.)	Report	D'Souza 52'

Melbourne

Attendance: 16.626

Referee: Latyshev (USSR)

Bronze Medal match

7 December 1956
14:15

Bulgaria	3–0	India
Diev 37' 60' Milanov 42'	Report

Melbourne

Attendance: 21.236

Referee: Latyshev (USSR)

Gymnastics edit

Three athletes represented India in Gymnastics at the 1956 Olympics: Pritam Singh, Sham Lal, and Anant Ram.

Hockey edit

Squad

Leslie Claudius
Ranganathan Francis
Haripal Kaushik
Amir Kumar
Raghbir Lal
Shankar Lakshman
O. P. Malhotra
Govind Perumal
Amit Singh Bakshi
Raghbir Singh Bhola
Balbir Singh Dosanjh
Hardyal Singh Garchey
Randhir Singh Gentle
Balkishan Singh Grewal
Gurdev Singh Kullar
Udham Singh Kullar
Bakshish Singh
Charles Stephen

Group standings

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	Pts
1.	India	3	3	0	36	0	6	X	6:0	14:0	16:0
2.	Singapore	3	2	1	11	7	4	0:6	X	5:0	6:1
3.	Afghanistan	3	1	2	5	20	2	0:14	0:5	X	5:1
4.	United States	3	0	3	2	27	0	0:16	1:6	1:5	X

Semi-finals

3 December 1956

India	1–0	United Team of Germany

Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne

Gold medal match

6 December 1956

India	1–0	Pakistan
Gentle 38'	Report

Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne

Shooting edit

Two shooters represented India in 1956.

50 m rifle, three positions

Swimming edit

Men's 100 m Freestyle

Sri Chand Bajaj

Heat — 1:01.6

Men's 200 metre butterfly

Shamsher Khan

Heat — 3:06.3

Weightlifting edit

Wrestling edit

Key:

VT - Victory by Fall.
Pt - Decision by Points.
Pd - Decision by Points but Judges disagree.

Men's freestyle

Athlete	Event	Round 1 Result	Round 2 Result	Round 3 Result	Round 4 Result	Round 6 Result	Rank
Baban Daware	−52 kg	Asai (JPN) L ^VT	Lee J-g (KOR) W ^Pt	Tsalkalamanidze (URS) L ^VT	did not advance		−
Tarashkeswar Pandey	−57 kg	Kämmerer (EUA) L ^Pt	Vercouteren (BEL) W ^Pt	Yaghoubi (IRN) L ^VT	did not advance		−
Ram Sarup	−62 kg	Mewis (BEL) L ^Pt	Bye	Salimullin (URS) L ^Pt	did not advance		−
Lakhshmi Kant Pandey	−67 kg	Nizzola (ITA) L ^VT	Güngör (TUR) L ^Pt	did not advance			−
Devi Singh	−73 kg	Sorouri (IRN) L ^VT	Ikeda (JPN) L ^VT	did not advance		—	−
B. Singh	−79 kg	Davies (AUS) W ^Pt	van Zyl (RSA) L ^Pt	Lindblad (SWE) L ^VT	did not advance		−
Lila Ram	+87 kg	Richmond (GBR) L ^Pt	Kaplan (TUR) L ^VT	did not advance			−