Field hockey at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Encyclopedia
The field hockey
tournament at the 1956 Summer Olympics
was contested from November 23 to December 6, with twelve participating teams. Only men competed in field hockey at these Games. India
won the gold medal for the sixth successive Games, not allowing a single goal against in the entire tournament. Pakistan
won the silver medal, and Germany
won the bronze.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Bronze medal match
Gold medal match
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Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
tournament at the 1956 Summer Olympics
1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
was contested from November 23 to December 6, with twelve participating teams. Only men competed in field hockey at these Games. India
India at the 1956 Summer Olympics
India competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.- Gold:* Balbir Singh Sr. , Shankar Lakshman, Ranganathan Francis, Bakshish Singh, Randhir Singh Gentle, Leslie Claudius, Amir Kumar, Govind Perumal, Charles Stephen, Gurdev Singh, Udham Singh, Raghbir Singh Bhola, Balkrishan...
won the gold medal for the sixth successive Games, not allowing a single goal against in the entire tournament. Pakistan
Pakistan at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Pakistan competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. They received their first medal at this level, winning the silver in the men's field hockey competition.-Athletics:Men's 100 metres* Abdul Khaliq...
won the silver medal, and Germany
Germany at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Germany was represented at the 1956 Summer Olympics by a United Team of Germany of athletes from the Federal Republic of Germany and, for the first time at Summer Games, also from the German Democratic Republic which had not joined in 1952...
won the bronze.
Participating nations
Twelve teams were seeded and placed into one of three preliminary groups of four teams each. With the unbalanced seeding, the top two teams in Group C advanced to the semi-finals, but only the top team in both Groups A and B advanced.Group A
- Singapore
Group B
Group C
Group A
Group standings| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 6 | |
| Singapore | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 4 |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 2 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 27 | 0 |
- India advanced to the semi-finals.
Group B
Group standings| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 4 | |
| 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | |
| 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
- Great Britain and Australia played an additional tie-breaker match to determine the group winner.
- Great Britain advanced to the semi-finals.
Group C
Group standings| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 5 | |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 2 | |
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
- Pakistan and Germany advanced to the semi-finals.
Playoffs
Semi-finalsBronze medal match
Gold medal match
Medalists
| Gold |
- Leslie ClaudiusLeslie ClaudiusLeslie Walter Claudius was an Indian field hockey player, of Anglo-Indian descent. In 1971 he was awarded the Padma Shri...
- Ranganathan FrancisRanganathan FrancisRanganathan Francis was an Indian hockey player who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics, in the 1952 Summer Olympics, and in the 1956 Summer Olympics.-External links:*...
- Haripal KaushikHaripal KaushikHaripal Kaushik is an Indian field hockey player.-References:*...
- Amir KumarAmir KumarAmir Kumar was an Indian field hockey player who won a gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics and the 1956 Summer Olympics.-External links:*...
- Raghbir LalRaghbir LalRaghbir Lal was an Indian hockey player.-References:*...
- Shankar LakshmanShankar LakshmanShankar Lakshman was an Indian hockey player. He was goalkeeper of the Indian team in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics, that won two gold medals and one silver medal...
- Govind PerumalGovind PerumalGovind Perumal was an Indian field hockey player who won two gold medals with the Indian team, at the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics respectively....
- Amit Singh BakshiAmit S. BakshiAmit S. Bakshi is a former Indian hockey player. He was part of the Indian hockey team that won the gold medal in 1956 Summer Olympics at Melbourne.-References:...
- Raghbir Singh BholaRaghbir Singh BholaRaghbir Singh Bhola is an Indian field hockey player.-References:*...
- Balbir Singh DosanjhBalbir Singh Sr.Balbir Singh Sr. is a retired field hockey player from India, who was a member of three Olympic gold medal winning teams, in London , Helsinki and Melbourne ....
- Hardyal Singh GarcheyHardayal SinghHardayal Singh is a former Indian hockey player. He was part of the Indian hockey team that won the gold medal in 1956 Summer Olympics at Melbourne.- References :...
- Randhir Singh GentleRandhir Singh GentleRandhir Singh Gentle was an Indian field hockey player.-External links:*...
- Balkishan Singh GrewalBalkrishan SinghBalkrishan Singh was field hockey player from India who won the gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics....
- Gurdev Singh KullarGurdev SinghSardar Gurdev Singh Kullar is a former Indian field hockey player, originally from Sansarpur, who now lives with his family in Leeds, England. He was part of the Indian field hockey team at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, which won the gold medal...
- Udham Singh KullarUdham Singh (field hockey)Udham Singh originally from Sansarpur, Jalandhar, Punjab, India had played 1952 Summer Olympics Helsinki, 1956 Summer Olympics Melbourne, 1960 Summer Olympics Rome and 1964 Summer Olympics Tokyo as a member of Indian Hockey team and won three gold and a silver medals...
- Bakshish SinghBakshish SinghBakshish Singh was an Indian hockey player who won the gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics.-References:*...
- Charles StephenCharles StephenCharles Stephen is an Indian hockey player. He participated in the 1956 Summer Olympics and won a gold medal.-References:...
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| Silver |
- Hamid AbdulHamid AbdulAbdul Hamid is a Pakistani field hockey player who won the silver medal in 1964 Summer Olympics.-References:...
- Akhtar Hussain
- Munir DarMunir Dar (field hockey)Munir Ahmed Dar was a field hockey player from Pakistan, who won the silver medal with the Men's National Hockey Team at the 1956 and 1964 Summer Olympics.Munir Dar died on June 1, 2011.-References:...
- Rasul Ghulam
- Ur Habib
- Anwar KhanAnwar Khan (field hockey)Anwar Ahmed Khan is a Pakistani field hockey player, Olympic champion from 1960, and twice a silver medalist with the Pakistan team.-References:...
- Habib Kiddi
- Latif-ur-RehmanLatif-ur-RehmanLatif-ur-Rehman was a field hockey player, who won the gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics for India and the silver medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics for Pakistan.-External links:*...
- Hussain ManzoorManzoor Hussain AtifBrigadier Manzoor Hussain Atif was a former secretary Pakistan Hockey Federation and Olympian. Atif was born in 1928 in Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan....
- Hussain Mussarat
- Ullah Mutti
- Ahmad Nasir
- Alam Noor
- Hussain Zakir
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| Bronze |
- Gunter Brennecke
- Hugo Budinger
- Werner Delmes
- Hugo Dollheiser
- Eberhard Ferstl
- Alfred Lücker
- Helmut Nonn
- Wolfgang Nonn
- Heinz Radzikowski
- Werner Rosenbaum
- Gunther Ullerich