Field hockey at the 1956 Summer Olympics

In today's world, Field hockey at the 1956 Summer Olympics has become a topic of increasing interest to a wide range of people. Whether we are talking about Field hockey at the 1956 Summer Olympics on a personal, professional or cultural level, its importance and relevance cannot be underestimated. As society advances, Field hockey at the 1956 Summer Olympics has become increasingly relevant in our daily lives, influencing everything from individual decisions to global trends. In this article, we will explore the different aspects of Field hockey at the 1956 Summer Olympics and its impact on the modern world, as well as the various perspectives that exist around this topic.

Field hockey
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Medal winners
Venues
Dates23 November – 6 December 1956
Teams12
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s)  India
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Pakistan
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  United Team of Germany
← 1952
1960 →

The men's field hockey tournament at the 1956 Summer Olympics was the eighth edition of the field hockey event for men at the Summer Olympics. It was contested from 23 November to 6 December, 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.[1]

Medalists

Gold Silver Bronze
 India (IND)
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 		 Pakistan (PAK)
Zakir Hussain
Munir Ahmed Dar
Ghulam Rasool
Anwar Ahmed Khan
Qazi Massarrat Hussain
Noor Alam
Abdul Hamid
Habibur Rehman
Ahmed Naseer Bunda
Motiullah
Latif-ur Rehman
Akhtar Hussain
Habib Ali Kiddie
Manzoor Hussain Atif 		 United Team of Germany (EUA)
Günther Brennecke
Hugo Budinger
Werner Delmes
Hugo Dollheiser
Eberhard Ferstl
Alfred Lücker
Helmut Nonn
Wolfgang Nonn
Heinz Radzikowski
Werner Rosenbaum
Günther Ullerich

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.

Squads

Main article: Field hockey at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads

Results

Preliminary round

Pool A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  India 3 3 0 0 36 0 +36 6 Advanced to Semi-finals
2  Singapore 3 2 0 1 11 7 +4 4
3  Afghanistan 3 1 0 2 5 20 −15 2
4  United States 3 0 0 3 2 27 −25 0
Source: LA84 Foundation
Rules for classification: 1) points.
26 November 1956
11:30
Singapore  6–1  United States
Report
Umpires:
L. La Mothe (AUS)
R. Moyse (AUS)
26 November 1956
14:30
India  14–0  Afghanistan
Report
Umpires:
A. Atkins (AUS)
Richard Hansen (AUS)
28 November 1956
11:30
Afghanistan  0–5  Singapore
Report Yam field hockey ball 8'
de Rozario field hockey ball ?'
Fernandez field hockey ball 20'
Pennefather field hockey ball 25', ?'
Umpires:
N. Symons (AUS)
K. Wilson (AUS)
28 November 1956
14:30
India  16–0  United States
Report
Umpires:
Mahan Singh (KEN)
W. Scott (NZL)
30 November 1956
11:30
Singapore  0–6  India
Report Gentle field hockey ball 23'
U. Singh field hockey ball 26', 56'
H. Singh field hockey ball 33'
Stephen field hockey ball 46', 59'
Umpires:
L. La Mothe (AUS)
V. Duray (MAL)
30 November 1956
14:30
Afghanistan  5–1  United States
Report
Umpires:
Alan Cowan (AUS)
R. Moyse (AUS)

Pool B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Great Britain 4 2 2 0 6 4 +2 6 Advanced to Semi-finals
2  Australia (H) 4 2 0 2 6 5 +1 4
3  Malaya 3 0 2 1 5 6 −1 2
4  Kenya 3 0 2 1 2 4 −2 2
Source: LA84 Foundation
Rules for classification: 1) points.
(H) Hosts
23 November 1956
11:30
Great Britain  2–2  Malaya
Thomas field hockey ball 55'
Conroy field hockey ball 61' 		Report Lawrence field hockey ball 15'
Aman field hockey ball 66'
Umpires:
W. Scott (NZL)
Gian Singh (IND)
23 November 1956
14:30
Australia  2–0  Kenya
Dick field hockey ball 5'
E. Pearce field hockey ball 64' 		Report
Umpires:
Ernst-Ludwig Nack (GER)
K. Hamilton (NZL)
24 November 1956
16:00
Great Britain  1–1  Kenya
Conroy field hockey ball 5' Report Plenderleith field hockey ball 34'
Umpires:
K. Hamilton (NZL)
Harbail Singh (IND)
26 November 1956
16:00
Malaya  2–3  Australia
Aman field hockey ball 32', 63' Report Spackman field hockey ball 12'
E. Pearce field hockey ball 18', 51'
Umpires:
Birendra Ghosh (IND)
Gian Singh (IND)
28 November 1956
16:00
Malaya  1–1  Kenya
Chua field hockey ball 50' Report Plenderleith field hockey ball 11'
Umpires:
Fritz Staake (GER)
Ernst-Ludwig Nack (GER)
29 November 1956
16:00
Australia  1–2  Great Britain
E. Pearce field hockey ball 60' Report Forster field hockey ball 18', 50'
Umpires:
Gian Singh (IND)
Birendra Ghosh (IND)
Play–off match
  • At the conclusion of the pool stage, Australia and Great Britain finished equal on points, resulting in a play–off match to determine number one position in the pool.
1 December 1956
14:00
Australia  0–1  Great Britain
Report Conroy field hockey ball 55'
Umpires:
Gian Singh (IND)
Birendra Ghosh (IND)

Pool C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Pakistan 3 2 1 0 7 1 +6 5 Advanced to Semi-finals
2  United Team of Germany 3 1 2 0 5 4 +1 4
3  New Zealand 3 1 0 2 8 10 −2 2
4  Belgium 3 0 1 2 0 5 −5 1
Source: LA84 Foundation
Rules for classification: 1) points.
23 November 1956
14:00
Pakistan  2–0  Belgium
Hamid field hockey ball 14'
Bunda field hockey ball 58' 		Report
Umpires:
Mark Cowlishaw (GBR)
James McDowell (AUS)
23 November 1956
14:30
United Team of Germany  5–4  New Zealand
Dollheiser field hockey ball 29', 70'
Rosenbaum field hockey ball 33'
Nonn field hockey ball 34'
Budinger field hockey ball 46' 		Report Armstrong field hockey ball 15', 21'
Johansson field hockey ball 27', 64'
Umpires:
Gian Singh (IND)
Birendra Ghosh (IND)
27 November 1956
14:30
Pakistan  5–1  New Zealand
Hamid field hockey ball 2', 9'
Rehman field hockey ball 38'
Bunda field hockey ball 41'
Motiullah field hockey ball 56' 		Report Johansson field hockey ball 59'
Umpires:
James McDowell (AUS)
Alan Cowell (AUS)
27 November 1956
16:00
Belgium  0–0  United Team of Germany
Report
Umpires:
A. Atkins (AUS)
Richard Hansen (AUS)
29 November 1956
14:30
United Team of Germany  0–0  Pakistan
Report
Umpires:
James McDowell (AUS)
A. Atkins (AUS)
29 November 1956
16:00
Belgium  0–3  New Zealand
Report McGregor field hockey ball 22'
Remaining scorers unknown.
Umpires:
Birendra Ghosh (IND)
Gian Singh (IND)

Classification round

Ninth to twelfth place classification

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
9  Malaya 3 3 0 0 14 2 +12 6
10  Kenya 3 2 0 1 14 3 +11 4
11  Afghanistan[a] 3 0 1 2 1 7 −6 1
12  United States[a] 3 0 1 2 1 18 −17 1
Source: Sports Reference
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Afghanistan finished above the United States after beating them in Group A.
3 December 1956
Malaya  8–0  Afghanistan
Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
3 December 1956
Kenya  3–0  United States
Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
4 December 1956
Malaya  3–0  United States
Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
4 December 1956
Kenya  9–0  Afghanistan
Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
6 December 1956
Malaya  3–2  Kenya
Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
6 December 1956
United States  1–1  Afghanistan
Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne

Fifth to eighth place classification

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
5  Australia (H) 3 2 1 0 8 2 +6 5
6  New Zealand 3 2 0 1 16 3 +13 4
7  Belgium 3 1 1 1 9 5 +4 3
8  Singapore 3 0 0 3 0 23 −23 0
Source: Sports Reference
(H) Hosts
3 December 1956
New Zealand  13–0  Singapore
Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
3 December 1956
Belgium  2–2  Australia
Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
4 December 1956
Belgium  5–0  Singapore
Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
4 December 1956
Australia  1–0  New Zealand
Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
6 December 1956
New Zealand  3–2  Belgium
Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
6 December 1956
Australia  5–0  Singapore
Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne

Medal round

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsGold medal match
 
      
 
3 December
 
 
 India1
 
6 December
 
 United Team of Germany0
 
 India1
 
3 December
 
 Pakistan0
 
 Pakistan3
 
 
 Great Britain2
 
Bronze medal match
 
 
6 December
 
 
 United Team of Germany3
 
 
 Great Britain 1

Semi-finals

3 December 1956
14:30
India  1–0  United Team of Germany
U. SIngh field hockey ball 48' Report
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Umpires:
A. Atkins (AUS)
J. McDowell (AUS)
3 December 1956
16:00
Pakistan  3–2  Great Britain
Atif field hockey ball Report Doughty field hockey ball
Conroy field hockey ball ?'
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Umpires:
V. T. Duray (MAL)
R. Hansen (AUS)

Bronze medal match

6 December 1956
United Team of Germany  3–1  Great Britain
Nonn field hockey ball 2'
Budinger field hockey ball 24'
Radzikowski field hockey ball 51' 		Report Conroy field hockey ball 16'
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Umpires:
Gian Singh (IND)
B. N. Ghosh (IND)

Gold medal match

6 December 1956
India  1-0  Pakistan
Gentle field hockey ball 38' Report
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Attendance: 10,000
Umpires:
M. G. Cowlinshaw (GBR)
J. McDowell (AUS)

Final standings

  1.  India
  2.  Pakistan
  3.  United Team of Germany
  4.  Great Britain
  5.  Australia
  6.  New Zealand
  7.  Belgium
  8.  Singapore
  9.  Malaya
  10.  Kenya
  11.  Afghanistan
  12.  United States

References

  1. ^ "Hockey at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2019.