India at the 1951 Asian Games

India at the
1951 Asian Games
IOC codeIND
NOCIndian Olympic Association
in New Delhi
Medals
Ranked 2nd
Gold
15
Silver
16
Bronze
20
Total
51
Asian Games appearances (overview)

India hosted and participated in the 1951 Asian Games held in New Delhi from 4 to 11 March 1951, the inaugural edition of the Asian Games. India was ranked second with 15 gold medals, 16 silver medals and 20 bronze medals in the overall medal table, only behind Japan.

Kanti Shah won India's first-ever Asian Games medal with a silver in men's 100 m backstroke swimming. Sachin Nag won India's first-ever gold medal at the Asian Games in men's 100 m freestyle swimming. The India national football team won the gold medal in the men's football competition.

As of the conclusion of the 2022 Asian Games, 1951 remains the only edition where India won gold medals in diving, swimming and water polo. It also remains the only edition where India won any medals in cycling. India's 34 medals (10G, 12S, 12B) in athletics remains its best-ever performance at the Asian Games.

Medal summary

Medals by sport

Medals by sport
Sport Rank Gold Silver Bronze Total
Athletics 2 10 12 12 34
Diving 1 2 1 1 4
Swimming 3 1 1 4 6
Football 1 1 0 0 1
Water polo 1 1 0 0 1
Cycling 2 0 1 2 3
Weightlifting 3 0 1 1 2
Total 2 15 16 20 51

Medals by day

Medals by day
Day Date[1][2][3][4][5][6] Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 4 March 0 0 0 0
2 5 March 0 1 0 1
3 6 March 0 0 4 4
4 7 March 1 0 2 3
5 8 March 1 2 3 6
6 9 March 1 0 2 3
7 10 March 7 11 2 20
8 11 March 5 2 7 14
Total 15 16 20 51

Medals by gender

Medals by gender
Gender Gold Silver Bronze Total
Male 15 14 15 44
Female 0 2 5 7
Total 15 16 20 51

Medalists

Medal Name[7] Sport Event Date
 Gold Sachin Nag Swimming Men's 100 m freestyle 7 March
 Gold Mahabir Prasad Athletics Men's 10 km walk 8 March
 Gold Nikka Singh Athletics Men's 1500 m 9 March
 Gold Lavy Pinto Athletics Men's 200 m 10 March
 Gold Ranjit Singh Athletics Men's 800 m 10 March
 Gold Bakhtawar Singh Athletics Men's 50 km walk 10 March
 Gold Madan Lal Athletics Men's shot put 10 March
 Gold Amit Singh Bakshi
Govind Singh
Balwant Singh
Karnan Singh		 Athletics Men's 4 × 400 m relay 10 March
 Gold K. P. Thakkar Diving Men's 3 m springboard 10 March
 Gold
Football Men's team[8] 10 March
 Gold Lavy Pinto Athletics Men's 100 m 11 March
 Gold Chhota Singh Athletics Men's marathon 11 March
 Gold Makhan Singh Athletics Men's discus throw 11 March
 Gold K. P. Thakkar Diving Men's 10 m platform 11 March
 Gold
Water polo Men's team 11 March
 Silver Kanti Shah Swimming Men's 100 m backstroke 5 March
 Silver Somnath Chopra Athletics Men's hammer throw 8 March
 Silver Kamineni Eswara Rao Weightlifting Men's middle heavyweight 90 kg 8 March
 Silver Marian Gabriel Athletics Men's 200 m 10 March
 Silver Kulwant Singh Athletics Men's 800 m 10 March
 Silver Pritam Singh Athletics Men's 5000 m 10 March
 Silver Teja Singh Athletics Men's 400 m hurdles 10 March
 Silver B. Das Athletics Men's 50 km walk 10 March
 Silver Baldev Singh Athletics Men's long jump 10 March
 Silver Parsa Singh Athletics Men's javelin throw 10 March
 Silver Roshan Mistry Athletics Women's 100 m 10 March
 Silver Mary D'Souza
Roshan Mistry
Banoo Gulzar
Pat Mendonca		 Athletics Women's 4×100 m relay 10 March
 Silver Dhangar Lhanguard
Raj Kumar Mehra
Madan Mohan
Gurdev Singh		 Cycling Men's 4000 m team pursuit 10 March
 Silver Ashu Dutt Diving Men's 3 m springboard 10 March
 Silver Amit Singh Bakshi Athletics Men's 400 m 11 March
 Silver Lavy Pinto
Marian Gabriel
Ram Swaroop
Alfred Shamin		 Athletics Men's 4×100 m relay 11 March
 Bronze Netai Chand Bysack Cycling Men's 1000 m time trial 6 March
 Bronze Jehangir Naegamwalla Swimming Men's 200 m breaststroke 6 March
 Bronze Isaac Mansoor
Bimal Chandra
Sambhu Saha
Sachin Nag		 Swimming Men's 4 x 100 m freestyle relay 6 March
 Bronze Dandamudi Rajagopal Weightlifting Men's heavyweight +90 kg 6 March
 Bronze Kanti Shah
Jehangir Naegamwalla
Sachin Nag		 Swimming Men's 3 x 100 m medley relay 7 March
 Bronze Bimal Chandra Swimming Men's 400 m freestyle 7 March
 Bronze Gurbachan Singh Athletics Men's 10000 m 8 March
 Bronze Kesar Singh Athletics Men's 10 km walk 8 March
 Bronze Kishen Singh Athletics Men's hammer throw 8 March
 Bronze Khurshid Ahmed Athletics Men's decathlon 9 March
 Bronze Rohinton Noble Cycling Men's 1000 m sprint 9 March
 Bronze Marie Semoes Athletics Women's high jump 10 March
 Bronze Barbara Webster Athletics Women's shot put 10 March
 Bronze Govind Singh Athletics Men's 400 m 11 March
 Bronze Ajit Singh Athletics Men's 3000 m steeplechase 11 March
 Bronze Surat Singh Mathur Athletics Men's marathon 11 March
 Bronze Mary D'Souza Athletics Women's 200 m 11 March
 Bronze Sylvia Gauntlet Athletics Women's long jump 11 March
 Bronze Barbara Webster Athletics Women's javelin throw 11 March
 Bronze T. T. Dand Diving Men's 10 m platform 11 March

Aquatics

Diving

Main article: Diving at the 1951 Asian Games
Athletes Event Final
Result Rank
K. P. Thakkar Men's 3 m springboard 371.25 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Ashu Dutt 327.20 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
K. P. Thakkar Men's 10 m platform 362.05 1st place, gold medalist(s)
T. T. Dand 276.60 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 1951 Asian Games
Athletes Event[1][2][3] Heats Final
Result Rank Result Rank
Sachin Nag Men's 100 m freestyle 1:04.1 2 Q 1:04.7 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Isaac Mansoor UK 2 Q UK 6
Bimal Chandra Men's 400 m freestyle — 5:32.5 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Santosh Bhattacharya — UK 5
Bimal Chandra Men's 800 m freestyle — 11:35.0 4
Santosh Bhattacharya — 14:15.0 6
Bimal Chandra Men's 1500 m freestyle — UK 5
Santosh Bhattacharya — DNF
Kanti Shah Men's 100 m backstroke — 1:17.0 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Pratap Mitra — UK 5
Jehangir Naegamwalla Men's 200 m breaststroke — 3:11.0 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Bhubaneswar Pandey — 3:14.1 6
Isaac Mansoor
Bimal Chandra
Sambhu Saha
Sachin Nag 		Men's 4 x 100 m freestyle relay — 4:28.8 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Kanti Shah
Jehangir Naegamwalla
Sachin Nag 		Men's 3 x 100 m medley relay — 3:43.6 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)

Water polo

Main article: Water polo at the 1951 Asian Games
Squad Event Final Rank
India men's national water polo team
Jahan Ahir
Ganesh Das
D. Daver
R. Dean
Isaac Mansoor
G. Rattansey
Kanti Shah
 Men's team  Singapore
W 6–4 		1st place, gold medalist(s)

Gold medal match

11 March India  6–4  Singapore National Stadium Swimming Pool, New Delhi
Scoring by half: 2–3, 4–1
Shah, Dean 2 Goals Sim 2

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1951 Asian Games

Men

Track events

Athletes Event[3][4][5][6][9] Heats Semifinal Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
Lavy Pinto 100 m 10.7 1 Q 11.0 1 Q 10.8 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Alfred Shamin 11.0 1 Q 11.2 2 Q UK 4
Lavy Pinto 200 m 22.1 1 Q — 22.0 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Marian Gabriel 22.7 1 Q 22.5 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Amit Singh Bakshi 400 m 50.6 1 Q — 50.8 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Govind Singh UK 2 Q 51.4 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Ranjit Singh 800 m — 1:59.3 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Kulwant Singh 1:59.7 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Nikka Singh 1500 m — 4:04.1 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Sadhu Singh — UK 5
Pritam Singh 5000 m — 15:57.8 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Jang Singh — DNF
Gurbachan Singh 10000 m — 34:58.8 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Gulzar Singh Mann — UK 4
Bagh Singh 110 m hurdles UK 3 Q — UK 5
Cleure D'Classe UK 2 Q DNF
Teja Singh 400 m hurdles — 56.9 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Cleure D'Classe UK 4
Ajit Singh 3000 m steeplechase — 9:37.8 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Gulzar Singh Mann — DNF
Lavy Pinto
Marian Gabriel
Ram Swaroop
Alfred Shamin 		4 x 100 m relay 43.0 1 Q — 42.8 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Amit Singh Bakshi
Govind Singh
Balwant Singh
Karnan Singh 		4 x 400 m relay — 3:24.2 1st place, gold medalist(s)

Field events

Athletes Event[10] Qualification Final
Result Rank Result Rank
Mehanga Singh Sidhu High jump 1.83 UK Q UK 4
K. Chatterjee DSQ —
Baldev Singh Long jump — 6.99 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Sohan Ram UK 5
P. S. Cheema Triple jump — UK 6
P. Beck DSQ
Makhan Singh Discus throw — 39.92 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Amar Singh UK 4
Somnath Chopra Hammer throw — 43.35 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Kishen Singh 42.32 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Parsa Singh Javelin throw — 50.38 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Surat Singh DSQ
Khurshid Ahmed Pole vault — 3.61 4
S. Chakravarty DSQ
Madan Lal Shot put — 13.78 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Ishar Singh UK 5

Road events

Athletes Event[3][4][5][6][9] Final
Result Rank
Chhota Singh Marathon 2:42:58.6 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Surat Singh Mathur 2:53:49.8 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Mahabir Prasad 10 km walk 52:31.4 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Kesar Singh 52:54.0 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Bakhtawar Singh 50 km walk 5:44:07.4 1st place, gold medalist(s)
B. Das 5:44:14.6 2nd place, silver medalist(s)

Combined events

Athlete Event[10] Category 100 m LJ SP HJ 400 m 110H DT PV JT 1500 m Total Rank
Khurshid Ahmed Decathlon Result 12.0 6.11 9.07 1.47 55.2 17.4 27.95 3.36 46.93 5:17.2 5110 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Points 651 610 430 367 591 583 424 446 543 465
Gurnam Singh Result 12.5 5.66 11.46 1.62 DNP 2124 DSQ
Points 566 514 574 480

Women

Track events

Athletes Event[10] Heats Final
Result Rank Result Rank
Roshan Mistry 100 m 12.9 2 Q 12.8 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Pat Mendonca 13.1 2 Q UK 4
Mary D'Souza 200 m — 28.0 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Banoo Gulzar UK 4
Nilima Ghose 80 m hurdles — UK 5
Violet Peters UK 6
Mary D'Souza
Roshan Mistry
Banoo Gulzar
Pat Mendonca 		4 x 100 m relay — 51.9 2nd place, silver medalist(s)

Field events

Athletes Event[10] Final
Result Rank
Marie Semoes High jump 1.37 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Marjorie Soares 1.37 4
Sylvia Gauntlet Long jump 4.52 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Veronica Game UK 4
Bhagi Thadani Discus throw UK 4
Barbara Webster UK 5
Barbara Webster Javelin throw 26.70 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Bhagi Thadani UK 5
Barbara Webster Shot put 9.02 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Usha Rajaram UK 4

Basketball

Main article: Basketball at the 1951 Asian Games
Squad[4][11] Event Round robin Rank
India men's national basketball team
Ranbir Chopra (C)
Davinder Nath Bahri
Dharampal Chum
Ram Prakash
Avnish Chander Soni
Gur Prasad
Lakshmi
S. V. Appayya
Kapoor 		Men's team  Iran
L 52–63 		4
 Japan
L 46–70
 Burma
W 50–47
 Philippines
L 38–86

Cycling

Main article: Cycling at the 1951 Asian Games
Athlete Event[2][5] Time Rank
Netai Chand Bysack Men's 1000 m time trial 1:22.2 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Suprovat Chakravarty 1:22.9 4
Rohinton Noble Men's 1000 m sprint UK 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Bapoo Malcolm Sr. UK 4
Dhangar Lhanguard
Raj Kumar Mehra
Madan Mohan
Gurdev Singh 		Men's 4000 m team pursuit UK 2nd place, silver medalist(s)

Football

Main article: Football at the 1951 Asian Games

Summary

Team Event Quarterfinal Semifinal Final / BM
Opposition
Score 		Opposition
Score 		Opposition
Score 		Rank
India Men's team  Indonesia
W 3–0 		 Afghanistan
W 3–0 		 Iran
W 1–0 		1st place, gold medalist(s)

Roster

Coach: India Syed Abdul Rahim

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Club
1GK Berland Anthony India Bengal
2DF Thenmaddom Varghese India Bombay
2DF Sailen Manna (c) (1924-09-01)1 September 1924 (aged 26) India Mohun Bagan
3MF Sheikh Abdul Latif (1928-08-15)15 August 1928 (aged 22) India Mohammedan Sporting
2DF Chandan Singh Rawat (1928-07-26)26 July 1928 (aged 22) India Services
3MF Noor Mohammed India Hyderabad City Police
4FW Pansanttom Venkatesh India East Bengal
4FW Sahu Mewalal (1926-07-01)1 July 1926 (aged 24) India Eastern Railway
4FW Ahmed Khan (1926-12-24)24 December 1926 (aged 24) India Bengal
4FW P. B. A. Saleh (1928-11-28)28 November 1928 (aged 22) India Bengal
1GK Kenchappa Varadaraj (1924-05-07)7 May 1924 (aged 26) India Mysore
3MF Thulukhanam Shanmugham (1920-06-19)19 June 1920 (aged 30) India Mysore
4FW Santosh Nandy India Bengal
2DF Syed Khwaja Azizuddin (1930-07-12)12 July 1930 (aged 20) India Hyderabad City Police
2DF Sunil Chatterjee India Bengal
3MF Abhoy Ghosh India Bengal
3MF Desmond Neville Devine-Jones (1928-08-15)15 August 1928 (aged 22) India Services
4FW G. Y. S. Laiq India Hyderabad City Police
4FW Loganathan India Madras
4FW Madar Abdus Sattar India Bengal
4FW Runu Guha Thakurta India Bengal
4FW Abdul Majid Bachan India Orissa

Quarterfinals

India 3–0 Indonesia
Mewalal 27'
Siregar 42' (o.g.)
Venkatesh 45'		 Report

Semifinals

India 3–0 Afghanistan
Venkatesh 10'
Mewalal 16'
Nandy 55'		 Report

Gold medal match

 India1–0Iran 
Mewalal 34' Report

All times are India Standard Time (UTC+05:00)

Weightlifting

Main article: Weightlifting at the 1951 Asian Games
Athlete Event[1][2][3][4] Clean & press Snatch Clean & jerk Total (lb) Rank
Result (lb) Rank Result (lb) Rank Result (lb) Rank
R. Desai Men's bantamweight 56 kg 145 6 160 6 210 6 515 6
V. W. Phenany 125 7 160 6 195 7 480 7
G. Sethuraman Men's featherweight 60 kg 190 4 185 2 270 1 645 4
B. N. Ghosh Men's lightweight 67.5 kg 175 5 170 6 245 4 590 5
Daniel Pon Mani 210 1 200 2 - DNF 410 DNF
J. D. Telang Men's light heavyweight 82.5 kg 190 4 180 4 250 3 620 4
N. K. Nair 180 5 170 5 220 4 570 5
Kamineni Eswara Rao Men's middle heavyweight 90 kg 200 2 205 2 250 3 655 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Dandamudi Rajagopal Men's heavyweight +90 kg 220 2 210 3 295 2 725 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)

References

  1. ^ a b c "The Indian Express (7 March 1951)".
  2. ^ a b c d "The Indian Express (8 March 1951)".
  3. ^ a b c d e "The Indian Express (9 March 1951)".
  4. ^ a b c d e "The Indian Express (10 March 1951)".
  5. ^ a b c d "The Indian Express (11 March 1951)".
  6. ^ a b c "The Indian Express (12 March 1951)".
  7. ^ "Asian Games 1951 Indian medal winners".
  8. ^ Majumdar, Rounak (22 April 2019). "The Golden Years of Indian Football". www.chaseyoursport.com. Kolkata: Chase Your Sport. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  9. ^ a b "The Indian Express (13 March 1951)".
  10. ^ a b c d "Athletics Results - 1951 Asian Games" (PDF).
  11. ^ "International Players (Senior) from Punjab Basketball Association".