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Water Polo, Men

Date28 July – 7 August 1948
StatusOlympic
LocationWembley Arena, Wembley, London / Finchley Open Air Pool, Finchley, London
Participants157 from 18 countries
FormatSeries of round-robin elimination pools, followed by round-robin semi-final pools, and then round-robin final pools.

Hungary had won the gold medal in 1932 and 1936, but at the 1947 European Championships, Italy won the title, as Hungary was shut out of the medals. The two teams were favored in London, and both advanced to the final round after the Byzantine series of rounds that were contested in 1948. But they had already met in Group C of round two, Italy winning 4-3. That result was carried over to the final round, and would help determine the eventual champions, Italy taking gold and Hungary the silver. Italy played eight matches in the tournament, winning seven, and tying Yugoslavia in first round group play. Belgium and the Netherlands were also in the final round. Belgium had won six previous Olympic medals in the sport, while the Dutch team had never won one. They had met in the semi-final round, tying 3-3, but the Netherlands won the bronze medal in the final round by virtue of tying Hungary, 4-4. The 1948 water polo tournament saw the Olympic début of Hungary’s Dezső Gyarmati. Gyarmati would lead Hungary to medals at the next five Olympics and is usually considered, with Spain’s Manuel Estiarte, one of the two greatest water polo players of all-time.

There were several matches in early rounds that were replayed after protests against referee decision, notably Hungary vs Egypt, and Italy vs Yugoslavia. After the Egyptian protest, the Hungarian Ministry of Education cabled the London Organizing Committee that “Hungary would withdraw from the Games if there are further anti-sporting manifestations such as the annulment of the Hungarian-Egyptian water polo match.” Newspapers reported that the Egyptians eventually withdrew their protest but a new match was still held, with basically the same result. Yugoslavia protested the first match against Italy for refereeing decisions, including “raising the wrong foul flag.” In Group D, Australia protested before their match against Italy about the corks and guidelines marking the playing area, and the referee noted that the match was “played under protest.”

PosNumberTeamNOC
1ItalyITAGold
336Gildo Arena 1
337Pasquale Buonocore
338Emilio Bulgarelli
340Aldo Ghira 2
341Mario Majoni
342Geminio Ognio 3
343Gianfranco Pandolfini 4
344Tullio Pandolfini
345Cesare Rubini
Luigi Fabiano DNS
Alfredo Toribolo DNS
CoachGiuseppe Valle
2HungaryHUNSilver
Jenő Brandi 5
Oszkár Csuvik 6
Dezső Fábián
Dezső Gyarmati 7
Endre Győrfi
Miklós Holop
László Jeney
Dezső Lemhényi 8
Pál Pók
Károly Szittya 9
István Szívós, Sr. 10
CoachJános Németh
3NetherlandsNEDBronze
306Cor Braasem 11
308Ruud van Feggelen 12
309Hennie Keetelaar
310Nijs Korevaar 13
311Joop Rohner
312Albert Ruimschotel 14
313Piet Salomons
314Frits Smol 15
315Hans Stam
Joop Cabout DNS
Mattheus Smael DNS
CoachFrans Kuijper
4BelgiumBEL
248Émile D'Hooge
249Henri De Pauw
250Théo-Léo De Smet
251Fernand Isselé 16
252Georges Leenheere
254Fons Martin
256Paul Rigaumont 17
257Willy Simons 18
François Maesschalck DNS
Frank Pepermans DNS
André Vlerick DNS
CoachHenri Stoelen
5SwedenSWE
40Olle Johansson
356Folke Eriksson
358Knut Gadd
359Erik Holm 19
360Åke Julin 20
361Rolf Julin 21
362Arne Jutner 22
363Rune Öberg
364Olle Ohlson 23
365Roland Spångberg 24
Holger Ericsson DNS
6FranceFRA
277Émile Bermyn 25
278Jacques Berthe
279François Désbonnet
280Roger Dewasch 26
281Marco Diener
282Robert Himgi
283Robert Le Bras
284Maurice Lefèbvre
285Raymond Massol
286Marcel Spilliaert
287Jacques Viaene
CoachMaurice Laurent
7EgyptEGY
15Taha El-Gamal
90Ahmed Fouad Nessim
206Samir Gharbo
272Mohamed Haraga 27
273Mohamed Hemmat
274Mohamed Khadry
275Abdel Aziz Khalifa 28
276Dorri Abdel Kader 29
Salah Sha'rawi
M. Ali El-Din DNS
A. E. Z. A. Hatab DNS
M. G. Khalifa DNS
CoachAlexander Frenzvi
8SpainESP
347Francisco Castillo 30
348Carlos Falp
349Carlos Martí 31
350Agustín Mestres 32
351José Pujol
352Valentín Sabate
353Ángel Sabata
355Juan Serrat
Federico Salvadores DNS
CoachMariano Trigo
=9United StatesUSA
376Bob Bray 33
377Ralph Budelman
378Kenneth Beck
379Lee Case 34
380Harold Dash
381Dixon Fiske
382Edwin Knox 35
386Chris Christensen 36
John Miller DNS
Donald Tierney DNS
Frank Walton DNS
CoachAustin Clapp
=9IndiaIND
31Isaac Mansoor 37
33Sachin Nag
328Jahar Ahir
330Samarandra Chatterjee
331Suhas Chatterjee
332Durga Das
333Jamini Das
334Dwarkadas Murarji
335Gora Seal
Ajou Chatterjee DNS
Dilip Mitra DNS
=9YugoslaviaYUG
398Juraj Amšel
399Veljko Bakašun 38
400Marko Brajnović 39
401Luka Ciganović 40
402Ivo Giovanelli
403Božo Grkinić 41
404Zdravko-Ćiro Kovačić
406Ivo Štakula
408Ivo Kurtini 42
Željko Radić DNS
Saša Strmac DNS
=9ArgentinaARG
227Osvaldo Codaro 43
230Aníbal Filiberti
231Rubén Maidana
232Hugo Prono
234Ladislao Szabo
236Marcelo Visentín 44
237Carlos Visentín 45
Luis Díez DNS
Ladislao Fijalkauskas DNS
Mario Sebastián DNS
Francisco José Trimboli DNS
CoachSantiago Gentile
=13UruguayURU
387Ramón Abella
389Juan Buceta
390Raúl Castro
391Julio César Costemalle
392Leonel Gabriel
395Julio López
396Osvaldo Mariño
397Enrique Pereira
Carlos Alberto Álvarez DNS
José Castro DNS
Hugo García DNS
Dante Iocco DNS
=13SwitzerlandSUI
367André Grosjean
368Edouard Hauser
369Georges Hauser
370Heinrich Keller 46
371Erwin Klumpp
373Tristan Sauer
375René Weibel
H. Burri DNS
W. Marty DNS
Hans Vaterlaus DNS
CoachMegge Lehmann
=13ChileCHI
259Luis Aguirrebeña
260Pedro Aguirrebeña
261Isaac Froimovich
263Augusto Hurtado
264Osvaldo Martínez
265José Salah
266Teodoro Salah
267Svante Törnvall
A. Herrera DNS
Carlos Trupp DNS
=13AustraliaAUS
204Herman Doerner
205Jack Ferguson
238Arthur Burge
239Roger Cornforth
240Ben Dalley
241Leon Ferguson
242Colin French
243Eric Johnston
244Jack King
245Les McKay
Bill Phillips DNS
CoachHerman Doerner
=13Great BritainGBR
288Charlie Brand
289Roy Garforth 47
290Forbes Gentleman
291Peter Hardie
292Ian Johnson
294Trevor Lewis
296David Murray 48
297Reg Potter
Jack Jones DNS
Bobby Mitchell DNS
Reg Webber DNS
CoachBill Lovely
=13GreeceGRE
63Nikolaos Melanofeidis
299Richardos Brousalis
300Alexandros Monastiriotis
301Emmanouil Papadopoulos 49
302Ioannis Papastefanou
303Panagiotis Provatopoulos
304Dimosthenis Stampoulis 50
305Dimitrios Zografos
Panagiotis Chatzikyriakakis DNS

Round One

Date29 July – 1 August 1948

Group A

Date30 – 31 July 1948
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosCompetitorsNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1BelgiumBEL110314-5
2United StatesUSA110311-4
3UruguayURU00201-17
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #130 JulUnited StatesUSA7 – 0UruguayURU
Match #230 JulBelgiumBEL10 – 1UruguayURU
Match #331 JulBelgiumBEL4 – 4United StatesUSA

Group B

Date29 – 31 July 1948
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosCompetitorsNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1SwedenSWE200410-2
2SpainESP10126-5
3SwitzerlandSUI00202-11
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #129 Jul 19:00SwedenSWE6 – 1SwitzerlandSUI
Match #230 Jul 14:15SwedenSWE4 – 1SpainESP
Match #331 JulSpainESP5 – 1SwitzerlandSUI

Group C

Date30 – 31 July 1948
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosCompetitorsNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1NetherlandsNED200426-1
2IndiaIND10128-16
3ChileCHI00204-21
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #130 JulNetherlandsNED12 – 1IndiaIND
Match #230 JulIndiaIND7 – 4ChileCHI
Match #331 JulNetherlandsNED14 – 0ChileCHI

Group D

Date30 July – 1 August 1948
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosCompetitorsNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1ItalyITA210517-6
2YugoslaviaYUG111318-11
3AustraliaAUS00203-21
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #130 Jul 9:45ItalyITA9 – 0AustraliaAUS
Match #230 JulYugoslaviaYUG12 – 3AustraliaAUS
Match #331 Jul 14:15ItalyITA4 – 2YugoslaviaYUG
Replay #301 AugItalyITA4 – 4YugoslaviaYUG

Group E

Date29 July – 1 August 1948
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosCompetitorsNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1HungaryHUN300620-6
2EgyptEGY01217-12
3Great BritainGBR01115-14
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #129 JulHungaryHUN4 – 2EgyptEGY
Match #231 JulHungaryHUN11 – 2Great BritainGBR
Match #331 JulEgyptEGY3 – 3Great BritainGBR
Replay #101 AugHungaryHUN5 – 2EgyptEGY

Group F

Date30 – 31 July 1948
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosCompetitorsNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1FranceFRA200411-2
2ArgentinaARG10127-6
3GreeceGRE00203-13
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #130 JulFranceFRA4 – 1ArgentinaARG
Match #230 JulArgentinaARG6 – 2GreeceGRE
Match #331 JulFranceFRA7 – 1GreeceGRE

Round Two

Date2 – 3 August 1948

Group A

Date2 – 3 August 1948
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosCompetitorsNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1SwedenSWE11038-1
2BelgiumBEL01011-1
3United StatesUSA01114-1151
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #102 AugBelgiumBEL1 – 1SwedenSWE
Match #203 AugSwedenSWE7 – 0United StatesUSA

Group B

Date2 – 3 August 1948
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosCompetitorsNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1NetherlandsNED200417-352
2SpainESP101213-6
3IndiaIND00202-2353
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #102 AugNetherlandsNED5 – 2SpainESP
Match #203 Aug 19:00SpainESP11 – 1IndiaIND

Group C

Date2 – 3 August 1948
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosCompetitorsNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1ItalyITA11038-754
2HungaryHUN10126-5
3YugoslaviaYUG01115-755
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #102 AugItalyITA4 – 3HungaryHUN
Match #202 AugHungaryHUN3 – 1YugoslaviaYUG

Group D

Date2 – 3 August 1948
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosCompetitorsNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1FranceFRA11037-456
2EgyptEGY02027-7
3ArgentinaARG01115-857
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #102 AugEgyptEGY3 – 3FranceFRA
Match #202 AugArgentinaARG4 – 4EgyptEGY

Semi-Finals

Date4 – 5 August 1948

Group A

Date4 – 5 August 1948
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosCompetitorsNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1NetherlandsNED210513-858
2BelgiumBEL12048-559
3SwedenSWE11138-760
4SpainESP00304-1361
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #104 AugBelgiumBEL3 – 3NetherlandsNED
Match #205 AugNetherlandsNED5 – 3SwedenSWE
Match #305 AugBelgiumBEL4 – 1SpainESP

Group B

Date4 – 5 August 1948
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosCompetitorsNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1ItalyITA300614-662
2HungaryHUN201412-1063
3FranceFRA01219-1364
4EgyptEGY01216-1265
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #104 AugItalyITA5 – 1EgyptEGY
Match #204 AugHungaryHUN5 – 4FranceFRA
Match #305 AugItalyITA5 – 2FranceFRA

Classification Round 5-8

Date6 – 7 August 1948
FormatClassification matches.
PosCompetitorsNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1SwedenSWE21058-466
2FranceFRA12046-567
3EgyptEGY11138-768
4SpainESP00303-969
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #106 AugSwedenSWE3 – 2EgyptEGY
Match #206 AugFranceFRA2 – 1SpainESP
Match #307 AugEgyptEGY3 – 1SpainESP
Match #407 AugFranceFRA1 – 1SwedenSWE

Final Round

Date6 – 7 August 1948
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosCompetitorsNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1ItalyITA300612-770
2HungaryHUN111310-871
3NetherlandsNED02129-1172
4BelgiumBEL01215-1073
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #106 AugHungaryHUN4 – 4NetherlandsNED
Match #206 AugItalyITA4 – 2BelgiumBEL
Match #307 AugHungaryHUN3 – 0BelgiumBEL
Match #407 AugItalyITA4 – 2NetherlandsNED