| | Event type

Bantamweight, Freestyle (≤57 kg), Men

Date	20 – 23 July 1952
Status	Olympic
Location	Messuhalli I, Helsinki / Messuhalli II, Helsinki
Participants	20 from 20 countries
Format	Win by fall = 0 points; win by decision = 1 point; loss of any type = 3 points. Three judges gave decisions, thus all decisions were either 2-1 or 3-0. Five bad points eliminated a wrestler. When only three wrestlers remained, if they had not yet met one another, they wrestled further rounds. Medal placements were determined by the match record among the medalists, with bad points as a tie breaker. A wrestler in the medal rounds could continue with 5 or more bad points.

After winning the 1948 Olympics, the 1949 European, and the 1951 World Championships, Turkey’s Nasuh Akar should have been favored but he retired in early 1952 and did not compete in Helsinki. The final round came down to Japan’s Shohachi Ishii, Soviet Azerbaijani Rəşid Məmmədbəyov, and Indian Khashaba Jhadav. Məmmədbəyov had beaten Jhadav in round five so Ishii fought Jhadav in the first final match, winning by unanimous decision. Ishii then defeated Məmmədbəyov, also by unanimous decision, to win the gold medal, with the Soviet taking silver. Jhadav’s medal was the first individual Olympic medal ever won by an athlete from India.

Ishii was a top judoka but was forced to give up that sport after World War II when American occupation forces banned judo. He then switched to wrestling and became the first Japanese to win a gold medal after the war.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Medalists Match Record / Round Eliminated	Bad Points
1	94	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	2-0	–	Gold
2	127	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	1-1	–	Silver
3	47	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	0-2	–	Bronze
4	199	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	–	–
5	282	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR	–	–
6	307	Lajos Bencze	HUN	–	–
AC	232	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER	eliminated r4/7	4
AC	270	Eigil Johansen	DEN	eliminated r3/7	5
AC	52	Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi	IRI	eliminated r3/7	5
AC	23	Saad Hafez	EGY	eliminated r3/7	6
AC	63	Ken Irvine	GBR	eliminated r3/7	7
AC	343	Bill Borders	USA	eliminated r3/7	7
AC	240	Tauno Jaskari	FIN	eliminated r2/7	5
AC	1	Omar Blebel	ARG	eliminated r2/7	6
AC	101	Adrien Poliquin	CAN	eliminated r2/7	6
AC	43	Oswaldo Johnston	GUA	eliminated r2/7	6
AC	120	Leonardo Basurto	MEX	eliminated r2/7	6
AC	–	Paul Hänni	SUI	eliminated r2/7	6
AC	13	Joseph Trimpont	BEL	withdrew r2/7	2
AC	171	Charles Kouyos	FRA	withdrew r2/7	2
DNS	25	Mohamed Aly Abdelaal	EGY	–	–
DNS	256	Matti Rantala	FIN	–	–
DNS	170	J. Vayrou	FRA	–	–
DNS	64	Ian Epton	GBR	–	–
DNS	305	Tivadar Fábri	HUN	–	–
DNS	306	Béla Móni	HUN	–	–
DNS	74	Ferdinando Carrano	ITA	–	–
DNS	75	A. Visani	ITA	–	–
DNS	41	F. Real	PHI	–	–
DNS	198	Kurt Pettersén	SWE	–	–
DNS	200	E. K. B. Hugosson	SWE	–	–
DNS	283	Kemal Demirsüren	TUR	–	–
DNS	126	V. Gigiadze	URS	–	–
DNS	342	Jack Blubaugh	USA	–	–

Round One

Date	20 July 1952

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
=1	23	Saad Hafez	EGY	0	–
=1	232	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER	0	–
=1	47	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	0	–
=1	282	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR	0	–
=1	127	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	0	–
=6	270	Eigil Johansen	DEN	1	–
=6	63	Ken Irvine	GBR	1	–
=6	94	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	1	–
=6	199	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	1	–
=6	343	Bill Borders	USA	1	–
=11	1	Omar Blebel	ARG	3	–
=11	101	Adrien Poliquin	CAN	3	–
=11	240	Tauno Jaskari	FIN	3	–
=11	43	Oswaldo Johnston	GUA	3	–
=11	307	Lajos Bencze	HUN	3	–
=11	52	Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi	IRI	3	–
=11	120	Leonardo Basurto	MEX	3	–
=11	–	Paul Hänni	SUI	3	–
=11	13	Joseph Trimpont	BEL	3	withdrew
=11	171	Charles Kouyos	FRA	3	withdrew

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	20 Jul	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	Fall (0:32)	Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi	IRI
Match #2	20 Jul	Bill Borders	USA	Decision (3-0)	Paul Hänni	SUI
Match #3	20 Jul	Saad Hafez	EGY	Fall (1:18)	Oswaldo Johnston	GUA
Match #4	20 Jul	Eigil Johansen	DEN	Decision (2-1)	Joseph Trimpont	BEL
Match #5	20 Jul	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR	Fall (9:56)	Lajos Bencze	HUN
Match #6	20 Jul	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	Decision (3-0)	Tauno Jaskari	FIN
Match #7	20 Jul	Ken Irvine	GBR	Decision (3-0)	Omar Blebel	ARG
Match #8	20 Jul	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	Decision (2-1)	Charles Kouyos	FRA
Match #9	20 Jul	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER	Fall (1:26)	Leonardo Basurto	MEX
Match #10	20 Jul	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	Fall (14:25)	Adrien Poliquin	CAN

Round Two

Date	21 July 1952

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
=1	232	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER	0	–
=1	47	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	0	–
=1	127	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	0	–
=4	94	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	1	–
=4	199	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	1	–
=4	282	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR	1	–
7	270	Eigil Johansen	DEN	2	–
=8	23	Saad Hafez	EGY	3	–
=8	307	Lajos Bencze	HUN	3	–
=10	63	Ken Irvine	GBR	4	–
=10	52	Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi	IRI	4	–
=10	343	Bill Borders	USA	4	–
=13	240	Tauno Jaskari	FIN	6	eliminated
=13	1	Omar Blebel	ARG	6	eliminated
=13	101	Adrien Poliquin	CAN	6	eliminated
=13	43	Oswaldo Johnston	GUA	6	eliminated
=13	120	Leonardo Basurto	MEX	6	eliminated
=13	–	Paul Hänni	SUI	6	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	21 Jul	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	Default (injury)	Paul Hänni	SUI
Match #2	21 Jul	Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi	IRI	Decision (3-0)	Bill Borders	USA
Match #3	21 Jul	Eigil Johansen	DEN	Decision (3-0)	Saad Hafez	EGY
Match #4	21 Jul	Lajos Bencze	HUN	Fall (3:20)	Oswaldo Johnston	GUA
Match #5	21 Jul	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR	Decision (2-1)	Tauno Jaskari	FIN
Match #6	21 Jul	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	Fall (7:35)	Ken Irvine	GBR
Match #7	21 Jul	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	Fall (10:58)	Omar Blebel	ARG
Match #8	21 Jul	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	Fall (5:20)	Leonardo Basurto	MEX
Match #9	21 Jul	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER	Fall (0:30)	Adrien Poliquin	CAN

Round Three

Date	22 July 1952

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	127	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	0	–
=2	47	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	1	–
=2	199	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	1	–
4	94	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	2	–
5	232	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER	3	–
=6	307	Lajos Bencze	HUN	4	–
=6	282	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR	4	–
=8	270	Eigil Johansen	DEN	5	eliminated
=8	52	Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi	IRI	5	eliminated
10	23	Saad Hafez	EGY	6	eliminated
=11	63	Ken Irvine	GBR	7	eliminated
=11	343	Bill Borders	USA	7	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	22 Jul	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	Fall (10:40)	Bill Borders	USA
Match #2	22 Jul	Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi	IRI	Decision (3-0)	Saad Hafez	EGY
Match #3	22 Jul	Lajos Bencze	HUN	Decision (3-0)	Eigil Johansen	DEN
Match #4	22 Jul	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	Decision (3-0)	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR
Match #5	22 Jul	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	Fall (6:30)	Ken Irvine	GBR
Match #6	22 Jul	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	Decision (2-1)	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER

Round Four

Date	22 July 1952

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	47	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	1	–
=2	127	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	3	–
=2	94	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	3	–
4	199	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	4	–
=5	307	Lajos Bencze	HUN	5	eliminated
=5	282	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR	5	eliminated
6	232	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER	6	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	22 Jul	Lajos Bencze	HUN	Decision (2-1)	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS
Match #2	22 Jul	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR	Decision (3-0)	Edvin Vesterby	SWE
Match #3	22 Jul	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	Decision (2-1)	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER
Match #4	22 Jul	Khashaba Jadhav	IND

Round Five

Date	23 July 1952

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
=1	127	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	4	–
=1	47	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	4	–
=1	94	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	4	–
4	199	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	7	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	23 Jul	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	Decision (3-0)	Khashaba Jadhav	IND
Match #2	23 Jul	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	Decision (3-0)	Edvin Vesterby	SWE

Round Six

Date	23 July 1952

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	127	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	4	–
2	94	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	5	eliminated
3	47	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	7	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	23 Jul	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	Decision (3-0)	Khashaba Jadhav	IND
Match #2	23 Jul	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS

Final Round

Date	23 July 1952

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	23 Jul	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	Decision (3-0)	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS
Match #2	23 Jul	Khashaba Jadhav	IND