# Wrestling at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's Greco-Roman bantamweight

The men's Greco-Roman bantamweight competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London took place from 3 August to 6 August at the Empress Hall, Earls Court Exhibition Centre. Nations were limited to one competitor. Bantamweight is the second-lightest category, including wrestlers weighing 52 to 57 kilograms (115 to 126 lb).
This Greco-Roman wrestling competition continued to use the "bad points" elimination system introduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics for Greco-Roman and at the 1932 Summer Olympics for freestyle wrestling, with the slight modification introduced in 1936. Each round featured all wrestlers pairing off and wrestling one bout (with one wrestler having a bye if there were an odd number). The loser received 3 points if the loss was by fall or unanimous decision and 2 points if the decision was 2-1 (this was the modification from prior years, where all losses were 3 points). The winner received 1 point if the win was by decision and 0 points if the win was by fall. At the end of each round, any wrestler with at least 5 points was eliminated.

## Results
### Round 1
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Reidar Merli | Norway | Decision, 3–0 | Kurt Elias | Austria |
| Mahmoud Hassan | Egypt | Decision, 2–1 | Kolle Lejserowitz | Denmark |
| Kurt Pettersén | Sweden | Fall | Francesco Suppo | Italy |
| Lajos Bencze | Hungary | Decision, 2–1 | Taisto Lempinen | Finland |
| Halil Kaya | Turkey | Fall | Jésus Arenzana | France |
| Nikolaos Biris | Greece | Fall | Ken Irvine | Great Britain |
| Elvidio Flamini | Argentina | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Nikolaos Biris | Greece | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Elvidio Flamini | Argentina | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Halil Kaya | Turkey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Kurt Pettersén | Sweden | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Lajos Bencze | Hungary | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Mahmoud Hassan | Egypt | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Reidar Merli | Norway | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Kolle Lejserowitz | Denmark | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 8 | Taisto Lempinen | Finland | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Jésus Arenzana | France | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | Kurt Elias | Austria | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | Ken Irvine | Great Britain | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | Francesco Suppo | Italy | 0 | 3 | 3 |

### Round 2
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Kurt Elias | Austria | Decision, 3–0 | Elvidio Flamini | Argentina |
| Mahmoud Hassan | Egypt | Fall | Francesco Suppo | Italy |
| N/A | N/A | "both declared Losers" | Kolle Lejserowitz Reidar Merli | Denmark Norway |
| Kurt Pettersén | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Lajos Bencze | Hungary |
| Taisto Lempinen | Finland | Fall | Jésus Arenzana | France |
| Halil Kaya | Turkey | Fall | Nikolaos Biris | Greece |
| Ken Irvine | Great Britain | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Halil Kaya | Turkey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Mahmoud Hassan | Egypt | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Kurt Pettersén | Sweden | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Taisto Lempinen | Finland | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Nikolaos Biris | Greece | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | Elvidio Flamini | Argentina | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | Ken Irvine | Great Britain | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Lajos Bencze | Hungary | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 8 | Kurt Elias | Austria | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 | Reidar Merli | Norway | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 11 | Kolle Lejserowitz | Denmark | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 12 | Jésus Arenzana | France | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 12 | Francesco Suppo | Italy | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 3
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Elvidio Flamini | Argentina | Fall | Ken Irvine | Great Britain |
| Mahmoud Hassan | Egypt | Fall | Kurt Elias | Austria |
| Reidar Merli | Norway | Decision, 3–0 | Kurt Pettersén | Sweden |
| Lajos Bencze | Hungary | Decision, 3–0 | Halil Kaya | Turkey |
| Taisto Lempinen | Finland | Fall | Nikolaos Biris | Greece |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Mahmoud Hassan | Egypt | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Taisto Lempinen | Finland | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Elvidio Flamini | Argentina | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Halil Kaya | Turkey | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | Kurt Pettersén | Sweden | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 6 | Lajos Bencze | Hungary | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 6 | Reidar Merli | Norway | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 8 | Nikolaos Biris | Greece | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 8 | Ken Irvine | Great Britain | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 10 | Kurt Elias | Austria | 4 | 3 | 7 |

### Round 4
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Mahmoud Hassan | Egypt | Fall | Elvidio Flamini | Argentina |
| Kurt Pettersén | Sweden | Fall | Taisto Lempinen | Finland |
| Halil Kaya | Turkey | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Mahmoud Hassan | Egypt | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Halil Kaya | Turkey | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Kurt Pettersén | Sweden | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Taisto Lempinen | Finland | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 5 | Elvidio Flamini | Argentina | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 5
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Mahmoud Hassan | Egypt | Decision, 3–0 | Halil Kaya | Turkey |
| Kurt Pettersén | Sweden | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Mahmoud Hassan | Egypt | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Kurt Pettersén | Sweden | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| | Halil Kaya | Turkey | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 6
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Kurt Pettersén | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Mahmoud Hassan | Egypt |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| | Kurt Pettersén | Sweden | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| | Mahmoud Hassan | Egypt | 2 | 3 | 5 |