Olympics hockey: Canada challenge for India in qualifiers?

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Indian men’s hockey team may face Canada challenge in the first leg of the Olympic qualifiers, which will be held in New Delhi from February 15 to 26.

Spain, South Korea and India are the three highest ranked teams that haven’t yet booked a ticket for the 2012 London Olympics.

By virtue of being placed above India (10) in the latest ranking list, Spain (4) and South Korea (6) are set to have Japan and Malaysia, respectively, as major contenders in their groups. Japan (15) and Malaysia (14) are ranked below Canada (11).

The international hockey federation (FIH) will release the teams for three legs of qualifiers after its executive board meeting on November 12. One team from each leg will join nine countries that have already qualified for London.

At the EB meeting, the FIH may also take a final decision on whether to conduct the first leg in New Delhi. Miffed at the unresolved power struggle between Hockey India and the Indian Hockey Federation, the FIH has threatened to expel India from the Olympic qualifying pool.

Despite falling down from its lofty perch, India continue to be a major market for hockey. The FIH raked in money from the 2010 World Cup in New Delhi, even though some of its share remains locked over administrative problems. So the FIH may not take the extreme step of banishing the eight-time Olympic gold medallists from its flagship event.

Canada, ranked No. 11, will be formidable opponents. They missed out on a direct Olympic berth after losing to Argentina 1-3 in the Pan American Games final in Mexico on October 29.

The North American country will be pumped up to banish the bitter memory and qualify for their second successive Olympics. Canada, whose field hockey teams usually have a sizeable number of players of Indian origin, had made it to the 2008 Olympics by winning the Pan American Games the previous year.

The other teams in India’s pool could be France, Poland, Egypt and USA. The Spain group may have China, Austria, the Czech Republic and Cuba apart from Japan. South Korea and Malaysia will battle it out in the third group, which will probably include Ireland, Russia, Chile and Ukraine.

On paper India appear to have an edge. It will be a shot in the arm for them if they play at home. But they can’t take Canada, the four-time Pan American Games champions, for granted. Canadians may be crazy about Ice hockey but they are no slouches in the field variety.