London olympic hockey ualifiers start Friday in Delhi

Six teams will join battle to clinch one 2012 London Olympic berth in the first of three men''s International Hockey Federation (FIH) qualifying competitions that begins in Delhi Saturday. Host India and Canada are favourites to reach the winner-take-all final next Sunday. France and Poland could raise their performances to surprise the fancied teams while Italy and Singapore try hard not to concede many goals against their more experienced rivals at the Major Dhyan Chand National Hockey Stadium. The next two Olympic qualifying competitions will be held in Dublin, Ireland from March 10 to 18 and Kakamigahara, Japan from April 26 to May 6. The three winners join the nine teams already qualified through the Continental Championships last summer to make up the group of twelve to compete in London. India, under new Australian coach Michael Nobbs, is the top ranked team in this Olympic qualifying competition at 10th position in the latest FIH rankings. They have participated in every Olympic Games since making debut in 1928 in Amsterdam, except the last ones in Beijing, and won eight gold medals and an uninterrupted series of six victories between 1928 and 1956. Canada is the next team in the World Rankings, having just fallen a couple of notches down to 14th. They struggled in the final of the recent Pan American Games, failing to lift their game and find solutions against their arch-rival Argentina. France, ranked 18th, are in a rebuilding phase under newly appointed coach Frederic Soyez, a former national team player. After a disappointing European campaign last summer - 8th after 5 losses - Soyez made some changes but kept a core of experienced players. Although a long shot for the final qualification spot, they are certainly capable of upsetting the top teams on a good day. Poland have not participated in an outdoor world level event since the 2002 World Cup and are also struggling on the European scene. Nevertheless, with a world ranking of 19th and strong showings on the indoor scene they could be difficult opposition and should certainly not be taken lightly. Originally reserve countries in the Olympic qualification process, Singapore and Italy were called into action after the surprise withdrawal of Egypt (ranked 25th in the world) and the very late forfeit of the USA (ranked 24th). The Singaporeans have embraced the opportunity to develop their team, lining up a very young squad. After six days of competition, with the ruthless format of the Olympic qualifier, only one team will earn a berth for London Olympic. On Saturday Canada will face Italy (2pm IST) in the first match of the competition then at 4pm France takes on Poland and finally host India meets Singapore at 8pm.