Olympic hockey qualifiers from 6th

ISLAMABAD: India at home in front of thousands of fans is a daunting proposition anytime but when a place in an Olympic qualifier is at stake, the pressure is even more intense.

As the highest-ranked team in Bhubaneswar, India (FIH world ranking at 5) will be pre-event favourites to finish in the top two of the second FIH Men’s Series Finals, taking place from June 6-15, thus securing a place at one of seven Olympic Qualifiers taking place later in the year. India, who qualified for this event by virtue of world rankings, have more hockey Olympic gold medals than any other nation and will be determined to be in the mix for a ninth gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020. Recently appointed head coach Graham Reid has a wealth of talent at his disposal, including captain Manpreet Singh, top goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and top defender Harmanpreet Singh.

The composition of the pools is as follows:

Pool A: India, Poland, Russia, Uzbekistan; Pool B: South Africa, Japan, USA, Mexico.