March 09, 2008	Sunday	Safar 30, 1429

SANTIAGO, March 8: India face a bruising battle against Great Britain here on Sunday if they are to preserve their record of having played in every Olympic Games men’s field hockey tournament since 1928.

The two rivals are poised to meet in the play-off of the six-nation qualifying tournament with the British buoyed by their 3-2 win over eight-time gold medal winners India in the round-robin clash on Thursday.

Only the winner of Sunday’s game will qualify for the Beijing Olympics in August.

Thursday’s volatile clash led to three players being reprimanded for their behaviour by the tournament director.

India’s Vickram Kanth received a yellow card after just six minutes and after studying video evidence, the player was further charged for deliberately using his elbow against a British player.—AFP