CHENNAI, Dec 15: India and Pakistan were on Thursday counting their losses after being knocked out of the medals race in the men’s Champions Trophy field hockey. The Asian giants, once the masters of the game, languished at the bottom of the table in the elite six-nation event as the Netherlands led a European race to join Olympic-gold-medallists Australia in Sunday’s final.

“We have a long way to go before we can catch up with the rest of the world,” conceded Indian coach Rajinder Singh. “This tournament has been a real eye-opener for us.”

Added Pakistan coach Asif Bajwa: “Ours is a young side building for the future, so the lessons learnt here will be invaluable.”

Australia proved they were the team to beat as they sailed through to the final even before their last league match against Pakistan with four successive wins.

The Netherlands (seven points), Spain (six) and Germany (five) go into the last round of league matches on Friday hoping the results go in their favour.

The Dutch will set up a repeat of the 2004 Olympic final against Australia if they defeat hosts India.

Defending champions Spain clash with Germany in Friday’s first match, both sides hoping to win but knowing their fate rests on how the Dutch fare against India in the second game.

“I would not bet on who will be the second finalist,” said Spanish coach Maurits Hendriks. “All we can do is win and hope for the best.”

Australia edged out the Netherlands 3-2 on Wednesday with Michael McCann scoring the winner two minutes from the final whistle after the Dutch twice drew level through penalty corner specialist Taeke Taekema.

McCann beat the Dutch defence and executed a reverse hit from the top of the circle that caught veteran goalkeeper Guus Vogets on the wrong foot.

Australia, who won their maiden Olympic title in Athens by defeating the Netherlands in the final, continued their supremacy over the Dutch despite resting first-choice goalkeeper Stephen Lambert.

“I would have been very disappointed if we had not made the final, so this is not really a big surprise,” said Australian coach Barry Dancer.

“We have played well through the tournament, but must play two more games equally well to add the Champions Trophy to our cupboard.”

Australia missed last year’s Champions Trophy in Lahore, Pakistan due to security concerns.