NEW DELHI, Feb 26: Former field hockey masters India travel across the world to Chile this week to fight for a place in the Olympic Games they once dominated with eight gold medals.

India, who have never missed the Olympics since field hockey was introduced as a medal sport in 1928, face a make-or-break ordeal in Santiago from March 1-9 to make the trip to Beijing in August.

Only one team will go through from the six-nation qualifying tournament in the Chilean capital that includes India’s main rivals Britain, Russia, Mexico, Austria and the hosts.

Indian coach Joaquim Carvalho was confident his team will qualify, although at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Britain’s fifth-place finish was way ahead of India’s 11th.

“I am not even thinking of that,” Carvalho told AFP when asked if there was a real danger of India missing out on the Olympics for the first time.

“The boys are in good shape and injury-free. They have trained hard and I am confident we will do well in Chile.”

Australian hockey wizard Ric Charlesworth, who was hired by India last year as a consultant to revive the team’s fortunes, said the competition in Chile would be tougher than expected.

“It’s not only about beating Britain,” he said. “One bad match can ruin things. Look what happened to Germany and Argentina.”

World champions Germany failed to gain an automatic Olympic berth after losing to Belgium in the bronze medal match of the European championships last year.

The Germans must now win the third and final qualifying tournament in Kakamigahara, Japan in April that includes Malaysia, Italy, Poland, Switzerland and the hosts.—AFP