Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith (2L) is watched by officials as he juggles a ball on a hockey stick in front of a statue of Indian Olympian Dhyan Chand during a visit to The Major Dhyan Chand Hockey National Stadium in New Delhi on October 14, 2009, one of the venues for The Commonwealth Games 2010. -Photo by AFP

NEW DELHI Australia will train promising Indian field hockey players to enable the beleaguered former champions regain their old glory, the Australian foreign minister said on Wednesday.

India, eight-time Olympic gold medallists, failed to qualify for the Beijing Games last year for the first time since field hockey was introduced as a medal sport in 1928.

Minister Stephen Smith, currently visiting India, said a male and female player, along with a coach, will receive two-week training at the renowned Institute of Sports and Hockey Facility in Perth.

'India is one of the premier hockey playing nations and we are sad that India failed to qualify for Beijing Olympics,' Smith told reporters after visiting the national hockey stadium in the Indian capital.

'All hockey playing nations, including Australia, want India to return to its historic place as a great hockey playing nation,' the Press Trust of India quoted Smith as saying.

Australia, who won their maiden Olympic title in Athens in 2004, took home a bronze in Beijing and are currently second in the world rankings behind Germany.