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Tough pool does not worry Bhaskaran

Indian hockey coach V Bhaskaran isn't too worried that India is in the tougher of the two pools of the Olympic hockey tournament.

In the draw announced by the International Hockey Federation yesterday, India is placed in pool 'B' together with Australia, Poland, South Africa, South Korea and Spain.

The other group, considered to be an easier group, comprises Canada, Germany, Britain, Malaysia, The Netherlands and Pakistan.

''At the Olympic Games, every match is important and there is no such thing like an easy match,'' said Bhaskaran, reacting to the Olympic draw after India had beaten South Africa 3-0 in the four-nation tournament in Perth yesterday.

''All 12 teams in the competition have come through some sort of tough tournament to qualify for the Olympics, so every opponent is tough.''

The FIH has said the pools were determined taking into account the results of the qualifying tournaments for the Olympic Games, the 1998 World Cup, the 1998 and 1999 Champions Trophy, and the most recent Continental Cup.

However, Bhaskaran said it is still very unclear as to what method the FIH used to decide on the pools.

''They should make it absolutely clear what the method is rather than merely name tournaments,'' he said. ''It should be an open thing. Now it seems to be very much like Wimbledon, where the previous year's champion might be drawn such that he is out in the very first round,'' he said.

South Africa's participation in the Olympic tournament is still undecided with the country's National Olympic Committee stating that it did not intend to include a men's hockey team in their Olympic contingent.

However, negotiations are still under way regarding the possible reversal of this decision.

But with the National Olympic Committee adamant to stand by its decision not to send the hockey team, the South African Hockey Federation has asked the International Olympic Committee to intervene and plead its case for Olympic particiation.

South African coach Giles Bonnet said after his team was defeated by India, that the IOC and the SA hockey federation would have discussions on April 18 and 19 to decide what steps should be taken. The FIH said it is waiting until all negotiations were completed before officially announcing a replacement team, if necessary. This would be Argentina, which is the first reserve for the Olympic competition.

UNI