By IANS
New Delhi : Top seeds India may find things a little more easy at the six-team Olympic qualifier in Santiago, Chile in March following the withdrawal of Egypt, the No. 2 team from Africa.
Egypt will be replaced by Mexico, the sixth ranked team from Pan America.
The six teams in the qualifier are India (ranked eighth in the world), Britain (ninth), Chile (20th), Austria (25th), Bangladesh (28th) and Mexico. The winner from this tournament will qualify for Beijing Olympics.
Earlier some other teams too have withdrawn from the Olympic qualifiers. Cuba withdrew both their men and women’s team while the Czech Republic will not send the men’s team. Chinese Taipei have held back their women’s team.
The Egyptians are believed to have withdrawn because of lack of financial support.
Meanwhile, Britain will warm up with some quality games, as they will play in the Champions Trophy in Kuala Lumpur. They will also play a few friendly games with Canada before the Champions Trophy.