SYDNEY, SEPTEMBER 12: Australian hockey coach Terry Walsh is of the viewthat unpredictable Asians - India, Pakistan and South Korea - may spring asurprise in the forthcoming Olympics.He says these countries also have medal chances but admits that his teamfaces a tough challange from Holland, Germany and Spainiards.Walsh, who took over as the Australian coach in 1996, is candid that he hasa tough job at hand. He says his aim is to see his country win a gold thistime, the only title which has eluded the mighty Australians.Though the Australian public has very high expectations from their team,Walsh does not want to put pressure on his players.A verstile striker in his time, Walsh represented Australia when they won asilver in the Montreal Olympics in 1976 and finished fourth at Los Angelesin 1984.Walsh, who was once considered to be hot favourite to become the Indiancoach says, ``Fans here want Australia to win the title and that is what weare all striving for.''India play their second match against fancied Australia and they will findit very tough to stop the rampaging hosts.The Indians on the other hand are going through their paces in a systematicmanner. They had a strenuous 90-minute workout here this morning andscheduled to play a friendly against Canada in floodlit conditions onWednesday.``We are confident of doing well and we are preparing according to plans,''Indian coach V Baskaran said after the workout.While the Australians who finished poor fifth in the Champions Trophy heldhere in May, are leaving no stone unturned.Walsh is also not perturbed by the fact that India had beaten his side inthe Four-Nation tourney recently.``Olympics is a different ball game. In a pressure cooker like situation youneed players who can withstand the pressure and I think we have suchplayers,'' Walsh feels and rates his half-line of Paul Gaudoin, BrentLivemore, Stephen Holt as the world's best.However, the Australians are fully aware that they don't have avery incisiveforward-line and depending on mid-fielder Michael Brennan.Australian vice-captain Jay Stacy, who will be playing his fourth and lastOlympic before the partisan home crowd, exudes confidence that his team willclaim gold this time. ``We have learnt from our mistakes and we areimproving,'' he adds. Meanwhile, Baskaran and his deputy Harendra Singh, whoare totally focused on team's training and prepration, say: ``The playersare fit. The morale is high and we are capable of good showing.''
