NEW DELHI, July 18: Australia are set to dominate field hockey at the Commonwealth Games, but the crowd-pulling rivalry between India and Pakistan has been scuttled by strange qualifying norms.

The Australian men, who reached the final of the World Cup in Malaysia in March, are favourites to overcome England and Pakistan and retain the title they won four years ago.

It should be an even easier passage for the brilliant Aussie women, the reigning Olympic, World and Commonwealth champions once described by a rival Olympic coach as “super humans from outer space.”

The keenly-anticipated clash between India and Pakistan in front of Manchester’s large Asian population will, however, not take place because eight-time Olympic champions India did not qualify.

To accommodate teams otherwise unlikely to figure in major international events, organisers decided to give one spot to each continent besides the two finalists at the last Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Pakistan became Asia’s representative by virtue of a higher ranking, leaving India out in the cold even as lesser teams like Wales, Canada and Barbados were given direct entries.

Moves by Indian Olympic officials to gain back-door entry by forcing Barbados to pull out were scoffed at by the country’s hockey administration.

Indian Hockey Federation secretary K. Jyothikumaran said the national team preferred to train for “much more important” events like the Champions Trophy in Cologne, Germany, and the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea.

“We were not invited to the Commonwealth Games and have no intention of forcing our way there,” Jyothikumaran said.

Pakistan will meet Canada, Wales and England in group B of the preliminary league, while holders Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Barbados comprise group A.

The top team from each group will advance directly to the semifinals. The other semifinal berths will be decided after play-offs between the second and third placed teams.

Pakistan have recalled goalkeeper Ahmed Alam and striker Kamran Ashraf to bolster the side that finished fifth at the World Cup.

But their hopes rest again with penalty corner expert Sohail Abbas, who was the leading scorer at the World Cup along with Jorge Lombi of Argentina with 10 goals each.

Australia’s squad includes just four players who won the inaugural men’s competition at the last Commonwealth Games, pinning their hopes on the players who secured second place at this year’s World Cup.

Paul Gaudoin leads the Aussies, who have drafted forward Ben Taylor and goalkeeper Steve Lambert for their first international tournament.

The celebrations in the Taylor household were somewhat dampened when Ben’s sister, Sarah, withdrew from the women’s team with a stress fracture in her right foot.

England, hoping to use the home advantage to end Australia’s monopoly, will bank on versatile striker Dave Matthews, whose seven goals at the World Cup made him second best behind Abbas and Lombi.

Few will look beyond Australia, Pakistan and England for the men’s gold, but South Africa’s star striker Greg Nicol and New Zealand’s Ken Robinson are capable of springing surprises.

In the women’s event, Australia will be unstoppable even without top forward Alyson Annan. They still have Nikki Hudson and Louise Dobson to run circles around the rivals’ defence.

The only team likely to test the Australian women are England, who ironically have to thank their Aussie coach Tricia Herberle for winning the World Cup qualifying tournament last September, their first title in 10 years.

New Zealand, India, Scotland, South Africa, Canada and Malaysia are the other teams in the women’s event.—AFP