Facing their sternest test ever in qualifying for the Olympics, the Indian hockey team will undergo an 18-day training camp in February 2008 either in Australia or the United States before reaching Chile for the six-team qualifiers.
The team will leave for the training camp on February 1 and will later reach Santiago on February 19 to get acclimatised .
The coaching staff led by chief coach Joaquim Carvalho has prepared a three-month schedule to pick and prepare the best combination for the qualifiers that will be kicked-off with a month-long camp at the Sports Authority of India , Bangalore from Monday.
Approved by the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) officials, it includes lengthy training sessions interspersed by rest and recovery period.
The idea is to help the players peak at the qualifiers, which will be held from March 1-9 which involves Great Britain, Austria, Egypt, Bangladesh and the hosts. All 40 probables have been called up for the camp that will conclude on December 5.
IHF sources said efforts are being made to organise matches with the winners of the two other qualifying tournaments in New Zealand and Japan or teams taking part in those two events.
{{/usCountry}}IHF sources said efforts are being made to organise matches with the winners of the two other qualifying tournaments in New Zealand and Japan or teams taking part in those two events.
{{/usCountry}}Help has also been sought from Ric Charlesworth, Indian team's technical advisor, to arrange for both the training stint in Australia and practice matches against foreign teams.