RIO DE JANEIRO — Germany might be the twice Olympic champion defending its men's field hockey title but top-ranked Australia will be the team to beat when the competition begins Saturday. Since 1992 Australia has won a medal at every Olympic tournament and the World Cup winner will be the favorite to clinch what would be its second gold medal. The Kookaburras only managed bronze four years ago in London despite being overwhelming favorite, triggering a lot of soul searching from the men in gold and green. "Yeah, we had to do a lot of long hard looking at ourselves, but it paid off ultimately," said 32-year-old Australia squad member Glenn Turner. "Leading up to London we had trained really hard but there was a very different feel to the squad compared to this time around." Mark Knowles and Jamie Dwyer, a five-time International Hockey Federation Player of the Year, provide Australia with a wealth of experience with Rio being their fourth Games. Knowles said the team, which faces New Zealand in its first match, would settle for nothing but gold in Brazil. "When we go to the Olympic Games as the Australian men's hockey team we want to win, we don't want to get bronze, just make the semis or play off for fifth," he said. Britain, Belgium, Spain and the host are also in Australia's group. Germany, which triumphed in Beijing and London, is ranked third in the world. The squad chosen by head coach Valentin Altenburg contains five Olympic gold medalists from London. The champion has been pooled with the Netherlands, Argentina, India, Ireland and Canada, with the top four teams from each group advancing to the quarterfinals. Once-mighty India is the most decorated nation in the sport's Olympic history but the South Asians won the last of its eight gold medals way back at the Moscow Games in 1980. Its strong build-up, claiming silver at the Champions Trophy, has again boosted optimism among fans in the nation of 1.25 billion people. P.R. Sreejesh says his dual role as India captain and goalkeeper is to allow his teammates the freedom to express themselves in Rio but knows he must keep them focused on the medal hunt in the "magic world" of the Olympics. The 30-year-old was second choice at London 2012 behind then captain Bharat Chetri but has since established himself as the clear number one. He was named captain for the recent Champions Trophy in London where India rested some seniors, including regular captain Sardar Singh, ahead of the Rio Games. While Sreejesh led the side to the sliver medal, as India lost the final to Australia in a penalty shootout, he said he never imagined it would lead to him wearing the armband at the Rio Games too. "I never expected it," Sreejesh said in a recent interview. Sreejesh has been a rock for India in front of goal since making the junior national team in 2004. It took him another couple of years to make the cut for the senior side. He made crucial saves during the 2014 Asian Games final when India beat archrivals Pakistan, which sealed its spot for Rio. In 2015, Sreejesh received the Arjuna award for his contribution to the national team. "Olympics is a place where you can be easily distracted to a lot of things and it will seem like a magic world. It will all be about reminding them our goal as a team." On the women's side, the Netherlands has captured seven world titles and been to every Olympics since 1984, winning three gold, one silver and three bronze medals. The world's top-ranked side is heavy favorites to add to its gold medal tally in Rio.
