Barcelona '92: Pakistan challenge has golden ring

PAKISTAN tuned up their challenge for the Olympic men's hockey title, held by Great Britain, with an 8-1 victory over Argentina in Terrassa, Spain, yesterday.

But India, the world's most successful hockey nation with eight Games golds and Britain's opponents next Thursday, were unimpressive as they succumbed 5-1 to the hosts.

'We're pleased with our performance and I'd say the pitch is perfect,' Munawar-uz-Zaman, the Pakistan coach, said after the match on the artificial Olympic surface at Terrassa. 'We have no injury worries.' Khalid Bashir, Pakistan's best penalty corner taker in years, scored twice. Pakistan, who last won Olympic gold in 1984, are among the favourites in the 12- team event along with Germany, Australia and the Netherlands.

The Indian manager, N P Katare, dismissed the defeat by Spain as a low-key warm-up. He said his players were not willing to risk injury by running too hard. 'We've just arrived here. This is our first game. We'll try to regain our past glory,' he said.