The first leg of the tournament which will be played in Canberra from September 16-19 also features Pan-American champions Canada besides hosts Australia.

The second leg and the final will be played at the Homebush Olympic Stadium in Sydney from September 22-26.

In contrast to last year, this tournament is expected to bring out stiffer competition, as all the teams are fielding their best available outfits. This will also be the first time that an international competition will be played on the actual Olympic facility. Last year the Sydney leg of the Colorado Cup was staged on the adjacent practice pitch.

The Aussies, led by 31-year-old Canberra Lakers veteran full-back Michael York will start as favourites for top honours. They have retained the victorious champions trophy squad of Brisbane where theyhad beaten South Korea in a pulsating final.

The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) has shortlisted an 18-member squad for a 12-day conditioning camp skippered by Indian Airlines medio Mohd Riaz. The players are currently undergoing a conditioning camp at the Karnataka State Hockey Association (KSHA) stadium in Bangalore. Veteran winger Mukesh Kumar who is playing in the professional league in Malaysia has not reported for the camp and thus is not likely to be included in the squad. This is the second instance that IHF has named Mukesh in the squad, the earlier occassion being the Germany and Belgium tour in July.

The Australia Itinerary: September 16 India v South Korea, Sept 17: India v Canada, Sept 19: India v Australia, Sept 22: India v Canada, Sept 23: India v Australia, Sept 25: India v South Korea, Sept 26: Final, playoff for 3rd and 4th place.

India B rally

NEW DELHI: Defender Ajay Kumar struck a brace as India b rallied superbly to hold Egypt to a 3-3 draw in a league match of thefour-nation hockey tournament at Nairobi.

The Indians, who struck first blood as early as the 2nd minute, came back from a goal deficit late in the second session to hold the Egyptian national team at the City Park Stadium in the Kenyan capital yesterday.

Forward Parminder Singh put the Indians in the lead but the Egyptians levelled (1-1) three minutes later in the game which saw the two teams displaying exciting brand of hockey.

Egypt took the lead (2-1) in the 21st minute before Ajay Kumar struck to his first goal to restore parity again.

The Mumbai player, who also had a splendid game in the defence, came to the rescue of the team once again in the second half after the Africans had gone 3-2 ahead in the 45th minute.

Rani blames weather

NEW DELHI: The captain of women's hockey team, Pritam Rani has blamed the failure to adopt to weather conditions in the initial stages of the New Zealand tour to the 2-1 series loss against the hosts.

``We lost the first match 5-0 because of the weatherconditions, our failure to adjust to lights in the night matches, and also because we tried some juniors,'' she said.

``By that time we had adjusted to the conditions. That the match was played in the day and we had studied the videos of the first two matches also helped our cause,'' she said.