Germany,Australia head Men's Olympic Hockey Tournament groupings

New Delhi, Apr 18 (UNI) Defending champion Australia and runners-up Holland are clubbed in the same pool ''B'' of the Men's hockey tournament of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to be held in August.

Athen Olympic bronze medal winner but currently World number one team Germany is in pool ''A'' along with formidable Spain.

Former champion Pakistan is in a tougher pool ''B''.

The grouping has been done on the basis of the the current ABN AMRO World Rankings. The 12 participating nations were allocated to the Pools (current world ranking shown in brackets): Pool A Germany (1),Spain (4),Korea (5),New Zealand (10),Belgium (12)China (17) Pool B: Australia (2),Netherlands (3),Pakistan (6),Britain (8),S.Africa (13),Canada (15) The pools for the Women's Olympic Hockey Tournament will be released shortly after the last Olympic Qualifier, to be played in Victoria, Canada from April 26 to May 4.

The match schedule for both the Men's and Women's Hockey Tournament of the Olympic Games will be released in mid May.

UNI HSB AB KN1834