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India will be seen in action at the Olympics for the first time in 36 years, though it is officially the first time they have qualified.In 1980, when womens hockey was played for the first time in Moscow, India had drawn against eventual champions Zimbabwe, and lost to second-placed erstwhile Czechoslovakia and the hosts, who won bronze in the round-robin tournament. They won their other two matches against Austria and Poland and in fact led the standings at one stage. Eventually, they missed a podium finish by just one point.The format this year will not make things any easier for the Indian women. At 13, they are the lowest-ranked in Pool B. Only 1992 champions Spain, who will be one of the six teams in Pool A, are ranked one place lower in the FIH rankings. Spain will be joined by reigning champions Netherlands, 2004 gold-medallists Germany, fourth-ranked New Zealand and Asian nations China and Korea, the two of whom have three silver medals among them.Indias pool is a competitive one too, with only Japan joining India as nations to have never won an Olympic medal before. The big favourites in their pool should be Champions Trophy winners Argentina and Australia, who share the record of three Olympic golds with Netherlands.Only four of the six teams per pool will advance to the quarterfinals, which should make a minimum of two wins necessary out of the five matches. It may not be impossible, with prolific strikers like Rani Rampal, Vandana Katariya and Poonam Rani in their ranks. However, it is defensive frailty that has been the undoing of the Indian women against higher-ranked opposition in recent years, and that is where matches against big teams could be won and lost.Heres a closer look at all their opponents in the pool stage.Japan - play India on Sunday, Aug 7 at 11 am local (7:30 pm IST)FIH Ranking: 10Best finish at the Olympics: 8th (in 2004)Japan qualified for Rio by virtue of a sixth place finish at the World League Semi-final in Antwerp in 2015, pipped to fifth by India. Japan are known for their counter-attacking form of hockey, though finding goals has been a problem, especially in big matches. The Olympics comes home for the Japanese in four years, and that gives them greater incentive to make a statement in Rio.Only four members of the Japan squad have 100 caps or more -- though goalkeeper Sakiyo Asano and defender Nagisa Hayashi should join that list within the first week ?-- and the experienced players will have to pull their weight if Japan are to finish among the top four. Midfielder Miyuki Nakagawa has 287 caps against her name and 30 international goals, the most for this squad on both counts, and has been a part of all three of Japans previous appearances.India against Japan: Played - 59, Won - 12, Drawn - 15, Lost - 32, Goals Scored - 68, Goals Conceded - 114.Great Britain - play India on Monday, Aug 8 at 6 pm local (2:30 am IST on Tuesday morning) FIH Ranking: 7Best finish at the Olympics: Bronze (in 1992 and 2012)Great Britain have had a good twelve months leading up to the Olympics, first winning the World League Semi-finals, beating China in the final, and then picking up the European title at home in a shoot-out against the Netherlands. They were beaten by Argentina in the Olympics semi-finals, also in London, in 2012 but then beat New Zealand to pick up bronze.The British charge this time will be led by forwards Alex Danson and Lily Owsley, while the defence is likely to be in the safe hands of their most-capped player Kate Richardson-Walsh, for whom her first match in Rio will be her 362nd.India against Great Britain: Played - 25, Won - 2, Drawn - 6, Lost - 17, Goals Scored - 20, Goals Conceded - 77.Australia - play India on Wednesday, Aug 10 at 11 am local (7:30 pm IST)FIH Ranking: 3Best finish at the Olympics: Gold (in 1988, 1996 and 2000)That Australia are ranked in the top three in the world despite not having won any major silverware at a global event since the Champions Trophy in 2003 is a testament to their ability to consistently make the knockout stages of competitions. The reigning Commonwealth Games gold medallists will also be looking to give a good farewell gift to head coach Adam Commens, who steps down later this year after five years in charge.Midfielder Madonna Blyth now holds the all-time record for most caps with 336 matches under her belt, while defender and penalty-corner specialist Jodie Kenny needs just two more goals to complete 100 international goals for Australia.India against Australia: Played - 37, Won - 4, Drawn - 6, Lost - 27, Goals Scored - 43, Goals Conceded - 116.United States of America - play India on Thursday, Aug 11 at 7:30 pm local (4 am IST on Friday morning)FIH Ranking: 5Best finish at the Olympics: Bronze (in 1984)Coached by former England and Great Britain defender Craig Parnham, USA have been improving with each major outing in the last two years, following their 2014 Champions Challenge title in Glasgow with fourth place at the World Cup later that year, and a bronze medal in the Champions Trophy in London in June, where goalkeeper Jackie Briggs effected five saves against Australia in the shoot-out.The other hero in the match against Australia was Katie Bam, who scored two goals to bring them back from 2-0 down. Bam is one of five players in the 16 who have over 200 caps, including the experienced defensive trio of Rachel Dawson, Lauren Crandall and Michelle Kasold, and this experience will come in handy as the Americans seek their first hockey silverware since 1984.India against USA: Played - 26, Won - 4, Drawn - 8, Lost - 14, Goals Scored - 27, Goals Conceded - 47.Argentina - play India on Saturday, Aug 13 at 10 am local (6:30 pm IST) FIH Ranking: 2Best finish at the Olympics: Silver (in 2000 and 2012)Argentina come in the Olympics as the in-form team in womens hockey across the last two years. They have picked up the gold in each of the last three major events to have taken place in global hockey - the Champions Trophy of 2014 and 2016, as well as the World League in 2015.Legendary midfielder Luciana Aymar may have called it a day after the first of those triumphs on home soil, but she left behind an experienced squad where seven out of the 16 names for Rio have 100 or more international caps. Without doubt, the two most important players will be drag-flicking defender Noel Barrionuevo as well as forward Carla Rebecchi, who was both the top goal scorer and the best player at the Champions Trophy in London in June.India against Argentina: Played - 16, Won - 1, Drawn - 3, Lost - 12, Goals Scored - 17, Goals Conceded - 39. Balenciaga Shoes Wholesale China .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. Yeezy Boost 350 v2 Replica China .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. http://www.brandshoescheaponline.com/wholesale-balenciaga-shoes-china/speed-trainer.html . -- Jaye Marie Green shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday to increase her lead to five strokes after the second round of the LPGA Tours qualifying tournament. Cheap Fake Air Max 90 . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Yeezy Boost China Wholesale . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. RIO DE JANEIRO -- A half-million foreign tourists, dozens of heads of state and the attention of the worlds media. If there were ever a headache for anti-terror forces, its the Olympics.In the aftermath of deadly attacks by the Islamic State group in France and elsewhere, Brazil, which has almost no experience combatting terrorism, is beefing up security for the games that start in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 5. Plans include doubling the number of security forces on the streets, erecting more checkpoints and working closer with foreign intelligence agencies than Brazilians did in the 2014 World Cup.But will it be enough?Richard Ford, a retired FBI anti-terror expert who lives in Brazil, said that while the government has a robust program to keep athletes and venues safe, he worries that authorities arent taking the threat of a lone-wolf or suicide attack seriously enough.He cited comments by Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who surprised many last week by saying the chances of a terror attack at the games were next to zero and that the bigger concern is street crime. Just a day later, the federal police overseen by Moraes arrested 10 Brazilians allegedly belonging to an amateur cell that had professed allegiance to ISIS over the internet.Its very naive to think that the risks for terrorism are minimal, said Ford, who has worked on security at several Olympic Games. In the last year, the risk of a terrorist attack has gone up exponentially everywhere.Terror attacks have been rare, if horrifying at past Olympics. The most notorious was the 1972 massacre of 11 Israeli athletes and a police officer by a radical Palestinian group in Munich. A bomb planted by an anti-abortion protester killed one and injured 111 at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.But Brazil has a lot of problems that other countries dont have, Ford said. Its sort of a perfect storm for anyone wanting to carry out an attack.South Americas first-ever games have been plagued by a long list of problems, from the Zika epidemic and severe water pollution to slow ticket sales and questions about the readiness of infrastructure built for the games.Compounding the security concerns is the deepest recession in decades, which has forced the cash-strapped Rio state government to slash spending and delay paychecks, and a distracting political crisis that led to the removal of President Dilma Rousseff while she faces an impeachment trial. To make up for the shortfall, the federal government has had to step in with almost $1 billion in emergency funding, much of which will be devoted to security. Extra police are also being deployed from other states.Many of Brazils security holes are ancient and hard to resolve. Long, porous borders it shares with 10 countries are a major conduit for arms and drug smugglers. Obtaining an assault rifle, or explosives, is easy from the criminal gangs that dominate Rios hillside sslums.dddddddddddd Last year, thieves even managed to steal a truck carrying a ton of dynamite.Harder to explain, though, is the late start on hiring security screeners. An investigation by The Wall Street Journal this month found that Brazils government waited until July 1 to award the contract to recruit and deploy thousands of security guards at Olympic venues, raising questions about whether screening procedures were rigorous for people who will be tasked with monitoring x-ray machines and performing pat-downs. The security contract for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver was awarded 10 months in advance.To be sure, Brazil isnt a newcomer to hosting mega-events. Every year it welcomes millions of foreign visitors during the weeklong Carnival celebration, and the 2014 World Cup went off with no major incidents.But it has almost no experience fighting terrorism. The country has long prided itself on having an enemy-free foreign policy, one that rejects military intervention.Not surprisingly, many Brazilians are on edge as the military buildup at airports and elsewhere become more evident. There have also been several bomb scares. The ritzy beach neighborhood of Leblon shut down streets for several hours last week after discovery of a suspicious bag that turned out to contain only clothes.I never felt like this about terrorism before. I only worried about street crime, said Fernanda Rocha, a pharmacist in Rio. I have no idea how to avoid terrorists if they come.Despite Brazilians easygoing attitude, better suited for a street party than an urban lockdown, Ford said there have been major improvements since the 2014 World Cup. Training exercises with U.S. and other foreign militaries to deal with chemical, biological and nuclear attacks have become more frequent. A joint-intelligence center has been created for the games, allowing intelligence services from around the world to share information and investigate threats as they emerge.Precisely because of Rios reputation for criminality, elite police units are more battle-tested than their counterparts in major U.S. cities.Theyre used to carrying bigger and stronger guns than we are, said Bobby Chacon, a retired FBI agent who makes his home in Rio and spent a year running security at the 2004 Games in Athens.There are expected to be 85,000 military personnel and police fanning out across the city, double the number on the streets in London in 2012. While most will be concentrated at sporting venues, tourist landmarks will also be heavily patrolled.They have the police in place and trained to stop a large-scale, coordinated attack, Chacon said. But theres plenty of opportunities to cause harm, and they shouldnt take anything for granted.--Goodman reported from Bogota, Colombia ' ' '