The Black Sticks men celebrate their penalty shootout victory over Australia in the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia. PHOTO/PMFSportsimages
The Black Sticks men celebrate their penalty shootout victory over Australia in the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia. PHOTO/PMFSportsimages
New Zealand will have the World League semifinals in Argentina next month at the back of their minds when they contest an international tournament in Hobart this week.
The World League is the most direct route to next year's Olympic Games. The top three teams in Buenos Aires will qualifyand New Zealand, on rankings, have a good chance.
Since beating world No 1 Australia in a shootout at the Azlan Shah tournament in Malaysia last month, New Zealand, with confidence significantly boosted, are adopting a slightly changed philosophy.
In Malaysia, captain Simon Child said the Black Sticks tried to prepare for each game as if it was an Olympic medal match.
"We treated every game as if the gold medal was on line. It really had an impact on our preparation, nutrition, recovery, all those one percenters," Child said.
"We focussed on the 60 minutes in front of us and you can break that down further to one quarter at a time. This is good preparation for the world league but this is a really important game for the group," he said of tomorrow night's opener against Australia.
Child, among the world's best strikers, believes the Malaysian title was "a big positive for us".
"We've always known we are a good team and can compete with the best, but to beat Australia in the final was a big stepping stone for us. We are progressing nicely."
There is one injury concern, with Northland's Shay Neal hurting a knee in training on Sunday. Jared Panchia is joining the group as cover.
World No 7 New Zealand have games against tenth-ranked Pakistan and No 8 Korea, and a second outing against the Aussies while in Hobart.
New Zealand have drawn the Koreans, world No 2 the Netherlands, 16th-ranked Japan and Egypt, four places lower, in Buenos Aires in the 10-nation tournament starting on June 3.
Their closest rivals for Olympic places should be No 3 Germany and sixth-ranked Argentina, along with the Dutch.
"This tournament is very helpful going into Olympic qualifying," New Zealand coach Colin Batch said.
"You always want to challenge yourself against the best in the world and Australia certainly provides that."
