Hockey: Black Sticks lose final warm-up

The New Zealand women's hockey team have lost 3-4 to Korea in their final practice game ahead of their Champions Trophy opening match on Sunday morning (NZt) in Amsterdam.

Coach Mark Hager used the game to rest some key players for the match which saw him rotating through his 20-strong squad during the match.

"We used this match as a last run for the team and took an opportunity to go through set plays we discussed in our pre-match meeting," he said.

The match was played over three 20-minute sessions with striker Krystal Forgesson and co-captains Kayla Sharland and Emily Naylor rested in the final session.

Korea, ranked eighth in the world, opened the scoring but the Black Sticks led 2-1 at the end of the first session with a field goal by Stacey Michelsen and a drag-flick from a penalty corner by Katie Glynn.

Kores levelled the score early in the second session before the Blacks Stick took the lead again when Cathryn Finlayson deflected a well-placed ball into the circle by Krystal Forgesson for a 3-2 lead at the end of the second session.

With Sharland, Naylor and Forgesson off the field for the final session, Korea scored twice in the final session.

The Black Sticks will play Germany in their opening match of the Champions Trophy.

The other teams competing are the Netherlands, defending champions Argentina, Australia, China, England and Korea.

- NZPA