Hockey: Black Sticks take a nosedive in world rankings

New Zealand's Stacey Michelsen in action during the World Cup. Photo / Photosport

New Zealand have paid dearly for their flop at the women's hockey World Cup in London.

The Black Sticks failed to make the quarter-finals and have dropped from fourth to sixth on the world rankings.

It continued a topsy turvy year for the women, who won the Commonwealth Games title for the first time on the Gold Coast in April.

The Black Sticks got themselves in a jam with their loss to 12th-ranked Japan in pool play.

The upshot was they had to play a crossover game against world No 3 Argentina just to make the last eight. They were beaten 2-0 and now that poor tournament has come home to bite them.

The big risers are the Irish, who came from nowhere to reach the final, where they were well beaten, 6-0 by world No 1 side the Netherlands. Ireland are now up to No 8 on the women's list.

The New Zealand men stay in ninth place on their rankings.

They have just completed tours to India and Japan as preparation for the men's World Cup in India later this year.

Their results were ordinary and they have plenty of work to do ahead of the cup.
Australia head the men's list from Argentina.