The New Zealand women's hockey side started their series against China with a 2-1 victory in Beijing last night.
The match was level 1-1 before striker Katie Glynn deflected in the winning goal with less than three minutes on the clock.
Black Sticks coach Mark Hager said it was a gutsy victory against the Chinese, who are ranked one place higher in the world than the sixth-ranked Kiwis.
"It was a hard-fought game but we were inconsistent and pretty patchy,'' Hager said. "We need a complete 70-minute effort in the next match.''
The home side opened the scoring in the 10th minute from a penalty corner before the Kiwis responded a minute later when speedster Anita Punt broke through the midfield and effort smashed a reverse shot into the goal.
