Hockey: Men aim to copy women to Champions Trophy

The New Zealand men's hockey team, determined not to be over-shadowed by the Black Sticks women, will next week seek to follow Mark Hager's team in qualifying for next year's Champions Trophy.

To do that Shane McLeod's team must win the Champions Challenge tournament which hits off in Argentina early on Monday morning.

The women have already qualified for their Champions Trophy after earlier winning through to the 2010 World Cup by the direct route. The men followed them in winning through to their World Cup but only after winning the qualifying tournament they hosted in Invercargill.

New Zealand, seeded eighth in latest FIH rankings, are among the favoured teams in Argentina but results in warm-up games have dented that confidence a little.

They lost 3-1 and 2-1 to 10th-ranked Argentina, in Buenos Aires, and drew 3-3 with 11th-ranked Canada.

McLeod is not unduly concerned with the results pointing to the challenge his players have faced in overcoming the altitude - host city Salta sits at 1200m above sea level - and the testing 30C-plus temperatures. A number of players have also been battling sickness.

On a more positive note, Black Sticks striker Simon Child is among the finalists for the FIH young player of the year.

Child, a key player at June's Junior World Cup, and regular in the senior Black Sticks where he has now topped 100 international caps, has the chance to put the icing on what has already been a stand-out year.

He was named player of the tournament at the JWC after finishing second on the goalscoring list with 11 - two behind Dutch striker Mink van der Weerden. The Junior Black Sticks recorded the best-ever finish at that level with their fourth placing at the 20-team contest.

To win through to the July/August Champions Trophy in Germany, the Phil Burrows-led Black Sticks must win the Champions Challenge. They are the top-ranked team in pool A with Belgium (ranked 9th), China (13th) and India (12th). Their first match, on Monday at 8.05am, is against India followed by pool games against Belgium and China.

CHAMPIONS CHALLENGE
* Salta, Argentina
* Monday-December 14 (NZ time)

NZ pool A games
* v India, Monday 8am (live SS1)
* v Belgium, Wednesday 6am (live SS1)
* v China, Friday 6am (live SS2)