Hockey: NZ play opening games in Champions Challenge

By TERRY MADDAFORD

The New Zealand men's and women's teams will play the opening matches at their Champions Challenge tournaments in July.

The draws for the tournaments, which bring together the seventh to 12th-ranked teams in the world, were announced by the International Hockey Federation yesterday.

The winners of the challenge tournaments qualify for the next Champions Trophy.

In the women's tournament, to be played in Catania, Italy, from July 5-13, New Zealand, ranked 11th, will play Japan in the opening match.

They then play the United States, Spain, Germany and Italy, with a playoff on the last day.

The men open the July 19-27 tournament in Randburg, near Johannesburg, in South Africa, with their game against South Korea.

Then follow matches against Malaysia, Spain, South Africa and England, with playoffs again on the last day.

The New Zealand women have trials at North Harbour next month, their first under new coach Australian Ian Rutledge.

He and fellow selectors Jude Rawcliffe and Chris Leslie have to name a team to play four tests against Canada from May 5-11 as a lead-in to the Oceania Olympic qualifiers against Australia in late May.

The men, who return from the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament in Malaysia next week, also have a series against Canada - five tests from April 26-May 4 in the central region.

After July's Champions Challenge they will prepare for their Olympic qualifier against Australia, and possibly Fiji, in September.

The men also have a four-test home series against Britain scheduled for November.

If both New Zealand teams fail in their Oceania Olympic qualifiers they have a second chance at Olympic qualifying tournaments - the women in Auckland in March next year and the men the same month in Spain.