KEY POINTS:
BEIJING - New Zealand opened women's hockey with a 1-2 loss to Japan at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium in Beijing today.
Playing in sky blue, New Zealand dominated early against a side one place higher in the world rankings, but could not convert their dominance into goals.
Two penalty corner chances in the last three minutes gave them hope of the draw, but one ended in a goalmouth scramble and the other was deflected wide.
Japan absorbed early pressure, then struck first when striker Sakae Morimoto found herself one-on-one against Black Sticks keeper Beth Jurgeleit in the 12th minute.
Morimoto made no mistake with a deft flick for her 95th test goal.
Five minutes later New Zealand were in deeper strife when Japan scored from a penalty corner, a Keiko Miura blast deflected into the net by a sprawling Toshie Tsukui.
Down 0-2 against the run of play New Zealand kept threatening, with Caryn Paewai hitting the side netting and Kayla Sharland backsticking across the face.
Ten minutes before halftime, New Zealand scored from a penalty corner, with the goal credited to Jaime Claxton off the initial shot by captain Lizzy Igasan.
After halftime, New Zealand controlled possession better than their rivals, with Japan always looking dangerous on the break, and carving out more chance.
Twice there were let-offs for the Black Sticks when Japan squandered good chances in front of goal.
New Zealand lost 1-2 to Japan the last time they met, two months ago in the Four Nations Tournament in Beijing.
The match was the first in a pool that contains Germany, the world No 3, Great Britain (No 10) and the United States (No 11) and Argentina, the world No 2.
The top two sides from each pool go through to the semifinals.
New Zealand also have concerns over experienced striker Niniwa Roberts, who slipped and injured herself when trying to change direction and was forced to leave the field six minutes before halftime.
- NZPA
