Hockey: Draw against China feeds Olympic hope

MILTON KEYNES - The New Zealand women's hockey side kept their hopes for Sydney alive with a scoreless draw with China in the Olympic hockey qualifying tournament in Milton Keynes, England, yesterday.

But coach Jan Borren criticised the umpires for allowing China to stretch the boundaries of their physical game.

The Chinese consistently stemmed the flow of New Zealand's attack with illegal methods that went undetected, Borren said.

"It was disappointing that the umpires let China play the way they did."

Captain Anna Lawrence said the stick-hacking and body-blocking by the Chinese stopped New Zealand forcing several penalty corners.

New Zealand need to beat Russia and Britain in their remaining pool games to be sure of qualifying for Sydney.

If they beat Russia tomorrow but lose to Britain, who downed Russia 5-0 yesterday, they might have to play off next weekend for the fifth and last spot in the Olympic draw.

Their hopes of reaching the final of this tournament took a blow on Saturday when they were thrashed 4-0 by Japan, another physical side that upset New Zealand's pattern.

New Zealand still have not scored in 135 minutes of hockey and, despite her enormous commitment, it was hardly a result that 150-match veteran Robyn Matthews or the rest of the side will treasure. - NZPA