The New Zealand Black Sticks men have qualified for their sixth straight Olympic Games following a tense showdown in Oman against Pakistan.
After losing to Great Britain 3-1 in the semi-finals, the Black Sticks had one more chance to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics in their third-place playoff match against Pakistan.
At half-time, NZ was down 2-1, with Scott Boyde scoring their first goal via the penalty corner. But the Black Sticks held their nerve to grab two more in the second half with field goals by Hugo Inglis and Boyde to cement the 3-2 victory and punch their ticket to Paris.
New Zealand haven’t had it easy during the qualifying tournament as they battled injuries and were unable to replace players due to FIH rules. From game two they lost Simon Yorston, and it stacked up from there.
Both the men’s and women’s Black Sticks use the penalty corner as their ideal situation to create scoring opportunities – but the injuries had impacted their striking power from the top of the circle.
“We’ve had a few things not go our way,” Black Sticks coach Greg Nicol said.
“Aidan Sarikaya broke his hand earlier in the tournament, he played on, but it impacted him being able to drag the ball out (at penalty corners).
“Kane Russell injured his hamstring yesterday and fronted again today, but we couldn’t take the risk of (him using) the flick. It changes the dynamic a little bit for us, and we had to find a different way through field goals and counterattacks.
“It was probably good for us, we want a few more strings to our bow by the time we get to Paris anyway.”
While the men have qualified, last week the Black Sticks women failed to secure qualification – it will be the first time they won’t play at an Olympic hockey tournament since the 1996 Games in Atlanta.