Robinson scores in second NZ win

Amy Robinson scored for NZ in the Hockey5s win over Germany at the Youth Olympics. Photo / File

Tauranga's Amy Robinson scored the final goal to help the New Zealand women's Hockey5s beat tough opponents Germany 4-1 at the Nanjing Youth Olympics yesterday.

The win was the second of the tournament for the Kiwis and coach Caryn Paewai is hoping they can snatch a third against hosts China at 11pm today (NZ time) to go top of their pool.

"It's nice to start with back-to-back wins and give the girls that confidence," said Paewai.

"We know that China is going to be the toughest opponent in the pool and so we needed to tighten up our defence after conceding five goals in our first game.

"For Germany to score only once is a great improvement and hopefully that defensive effort pays off against China as well.

"The players are loving the Hockey5s concept - the freedom to move, having more licence to create and have a go, scoring goals.

"We are encouraging players to freelance and be creative. The Hockey5s format is definitely healthy in terms of developing players in New Zealand."

A win against China will likely mean the Kiwis play Argentina or the Netherlands in the semifinals.

In the beach volleyball, Nathaniel Moore (Mount Maunganui College) and Kahurangi Robinson (Western Heights) lost to world champions Brazil.

The Bay of Plenty boys played a controlled game, serving tough and keeping in touch with the world champions in the first set, before falling 17-21 10-21.

Coach Darrell Boyd, who is sports mentor at Tauranga Boys' College and in China with the team, said the boys took a few serves to warm in to the game against the gold medal favourites.

"They were nervous to start with but once they got in the game, they said to themselves 'we can actually compete'," Boyd said. "And the team did, with the only errors coming from a poor serve-receive in the second set."

The team was ranked second equal with Brazil and need to be in the top four to move forward. They are set to play Jamaica today at 7pm (NZ time) in what is likely to be a must-win game.

Otumoetai College boardsailor Coral Headey is back in action tomorrow, while Papamoa College wrestler Merinda Bramley has to wait until August 26 before she gets her chance to shine in the 46kg freestyle wrestling division.

For full coverage, go to: www.olympic.org.nz