The New Zealand men's hockey team atoned for their Commonwealth Games disappointment by qualifying for this year's World Cup with a dominant performance in China last night.
The Black Sticks downed Malaysia 4-2 to reach the semifinals of the qualifying tournament and automatically book a place at September's World Cup
at Monchengladbach in Germany.
It was the perfect panacea for coach Kevin Towns and his men, who were disappointed to miss a medal at last month's Games in Melbourne but always knew the importance this tournament in Changzhou.
The passion and volume of the haka that followed last night's victory reflected the joy and determination of the team, who looked to have blown their chance of qualifying when they were upset by France on Sunday.
They bounced back to draw with pool favourites Korea on Tuesday and took advantage of a lucky break last night when France were toppled by Japan.
"That left an opening for us which were good enough to take advantage of," New Zealand manager Kevin Marr told NZPA.
"We've got a pretty happy group of players here."
Goals to Lloyd Stephenson and Simon Child hleped New Zealand to a 2-1 halftime lead, which extended further when Hayden Shaw scored from a penalty corner two minutes after halftime.
"We were feeling pretty confident at 3-1. But then Malaysia pulled one back (through Kuhan Shanmuganathan) and I think a few of us got a bit nervous for the rest of the game."
Striker Bevan Hari soothed those nerves with a decisive goal 5min from the end.
The Black Sticks were to face either Pakistan or England in Friday's semifinals.
With New Zealand having qualified for Germany, nothing hinges on the result of the semifinals and final other than pride and world ranking points.
- NZPA
