Hockey: Black Sticks draw with China

Tight defence featured for New Zealand as they held China to a scoreless draw in today's second women's hockey practice match in Den Haag in the Netherlands (NZT).

The match, broken into three 20 minute periods, provided an ideal opportunity to test combinations as players were continuously rotatated on both sides.

China, ranked fourth in the world, were awarded six penalty corners throughout the game but the Black Sticks' defence held strong.

New Zealand coach Mark Hager was pleased with the overall improvement from yesterday's first practice match, won 2-1 by China.

"Some of our basic skills today were poor, but the pleasing factor was that our defence was tight and there were some good penalty corner saves," Hager said.

Injured goal keeper Bianca Russell and co-captain Kayla Sharland did light training sessions, but did not play in today's game.

The Black Sticks play a final practice game against China on Saturday night (NZT) before the Champions Trophy begins in Amsterdam on June 26 (NZT).

The tournament comprises the top eight hockey nations, with New Zealand ranked seventh in the world. China is ranked fourth.

- NZPA