OIympics: What to expect on day nine

A look towards day nine of the 2012 London Olympics and which New Zealand athletes will be competing.

Kiwis in action - See when our athletes compete

Hockey:
The men's Black Sticks face off against Belgium at 7.30pm in their penultimate group B match with very slim hopes of reaching the semis. A large victory over Belgium would help their chances ahead of their final group match against Germany. A Germany defeat to Netherlands at 3am would also help them a lot.

Cycling track:
Shane Archbold returns for day two of the men's ominium where he is placed seventh. He has the 4km Individual Pursuit at 9pm followed by the 15km Scratch Race and 1km Time Trial early tomorrow morning. He'll need strong performances in all three events to have a chance to medal. Meanwhile Natasha Hansen lines up for the women's sprint heats at 9.58pm. If she qualifies she'll return tomorrow morning for the next round.

Tennis:
No New Zealanders in action at Wimbledon but the men's final will be a must see as Roger Federer and Andy Murray face off in a rematch of the men's singles final at the same court last month. Federer is looking for his first individual gold while Murray is looking to finally win something at Wimbledon. They'll be on centre court some time after midnight. Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro will play off for bronze beforehand while Murray also features in the mixed doubles final with Laura Robson.

Athletics:
Kim Smith lines up in the women's marathon at 10pm. She finished eighth in last year's London marathon and two top-five finishes in the last two New York marathons so on her day could be a medal chance for New Zealand.

In the Olympic Stadium, Nick Willis returns for the 1500m semis at 7.25am while the big one - the 100m final is set for 8.50am as Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake (and six other guys) will decide who is the fastest man on Earth.

Sailing:
Two New Zealand crews take part in medal races after midnight but the men's star (Hamish Pepper, Jim Turner) and men's finn (Dan Slater) are too far out of the medal hunt. New Zealand's hopes on the water are on the men's 49er of Peter Burling and Blair Tuke who are placed in second, and the women's 470 of Olivia Powrie and Jo Aleh who sit in gold medal position after four of the 11 races. JP Tobin also races in the boardsailing - he sits in fifth with three races left.

Boxing:
New Zealand's sole boxing representatives begin their campaigns with Siona Fernandes' first bout at 1.15am followed by Alexis Pritchard in the ring an hour later.

- HERALD ONLINE