The New Zealand's men's and women's hockey teams have drawn tough journeys at the Olympics following the release of their match schedules today.
The men's team, ranked 10th in the world face No 5 Korea in their opening match followed by No 4 Spain, before meeting Belgium (12),
China (17) and world No 1 Germany.
The women, ranked 8th, play Japan (5) first before taking on Germany (3), Britain (unranked but are about 9th), United States (11) and Argentina (2).
Hockey New Zealand chief executive Ramesh Patel said the schedules were tough but did hand both teams a slight advantage with both playing the top ranked teams in their groups last.
He felt the Olympics would feature close matches in the chase for semifinal spots.
If the New Zealand teams could arrive for their last group matches with nine or 10 points in the bag, it would be a pretty "healthy situation".
There was more confidence than hope that the men's team would perform better than their world ranking.
The team, under Shane McLeod, who recently finished third in the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament with a 2-1 win over Pakistan, left for a European tour today.
They will play Germany, Argentina, Spain, Britain, Canada and Belgium with some club games mixed in before heading to Beijing.
Patel conceded that it was obvious the women's team, coached by Kevin Towns, had not been performing after a record of 13 defeats, one draw and one win in 15 internationals at the start of the year.
"But they have been in centralised training in Auckland for some months now.
"They are itching to get out there to show they have learned from the experience and the benefits of their training."
The women's team leave for Beijing next Tuesday to play in a four nation Olympics warm-up tournament which will include hosts China, the United States and Korea or Japan.
- NZPA
