5 Jul 2010

Black Sticks come third at Four Nations tournament

9:44 am on 5 July 2010

The New Zealand Women's hockey team have beaten China 3-2 to come third in the Four Nations Trophy in the Netherlands.

The Black Sticks Coach Mark Hager says he was pleased with the team's performance and that it was good preparation for the Champions Trophy, which starts on Saturday in England.

Striker Samantha Harrison was named the Most Promising Player of the Tournament and the Black Sticks Women were presented with the Fair Play Award.

The team now travels to the UK in preparation for the Champions Trophy, where they will face the Netherlands, Argentina and China again, along with England and Germany.

All of these teams are ranked above New Zealand, the Netherlands are ranked first, Argentina second, China third and England 7th while New Zealand is currently ranked 9th.