Blair Tarrant of New Zealand. Photo: Photosport
The Black Sticks have opened their men's hockey Olympic qualifying tournament with a resounding 3-1 win over Chile in Oman.
New Zealand took control from the outset, leading 2-0 after the opening quarter and were never threatened by the defensive-minded South Americans in an ideal first-up match in Muscat.
The Black Sticks require a top-two finish in their pool - which also includes Germany and Canada - to reach the reach the semi-finals, and then need to either reach the final or win the third-fourth playoff if they're to qualify for the Paris Games.
With Chile adopting a defensive approach, New Zealand were able to dominate the tempo and they opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a sweeping goal to Jake Smith.
The scorer and the provider - Joe Morrison - were both making their international return after suffering injuries at last year's World Cup.
The lead was doubled five minutes later when Scott Boyde scored his maiden goal by swiping home Kane Russell's delivery into the circle.
The scores were unchanged until Sam Lane scored on the stroke of the third-quarter break while Chile bagged a goal in the dying minutes of the match when Franco Beccera unleashed a reverse shot from the top of the circle, capitalising on what the Black Sticks thought was a pause in play due to a second ball on the pitch.
The match represented a notable milestone for three Black Sticks, with Hugo Inglis, and Blair Tarrant both playing their 250th match and Kane Russell his 200th.
Their second match is on Wednesday morning against pool favourites Germany, who thumped Canada 9-0 in their opening match.
