10 May 2012

Hockey team named for Malaysian tournament

12:36 pm on 10 May 2012

The Black Sticks national men's hockey team has been named for the six-nation Sultan Azlan Shah Cup played in Malaysia at the end of May.

Ben Collier, Nick Haig, Arun Panchia and Richard Petherick return to the side after being dropped last year.

The captain, Dean Couzins, says the tournament offers the Black Sticks an opportunity to test themselves against teams they'll be playing against in London, including Korea and India who are both in New Zealand's pool at the Olympics.

The Black Sticks return to Auckland in June when the Olympic team will be announced, before flying out to Cairns for a three test series against Australia.

The Team head to Europe in the first week of July where they play two warm up games against Belgium and Holland before the Olympics.

New Zealand:

Nick Haig, Andy Hayward, Simon Child, Dean Couzins (c), Blair Hilton, Ryan Archibald, Brad Shaw, Kyle Pontifex, Phil Burrows, Blair Tarrant, Arun Panchia, Shea McAleese (vc), Matt L'Huillier, Stephen Jenness, Richard Petherick, Hugo Inglis, Ben Collier, Nick Wilson