New Zealand head coach, Greg Nicol wants his Paris Olympics-bound players to develop a ‘winning habit’ in the 30th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah (SAS) Cup which begins on Saturday in Ipoh.
The World No 10 rank Black Sticks, qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics after securing a thrilling 3-2 victory over Pakistan for the bronze medal in the qualifying tournament in Oman, arrived in the city of Ipoh on April 28 – six days ahead of the start of the SAS Cup.
“There are quite a number of changes to the squad for this tournament after the Olympic qualifying round. We have several players currently playing club hockey in Europe (Belgium, Germany and Netherlands) and we will use the SAS Cup as an opportunity to give the other players a chance to put their best foot forward and perhaps get selected for the Olympics,” said Nicol after the New Zealand-Malaysia friendly match on Wednesday evening which the Speedy Tigers won 3-2.
“It was a good game for both teams. We are building the side with several youngsters, and I think there was a lot to learn from this match. There were some defensive mistakes, and also, we missed out on many scoring chances. Playing against a team like Malaysia, ranked World 13, it is dangerous to even blink your eyes for a moment. They are fast on the rebound,” said Nicol.
The other teams in the SAS Cup are World No. 11 South Korea, Pakistan (No 15), Japan (No 16) and Canada (No 19).
According to Nicol, they have a squad of 28-30 players who could potentially be picked for the Paris Olympic Games.
“Even without all our senior players here, we want to develop a winning habit. If we are going to the Olympic Games, we must have that winning mentality. Coming to a tournament like this, the players must raise their game and have that winning habit.
“NZ have had some incredible results in the history of the SAS Cup and we want to keep that momentum going,” said Nicol.
For the record, the Black Sticks won the SAS Cup in 2012 and 2015. They finished third in 1993, 2005, 2008, 2009, and 2016 when Nicol was the assistant coach of the team then.
The Kiwis will take a 10-day break after the Sultan Azlan Cup, before preparing for their next engagement – the Six Nations Cup in Poland from May 31-June 9.
Nicol added that Hockey New Zealand will announce the squad of 18 players for the Paris Olympics three days after the Nations Cup.
“We would get another six really good games in Poland and some practice matches as well,” he said.
He added that Jonty Almes and Scott Cosslett, who played in Junior World Cup in Kuala Lumpur last November, while Luke Holmes, was kept at home due to a hand injury, have been included in the side for the SAS Cup.
“All three have been in our junior programme for the last 6 months. Their growth curve (development) in training was very steep and they have done well during this period. Maybe they can put other players under a lot of pressure in the next few months for selection into the senior squad,” he said.
