The captain of the New Zealand men's hockey team Simon Child says the side's excellent form bodes well for qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics later this year.
The Black Sticks captain Simon Child. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Black Sticks have won their opening two games in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia, and take on Canada next, later on Wednesday.
Child says the young squad is peaking at the right time.
"We're using this tournament as preparation for our World Cup qualifying," he said.
"But certainly, we're starting to get into a good winning habit and so we're going to take that going forward and in terms of our performances - getting a deeper knowledge of what our strengths and weaknesses are so in a month or so, we're extremely well prepared."
New Zealand finished a disappointing ninth at the 2012 Olympics in London.
Tonight's match against Canada starts at 8.10.