The New Zealand men's hockey team has qualified for the Paris Olympics.
The Black Sticks booked their tickets by beating Pakistan 3-2 in the third place play-off at their qualifying tournament in Oman.
The top three teams from the tournament qualified for Paris.
New Zealand, who were beaten by Great Britain in the semi-finals, fell behind early and trailed 2-1 at half time with Scott Boyde converting from a penalty corner.
However the Black Sticks left it late for the victory, with Hugo Inglis and Boyde scoring from the field in the last ten minutes.
The Black Sticks booked their tickets by beating Pakistan 3-2 in the third place play-off at their qualifying tournament in Oman. (Source: 1News)
Paris will be the sixth straight games the men have played at.
The Black Sticks women failed to qualify for the Olympics last week.
New Zealand had the better of the territory and the possession stakes against Pakistan, but they failed to convert their early chances and Pakistan took the lead after 18 minutes, Abu Mahmood firing his drag flick home.
Boyde equalised for the Black Sticks off a penalty corner rebound on 24 minutes, but they conceded a penalty stroke from the restart and Mahmood made no mistake in restoring Pakistan’s lead.
The New Zealanders looked to be in trouble until deep into the second half when Inglis tapped one in to level the scores after 52 minutes.
Boyde then bagged his second of the match with a field goal just two minutes from time.
New Zealand captain Nic Woods said: “It’s honestly crazy. All credit to the Pakistan boys today – they played out of their skin.
"[It was] so much of a challenge there and they played such a surreal game. For us, it’s been a hard 12 months, we’ve worked very hard to get to this place and we’re ecstatic to be in the Olympics.”
- with RNZ
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