The London 2012 Olympic Hockey competition schedule has been confirmed today, revealing when teams will play each other in the preliminary rounds of the men's and women's tournaments. The first match at the Riverbank Arena will see New Zealands women take on Australia on 29 July, while the New Zealand mens team will be starting their tournament against South Korea on 30 July. Debbie Jevans, Director of Sport at the London 2012 Organising Committee, said: 'The Riverbank Arena is set to stage exciting world-class sport during the Olympic Games. The Visa International Invitational Hockey Tournament helped us test the venue and we will continue to work with the International Hockey Federation to fine-tune our plans before the first Olympic match takes place on the distinctive blue and pink pitches.' Competition format The 12 teams in each tournament have been divided into two pools of six based on world rankings, and each team will play every other team in their pool. The top two teams in each pool will qualify for the semi-finals, with the winners of those matches going head-to-head for the gold medal. The other teams in the two groups play each other to determine final placings. New Zealand Womens Draw 29 Jul- NZL vs. AUS 31 Jul- NZL vs. RUS 02 Aug- NZL vs. ARG 04 Aug- NZL vs. USA 06 Aug- NZL vs. GER New Zealand Mens Draw 30 Jul- NZL vs. KOR 01 Aug- NZL vs. IND 03 Aug- NZL vs. NED 05 Aug- NZL vs. BEL 07 Aug- NZL vs. GER Visit http://www.london2012.com/hockey/ for complete schedule. London 1908 Olympic Summer Games
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