The sixth-ranked China squeezed their way into the semifinals of the Olympic women's hockey tournament when they drew 2-2 with three-time Olympic titlists Australia on Monday.

Pool A leaders the Netherlands beat Spain 2-0 and qualify the semifinals with a full 15 points. Athens bronze medalists Argentina edged New Zealand 3-2, ranked following the defending champions Germany who downed Japan 1-0 to top Pool B.

Both with ten points in Pool A, China qualify for the semifinals with superior goal differences. The fourth-ranked Australia were shut out of medal contention, only to play for the fifth and sixth place.

With medal hopes shattered, Australian coach Frank Murray was very upset. "It is an even game. I'm disappointed because We had lots of chances." "China are a very good team and they deserve the semifinals," said the 57-year-old man, with trails of tears still left in his eyes.

It was the hardest ever match for both sides. Not until the 30th minute that Li Hongxia opened the scoring on a field goal. She added her second in the 38th minute.

Australia got the goals from Casey Eastham and Sarah Young. All the Australian girls burst into tears at their failure for semifinals. Captain Nicole Hudson said they had targeted on the gold, but they were so desperate that they were out of medals. "This is life," she added.

China's coach Kim Chang-back said they did very well in the first half, and they could have broadened the margin in the second half. They had to learn a lesson from it.

In the other games of the day, Britain drew with United States 0-0. This was the first game which saw the nil draw in the tournament.

South Korea picked up their first three points with a 5-2 win against South Africa. However, South Africa should feel somewhat relaxed that they finally opened their goal account after four blanks.

The first win puts South Korea fifth in Pool A to play for 9-10 positions against Japan, while South Africa will be involved in a 11th-12th place play-off with New Zealand.

China next plays Germany and the Netherlands take on Argentina in semifinals on Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2008)