China earned a ticket to the semifinals of the Olympic women's hockey tournament, one step closer to a long-awaited medal.
A 2-2 draw at the last round of preliminary stage on Monday gifted China the last semifinal berth, shutting out the fourth-ranked Australia who had the same ten points with China but inferior in goal difference.
With one defeat to the Netherlands and one draw out of five games, China is favored to win a berth in the semifinals.
Coached by South Korean Kim Chang-back, the Chinese team made debut at Sydney Games and finished fifth, and they made one step ahead at Athens Games, yet missing out a historic medal due to a 1-0 defeat to Argentina.
suffering a 4-3 loss to Germany on penalty shootouts in first semifinal play four years ago, China now confront Germany again on Wednesday, but they would not allow the repeat of history. They vowed to go all out for a medal.
The third-ranked Germany only suffered one defeat to Argentina in pool stage and are in good form to defend their title.
The Netherlands have fought their way straight to the semifinals. The world champions have not dropped a match in Beijing and are the only team to earn a full 15 points in pool match.
The Dutch claimed the titles in 2006 World Cup and 2007 Champions Trophy. As the silver medalists at the Athens Olympics, the Netherlands hope to end their gold drought since 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
However, the Dutch coach Marc Lammers kept a low profile. Before the tournament kicked off, he told Xinhua their goal was just to win a medal. He also noted Germany and Argentina were the biggest rivals for them, as well as China.
The Dutch's opponents Argentina, the Athens bronze medalists, did not started well with two draws, but they gradually found pace and won the last three pool games, especially powered past strong Germany 4-0 on Saturday.
Ranked second in the world, Argentina were beaten by the Netherlands 4-2 on penalty shootout at Athens Games. Now it's time for them to take revenge.
(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2008)