Beijing, Aug. 20: Hosts China entered their first ever Olympic women’s hockey final with a thrilling 3-2 win over reigning champions Germany here on Wednesday. Zhao Yudiao scored the winner 10 minutes before the end of a gripping semifinal where the home team delighted a boisterous crowd of 10,000 by twice fighting back from a losing position.
China await the winner of Wednesday’s second semifinal between the Netherlands and Argentina in the title clash scheduled for Friday. The Asian Games champions avenged the semifinal defeat at the hands of the Germans at the Athens Olympics four years ago when they lost 4-3 in the tie-breaker after a goalless draw. “Good, very good, we deserved to be in the final,” China’s delighted South Korean coach Kim Chang-back said.
“It was a dream of the girls to win an Olympic medal for the first time and now they have. The match fluctuated wildly as both sides went on the attack from the start. Veteran Natascha Keller gave Germany the lead in the fourth minute when she beat the Chinese goalkeeper with her second attempt from the top of the circle. Chinese captain Ma Yibo was warned with a green card as the home team protested the goal, saying the whistle should have been blown after Keller’s first missed attempt.
China, however, drew level three minutes before the break when Gao Lihua latched on to a pass from the right and scooped the ball past German goalkeeper Kristina Reynolds.