BEIJING: Hosts China entered the Olympic women’s field hockey semifinals after holding former champions Australia to a 2-2 draw in a crucial league match here on Monday.

The Chinese, who needed a draw to qualify, overcame a spirited Hockeyroos fight-back to finish second in pool A behind the Netherlands.

Both China and Australia finished level on 10 points each, but the home side went through on a superior goal difference of plus-two to qualify for its second successive Olympic semifinal.

In Wednesday’s semifinals, China takes on defending champion and pool B winners Germany, while world No. 1 the Netherlands clash with No. 2 Argentina.

China appeared secure when Li Hongxia scored once in each half to make it 2-0 before the Hockeyroos, the Atlanta and Sydney gold medallists, launched a breathtaking comeback.

Casey Eastham reduced the margin in the 51st and Sarah Young drew level in the 62nd, but time ran out on the Australians, who needed a win to make the semi-finals.

Unbeaten Dutch

The Dutch, meanwhile, ended the league as the only team with five straight wins after beating Spain 2-0 through goals by Maartje Paumen and Ellen Hoog.

Germany, who defeated the Netherlands in the Athens Games final four years ago, topped the other pool with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Japan, their fourth success in five matches.

Janine Beermann scored the winner five minutes into the second half when she deflected a free hit from Maike Stoeckel over the head of Japanese goalkeeper Ikuko Okamura into the goal.

“Reaching the semifinals was our first goal and now that we have made it, we await the crucial matches with a lot of confidence,” said German goal-scorer Beermann. “We may have scored only one goal today but we played well. There is a lot of passion going into the semifinals.”

Japan, the Asian Games finalists, finished fifth in the six-team pool with one win, a draw and three losses.

Argentina moves up

Argentina, who won the Champions Trophy ahead of the Games, overcame a gutsy New Zealand 3-2 in their last match to finish second in pool B behind the Germans.

The South Americans, who needed only a draw to advance to the last four, went into the lead in the 15th minute with Carla Rebecchi’s opener, before Niniwa Roberts drew level for the Kiwis two minutes before the break.

Argentina scored twice in a four-minute burst in the second half through Agustina Garcia and Maria Hernandez, but New Zealand were not ready to give up.

Skipper Elizabeth Igasen narrowed the margin nine minutes before the final whistle, but Argentina hung on for the rest of the game to seal a semi-final spot. Britain, who was just a point behind Argentina going into their final match, blew their semifinal hopes after being held to a goalless draw by the ever-improving United States.

The US girls finished with one win, three draws and a solitary loss to Germany.

South Korea ended a disappointing campaign with a 5-2 win over South Africa, their lone success in the league.