Paris, France, August 5, 2024: China booked a place in the last four of the Paris 2024 women’s hockey competition by stunning Australia’s “Hockeyroos” 3-2 in their quarter-final in blazing sunshine at Yves-du-Manoir Stadium on Monday.
Alice Arnott gave the previously unbeaten Australia the lead on 10 minutes, but China equalized in the next minute through Ma Ning.
Dan Wen (20 minutes) and Zhong Jiaqi (35) put China 3-1 ahead before the Hockeyroos closed the gap to 3-2 through Tatum Stewart on 45 minutes. There was no further score in the last quarter, giving China the victory.
It is the first time China have reached the Olympic semi-finals since Beijing 2008, where the host nation ended up taking the silver medal. Having finished sixth at London 2012 and ninth at both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, China are now guaranteed their highest Olympic finish for 16 years.
Goal scorer Dan commented: "From the start, we were very determined to win. We feel the team is getting better and better."
Looking forward to the semi-finals, she added: "Everything is possible. After all these years of effort, it's the start."
She said her goal felt very good, “I didn't expect that ball to come in my way, but I saw it and I thought, 'I have to grasp the opportunity’.”
Captain Ou Zixia added: “To reach the Olympic semi-finals is a big pay-off for us, a representation of the hard work that we have put in. They were the champion of their pool. I’m very proud of my team-mates and very proud of my coach.”
When asked about the impact that China’s Australian head coach Alyson Annan has had on the team since taking over in 2022, Ou said: “She's helped the team to play faster and to trust their teammates. This has been really important.”
*In the men’s semi-finals, India will play Germany on Tuesday at 7pm local time looking for a place in the final against either the Netherlands or Spain, who will meet earlier in the day.
The women’s semi-finals will take place on Wednesday, with the men’s bronze medal match and final on Thursday and the women’s bronze medal match and final on Friday to close the competition.