The Australian women's hockey team earned a berth in the
fifth-sixth classification match with a 3-1 victory over Japan on
Tuesday.??
Australia, winners at both Atlanta and Sydney Olympics, will
next take on New Zealand, which downed South Korea 3-2. It will be
the last international match for Australian captain Katrina
Powell.
Japan, making its first appearance in Olympic women's hockey
tournament, faces South Korea in the seventh-eighth classification
match.
World number two Australia got off to a sluggish start against
the Japanese, allowing Tomomi Komori to put the Asians 1-0 ahead 15
minutes into the match.
Australia came to life as the match went on and leveled the
score at 1-1 with a 27th-minute penalty corner goal from Peta
Gallagher, who neatly deflected a hit from Australia's Louise
Dobson with a diving shot at the right of goal.
The defending champions overtook the lead six minutes later when
Suzie Faulkner scored a field goal. Powell sealed the win for
Australia in the 37th minute with a penalty corner strike.
??
Earlier, Lisa Walton scored a golden goal in the 80th minute to
help New Zealand beat South Korea 3-2 in extra time.
New Zealand took an early lead when Niniwa Roberts-Lang slotted
the goal from penalty corner in the fourth minute.
Captain Suzie Muirhead made it 2-0 in the eighth minute with a
hard hit field goal from the top of the shooting circle.
South Korea's best chance in the first half was a strike by Park
Mi-hyun that rebounded off the crossbar.
But they were quick to respond in the second half, with Kim
Yun-mi scoring in the 44th minute from a penalty corner and Park
netting her second goal two minutes later.
Both sides failed to score a goal until Walton clinched the
winner in extra time.
(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2004)