December 9, 2002	Monday	Shawwal 4,1423

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PERTH,(Australia), Dec 8: Argentina beat the Netherlands 4-3 on penalties on Sunday to win the women’s hockey World Cup for the first time.

Argentina had been beaten in three previous World Cup finals and also lost the final at the Sydney Olympics before breaking through on Sunday to claim their first major title in dramatic fashion.

The teams were tied at 1-1 and were still locked together after two periods of extra-time failed to produce another goal, forcing the shootout.

Even that was desperately close, with 16 shots needed to decide the outcome in Argentina’s favour.

The South Americans had taken the early lead during regular time when Ines Arrondo scored in the fifth minute.

But Ageeth Boomgaardt equalised for the Dutch with just two minutes remaining.

The teams were still level at 1-1 after two periods of extra-time, forcing the match into a penalty shootout.

The shootout became sudden-death after eight of the first 10 penalties were saved by the rival goalkeepers, Mariela Antoniska and Clarinda Sinnige.

The match was not decided until the 16th stroke when Antoniska pulled off another save with her team leading 4-3.

Earlier in the day, China upset Australia 2-0 in the bronze medal playoff, condemning the host-nation to their worst World Cup result in 16 years.

Ma Yibo opened the scoring in the 13th minute before Chinese captain Chen Zhaoxia made it 2-0 with a goal three minutes before halftime.

The defeat was Australia’s worst performance since they took fifth place at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics following their gold medal performance at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Australia also won gold at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.—Reuters