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| December 14, 2006 | Thursday | Ziqa'ad 22, 1427 |
China retain women’s title
DOHA, Dec 13: China shredded the form book to retain their Asian Games women's field hockey title with a 1-0 win over listless Japan in the final here on Wednesday.
Ren Ye scored the winner six minutes into the second session, deflecting in a penalty corner hit by captain Ma Yibo, as China avenged the 3-0 defeat by Japan in the preliminary match.
India won the bronze medal with a 1-0 win over South Korea in the play-off for 3-4 positions.
Japan had been the dominant team in the seven-nation round-robin league, winning five of their six matches by scoring 35 goals and conceding just two in the 2-2 draw against South Korea.
But there was little Japan and Kaori Chiba, the competition's leading scorer with 12 goals, could do to break the Chinese wall.
Japan's best chance came seven minutes before the final whistle when Tomomi Komori latched on to a pass from Misaki Ozawa and pushed hard towards the goal but was thwarted.
In the bronze medal play-off, Mamta Kharb hit the winning goal in the 16th minute as India avenged the 3-2 defeat by the Koreans in the preliminary round.
South Korea, beaten by China in the final in Busan four years ago, were thwarted in the second half by the Indian defence, especially goalkeeper Dipika Gongala and full-back Subhadra Pradhan.
The Indian girls made up for the disappointing display by their male counterparts who will return without a medal for the first time.
China's win, however, meant India must go through the qualification rounds to earn a trip to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
According to the new qualification rules of the International Hockey Federation, India would have qualified along with both finalists if Japan had won.
The third direct spot from Asia would now go to a team from the Oceania region.
Meanwhile, Malaysia finished fifth with a 5-0 rout of Taiwan.—AFP
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