August 21, 2008	Thursday	Sha'aban 18, 1429

BEIJING, Aug 20: Maartje Paumen continued her amazing goal scoring spree as the Netherlands trounced Argentina 5-2 to cruise to their second successive Olympic women’s hockey final on Wednesday.

The world No 1 Dutch side will meet first-time finalists China in Friday’s gold medal clash after the hosts dumped reigning champions Germany 3-2 in the other semi-final.

Paumen led the Dutch romp with three penalty corner goals, taking her tally in Beijing to an astonishing 11 from six matches, already the most by a woman hockey player at a single Olympics.

Even the presence of football superstar Diego Maradona in the stands failed to inspire Argentina, who were considered strong contenders for the title after winning the elite Champions Trophy ahead of the Games.

The Netherlands built a 4-0 lead before Marine Russo and Alejandra Gulla scored two consolation goals for the South Americans in a one-sided match.

The fired-up Dutch, seeking to make amends for the unexpected loss to Germany in the final at Athens four years ago, will face stiff Chinese resistance on Friday.

China, who knocked out Australia in the league stage, twice came from behind to stun the Germans before Zhao Yudiao scored the winner in the last 10 minutes in front of a boisterous home crowd of 10,000.

The Asian Games champions avenged the semi-final defeat at the hands of the Germans at Athens when they lost 4-3 in the tie-breaker after a goalless draw.

“Good, very good, we deserved to be in the final,” China’s delighted South Korean coach Kim Chang-back said.

“It was a dream of the girls to win an Olympic medal for the first time and now they have. It does not matter who joins us in the final. We are ready for anyone.”

Veteran German striker Natascha Keller, who scored her team’s first goal, said it was important to focus on winning the bronze medal.

“That should be our focus now,” she said. “We had our chances in the match but China were very strong in their counter attacks. We have two days to regroup and relax and be ready to win the bronze.”

The match fluctuated wildly as both sides went on the attack from the start.

Keller gave Germany the lead in the fourth minute when she beat the Chinese goalkeeper with her second attempt from the top of the circle.

China, however, drew level three minutes before the break when Gao Lihua latched on to a pass from the right and scooped the ball past German goalkeeper Kristina Reynolds.

The Germans went ahead a second time soon after resumption through Janine Beermann, but the lead lasted barely two minutes.

China, who had wasted all their 20 previous penalty corners in the competition, finally found success with a set-piece goal in the 40th minute as captain Ma Yibo flicked in a powerful hit.

Zhao sealed her side’s win by hitting in a pass from the right flank after Fu Baorong broke through the German defence.—AFP