Jiaojiao De, above, Yang Peng, and Jaiqi Li were the toast of China. Photo / Paul Taylor
China will play Australia in tomorrow's semifinal but Japan yesterday made sure they had to earn that right in a quarterfinal that went to a penalty shootout.
The Asian archrivals had a scoreless stalemate after the in regulation 60 minutes of play before China booked a semifinal berth in the
first playoff match with a superior 3-1 penalty shootout in Hastings.
Jiaojiao De, Yang Peng, and Jaiqi Li were the toast of China while Yukan Yamamoto was Japan's only player who showed she had a propensity to go for the jugular when push came to shove.
What made Japan's effort commendable was that they came through as pool B's last qualifiers with only a draw to barter with while China were pool A's top guns, eclipsing hotshots Australia and the solid Americans with two wins and a draw in their three encounters.
China created the best scoring opportunity in the 20 minute when the ball was sitting in the open just centimetres from the goal line but Japan recovered to thwart it.
