PARIS: China beat Belgium 3-2 during a penalty shootout in women's hockey at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday to advance to the final after a 1-1 draw in regulation, as goalkeeper Ye Jiao stopped Delphine-Daphne Marien's final penalty attempt.
China last made it to medal contention in 2008 when they were the hosts and took silver, their sole Olympic medal.
They play a powerhouse Netherlands side that is looking to repeat their gold medal from Tokyo in their sixth consecutive Olympic final.
"We did what we had to do. These games you need to win. It doesn't have to be pretty," China's head coach Alyson Annan said.
"We've also practiced shootouts every single training for the last year and a half. Every training. We didn't miss a training. That paid off tonight," Annan added.
"You cannot leave anything out on the field. You have to give it your all. They did that. We're in the final."
Belgium, who had never made it to Olympic medal contention, play Argentina in the bronze medal contest.
Chants of "lets go Belgium!" persisted throughout the match as fans supported their side's first semi-final appearance until the final whistle.
China midfielder Zou Meirong scored in the 18th minute on a penalty corner rebound that went past the legs of goalkeeper Aisling D'Hooghe and off the stick of oustretched defender Stephanie Vanden Boore before being redirected into the net.
After the early score, China loaded the circle with all their players for most of the game, stifling a strong Belgian offence.
However, Belgian forward Charlotte Englebert equalised in the 59th minute with a driving volley penalty corner rebound, bringing a roar from the crowd.
At the closing whistle, Chinese midfielder Fan Yunxia smacked the ball out of frustration into forward Delphine-Daphne Marien causing her to drop to the turf in pain. Fan received a yellow card for the hit.
"It's a tough one to take. I think we were very close today," Belgian midfielder Judith Vandermeiren said.
"The pride of making it this far will definitely come later. At this point, it's a disappointment to be this close to an Olympic final because that's not something that happens a lot in a lifetime," said Vandermeiren.
"We haven't been to the Olympics for 12 years. If you can play for a medal, you shouldn't hesitate for a second. Even though we wanted to play in the final, we can still get the first medal in the history of Belgium Hockey, so we should go for it."