Hosts China took a 2-2 draw with Australia to get the last semifinal spot in the Olympic women's hockey on Monday.
Both with ten points in Pool A, China qualify for the semifinals with goal advantage.
This was the second semifinals for China who finished fourth at 2004 Athens Olympics.
The fourth-ranked Australia were shut out of the medal contentions and head to play for the fifth place.
Australian coach Frank Murray said he was disappointed at the result, because they squandered so many scoring chances. "It is an even game. China are a very good team and they deserve the semifinals," noted the 57-year-old man with tears in his eyes.
As the match was so crucial that both sides fought their ever-hardest game.
In the 30th minute, Li Hongxia opened the scoring on a field goal, gifting China a 1-0 lead.
Just three minutes into the second half, Li scored again.
Australia, three Olympic gold medalists, battled hard to penetrate the tight Chinese defence and finally Casey Eastham found the net with a shot in the 51st minute. Sarah Young scored the equalizer in the 62nd minute.
As soon as the match ended, all the Australian girls burst into tears. Captain Nicole Hudson said they had targeted on the gold in Beijing, but they were so desperate that they were out of medals. "This is life," said she.
The twice scorer Li said there was still some lack in tactical cooperation because they were too eager to win. Since now they entered the semifinals, they would go all out to play the next two games.
China's coach Kim Chang-back said they did very well in the first half, and they could have widened the margin in the second half. They had to learn a lesson from it.
(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2008)