China rallies past Australia in women's hockey test series

PERTH, Australia - China's women's hockey team bounced back from 2-1 down to claim a 3-2 victory over host Australia in their second-round clash during the 2024 Perth International Festival of Hockey on Wednesday.

Squaring off at the Perth Hockey Stadium, neither team were able to get on the scoreboard until China capitalized from a penalty corner in the 15th minute.

Australia, placed fourth in the world standings, hit back quickly to take the upper hand. Ambrosia Malone and Maddison Brooks each scored a field goal, powering the Hockeyroos to a 2-1 lead within three minutes into the second quarter.

Tides started to turn once again after the halftime break. China earned four penalty corners in the third quarter from their fast-moving opponents, before the last 15 minutes of the match saw the world No. 8 mount a thrilling comeback.

A well-orchestrated pass from the right wing found Chen Yang, whose easy finish at the far post helped China level the score in the first minute of the final quarter.

"When I noticed the ball crossing the center line, I had a hunch that it could end up at the far post. And we have also been trained to keep an eye on that position. So I dashed to the spot and the ball came in smoothly," Chen told Xinhua.

With two minutes remaining on the clock, China scored from a decisive penalty corner to seal the triumph.

China's head coach Alyson Annan said that the Chinese players appeared like "a lot of islands" in the first half, which gave Australia the opportunity to play their fast hockey and control the game.

"But we were dominant in the second half. I just asked them to play the game as we want to play it. We play well if we communicate. We were really quiet in the first half. In the second half, they started talking and working collectively. That was a big difference," Annan noted.

China is participating in a test series against Australia and Japan at the 2024 Perth International Hockey Festival. China drew 2-2 with the host in the first round before trouncing Japan 4-0.