The Australian women's hockey team earned a berth in the fifth-sixth classification match with a 3-1 victory over Japan on Tuesday.??

Australia, winners at both Atlanta and Sydney Olympics, will next take on New Zealand, which downed South Korea 3-2. It will be the last international match for Australian captain Katrina Powell.

 

Japan, making its first appearance in Olympic women's hockey tournament, faces South Korea in the seventh-eighth classification match.

 

World number two Australia got off to a sluggish start against the Japanese, allowing Tomomi Komori to put the Asians 1-0 ahead 15 minutes into the match.

 

Australia came to life as the match went on and leveled the score at 1-1 with a 27th-minute penalty corner goal from Peta Gallagher, who neatly deflected a hit from Australia's Louise Dobson with a diving shot at the right of goal.

 

The defending champions overtook the lead six minutes later when Suzie Faulkner scored a field goal. Powell sealed the win for Australia in the 37th minute with a penalty corner strike.

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Earlier, Lisa Walton scored a golden goal in the 80th minute to help New Zealand beat South Korea 3-2 in extra time.

 

New Zealand took an early lead when Niniwa Roberts-Lang slotted the goal from penalty corner in the fourth minute.

 

Captain Suzie Muirhead made it 2-0 in the eighth minute with a hard hit field goal from the top of the shooting circle.

 

South Korea's best chance in the first half was a strike by Park Mi-hyun that rebounded off the crossbar.

 

But they were quick to respond in the second half, with Kim Yun-mi scoring in the 44th minute from a penalty corner and Park netting her second goal two minutes later.

 

Both sides failed to score a goal until Walton clinched the winner in extra time.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2004)