Australia scored in the first 20 seconds and twice more in the opening 15 minutes, then hung on for a 3-2 win over China in the gold medal final at the Champions Trophy women's field hockey tournament Sunday.
Earlier, the Netherlands beat World Cup champions Argentina 3-2 for the bronze medal and England defeated South Korea 4-2 in a penalty shootout for fifth place after the teams were tied 2-2 after extra time.
Julie Towers scored with 20 seconds gone, Suzie Faulkner on a penalty corner in the 12th minute and Peta Gallagher at 15:16 to give Australia its early lead over the defending champions. Fu Baorong scored in the 44th minute and Li Shuang in the 65th to pull China close. The win moved Australia into second place in world rankings behind Argentina.
Australian captain Katrina Powell, one of the few veterans left from the team that dominated women's field hockey in the last decade, winning back to back Olympic gold and every Champions Trophy events through the 1990s, said she believed all the hard work was finally starting to pay off.
"It's been a tough three years," said the 31-year-old striker, who finished the tournament as top goal scorer with four. "We have worked really hard to get to where we are from almost nothing.
"From having a completely new off-field group to a majority of the squad being changed. This group hasn't had as much success so everybody gets very excited with the small things along the way we do achieve."
Goals from Janneke Schopman, Eefke Mulder and Minke Smabers secured the Dutch victory as the Netherlands' fluent passing game ensured it beat the team which it lost to in last year's world championship final.
"Our tactics worked really well, we put a lot of pressure on the Argentina defense because I think it is the weakest side of the team," Netherlands coach Marc Lammers said.
Lammers' rotation of players from the bench ensured fresh legs continued his team's drive forward as the match progressed.
Argentina started the match strongly, opening the scoring with a well-worked penalty corner which left Maria de la Paz Hernandez with a straightforward deflection in front of goal in the third minute. Schopman replied for the Netherlands, effortlessly dribbling around the goalkeeper in the 16th minute.
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