The South African Women’s Hockey Team lost 4-3 to China in an exhilarating World Cup Group B encounter at the Green Fields Stadium in The Hague on Sunday.
The African Champions produced a very disunited performance in the opening stanza and were made to pay as they trailed the 2008 Olympic silver medalists 2-0 at the interval.
South Africa were far less wasteful in the second half and pulled one back through Kelly Madsen, only to concede soon after, Wang Na restoring the Asians lead in the 54th minute.
Bernie Coston tapped in from close range before world-record goalscorer Pietie Coetzee levelled matters from a penalty-corner with five minutes to play, her 281st international goal in her 285th match.
Just as it seemed as if the South African ladies had rescued a draw, Wang Mengyu sent a rocket into the bottom left corner in the 68th minute to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
Despite an impressive showing against a higher ranked side, South Africa skipper Marsha Cox was disappointed with the result.
“I think we have let ourselves down in this match,” Cox said.
“Our aim is to improve our world ranking and we are still in a position to do that, but I feel we have let ourselves down.”
