The semifinal round of women's field hockey began with a serious bout of deja vu. The Netherlands opened the day with a 3-0 victory over Argentina in a rematch of the Tokyo gold medal contest, which saw the Netherlands defeat Argentina 3-1 for its third gold in four Olympic competitions.
Also, China's precipitous rise to the top continued on Wednesday as the Snow Lotuses earned a spot in the gold medal match for the first time since 2008 — and just the second time in Olympic field hockey history — with a thrilling 3-2 shootout win over Belgium.
Schedule: 2024 Paris Olympics women's field hockey medal matches
Friday, Aug. 9
Argentina vs. Belgium: 8 a.m. ET
Netherlands vs. China: 2 p.m. ET
Netherlands vs. Argentina
The scoreboard was knotted at zero through the first period, but the reigning gold medalist Netherlands team was clearly superior from the start, feeding off the energy of an entirely orange crowd and controlling possession 70% of the time. Argentina struggled to even cross the center line until nine minutes in.
By the start of the second, the dam finally broke. Luna Fokke received a pass sent up the far right side of the pitch and entered the circle, finding herself alone with Argentinian goalkeeper Cristina Cosentino and with the space to chip the ball into the right side of the net. The Oranje found their second five minutes later, as Fokke rifled a pass into the circle that deflected off Lauren Nunnink's stick and into the cage.
Yibbi Jansen opened the third with a penalty corner shot that zipped into the goal before Cosentino had a chance to react. With the win, the Dutch are headed to their fifth gold medal game in as many Olympics.
Belgium vs. China
Despite trailing in almost every metric through the first half, China got on the board first three minutes into the second quarter, when the Snow Lotuses were awarded their first penalty corner.
They launched a drag flick from the top of the circle, which drew Belgian goalie Aisling D'Hooghe out of the net. After the ball hit the inside of her pads and slipped through her legs, a Belgian defender attempted to grab the shot from behind the netminder but struggled to deflect it, leaving a wide-open slot for China's Zou Meirong, which she quickly took advantage of to nab the lead.
Through much of the next two quarters, the Chinese defense, which shut down podium favorite and previously-undefeated Australia in the semifinal, continued to shine. Backstopped by goalie Ye Jiao the defense swiftly cleared each of Belgium's eight penalty corner attempts and 11 total shots. But with just under two minutes left in regulation, the Belgians struck to tie the game on a scrappy but successful penalty corner.
Tension ramped up with the clock winding down and, as the closing horn blew, China's Fan Yunxia slammed a shot straight into the shin of a nearby Belgian player, triggering a verbal altercation between the two teams and resulting in a yellow card for China.
But the Chinese persevered, taking the shootout 3-2.
Loss aside, the tournament was an overall success for the Belgian women's squad, which is competing for just the second time ever. The Red Panthers will still get a chance to earn a medal in the bronze match on Friday.