China beat two-time defending champions Japan 4-3 in a penalty shootout on Thursday to face South Korea in the Women’s Asian Cup final.
Wang Shanshan scored the winning spotkick after firing a late equalizer in extra time and drew Shui Qingxia’s side to a 2-2 draw with the champions and took the game into a shootout in Pune.
South Korea reached the final of the tournament for the first time after beating the Philippines 2–0.
China, who claimed the title eight times between 1986 and 2006, will play in the final for the first time since 2008 after returning twice from a goal on Thursday.
Riiko Ueki finished a fine team move in the 26th minute, cleverly moving over Hinata Miyazawa’s cross to put the Japanese in front.
Wu Changshu’s close range volley leveled the score in the first minute of the second half and, although the Japanese created opportunities to seal the win, Futoshi Ikeda’s team was forced into extra time.
Yuki was on target again two minutes before the end of the first period when he thwarted China’s attempts to complete Yui Hasegawa’s free kick with a clinical diving header.
But the Chinese leveled again with more than a minute to spare when Wang Shanshan pushed Zhang Xin’s cross from Ayaka Yamashita’s left past to move the game into a penalty.
After missing out on Spotkicks’ first round by Saki Kumagai and Zhang Xin, a reflex save was made from Zhu Yu to exclude Moka Minami’s attempt in the fifth round, leaving Wang the winner.
In the second semi-final of the day, South Korea qualified for the decider when goals from Cho So-hyun and Son Hwa-yeon saw the Philippines.
Cho held her side in the fourth minute as she headed home into Kim Hye-ri’s corner, while running to the left of Choo Hyo-joo opened the Philippines’ defense 30 minutes later and Son for Korea’s second. pushed his lower center forward.
The Asian Cup doubles as the continent’s qualifier for next year’s World Cup, with the four semi-finalists advancing to the tournament along with co-hosts Australia and New Zealand.
A fifth Asian nation would qualify through a repechage that included Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan, with second- and third-place finishers advancing to a series of international playoffs for a World Cup berth.
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