In an extraordinary quirk of fate, it was Australia who were the big losers on the final day of play in the Champions Trophy in Sydney.
The host nation met Argentina in the final and lost the match 4-3 on penalty deciders after 85 minutes of goalless play, with Luciana Aymar scoring the winning stroke. Despite the absence of goals, the final was described as a classic.
England, who were playing China in the 5th/6th place decider, were hit by injury and illness problems. Alex Danson and Helen Richardson, who were unable to play yesterday after having what were described as 'flu like symptoms', played in what was probably England's worst performance of a disappointing tournament. Li Hongxia had opened the scoring three minutes into the match and, although England were given a 25 minutes respite, China went into the break 3-0 ahead after Ren Ye scored twice late in the half.
The second half was almost a reprise of the first, with Song Qingling scoring early in the half and three goals coming in quick succession 15 minutes later, the first two from Fu Baorong and the final goal of the match from Xing Qian. Final score 7-0 to China.
Despite coming last in the tournament, it will be Australia who will be relegated to the Champions Challenge next year. Because of their relatively poor performance in the Olympic Games, Australia slip down the ranking and no longer qualify for the Trophy. Ironically, England maintain their place by virtue of hosting the 2010 tournament.
Coach Danny Kerry was brutally honest about the odds against England before the squad left for this tournament, describing the odds as "challenging". After the match Kerry said, "I can tell people and they can listen, but you have to experience things to learn and this has been a massive learning curve for many of our younger players."
The Netherlands finished third in the tournament after beating Germany 5-2 in the bronze medal match.
2009 WOMEN'S CHAMPIONS TROPHY:
- ARGENTINA
- Australia
- Netherlands
- Germany
- China
- England
England squad against China: Helen Richardson replaced Gemma Darrington. Becky Duggan did not play.
