Netherlands

The Dutch women stamped their name on the favourites list in the on Saturday, smashing their way past South Africa 6-2. South Africa put up a spirited defence but the relentless and varied Dutch attack pierced through, leaving goalkeeper Caroline Birt standing as five first-half goals fired by.

Dutch captain Mijntje Donners opened the scoring within five minutes with a dummied penalty corner, quickly equalled by a dive shot from South African Jenny Wilson.

But then the 2000 Olympic bronze medallists took control, combining neat stickwork and strong running to win a mixture of set corners and flowing field goals while the defence blocked South Africa from converting some sweeping runs into scores.

"We've been focusing on this game for so long we knew how to beat them but we didn't expect such a result," said Donners, international player of the year in 2003.

"Inside the team we know we can do it (get gold) but it's going to be tough. Now we focus on our next match and we'll see what happens by the end of the week," the 30-year-old added.

In the second match, China beat Japan 3-0 in a neat, tactical game typical of the rapidly rising Asian teams.

Deadly sharp passes and clean-cut tackling made for some stunning field play and both teams had good shots at goal but Japan couldn't make it past China's crack goalie Yali Nie.

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