NANJING, China, March 21 (Xinhua) -- A solitary goal from Agustina Albertarrio gave Argentina a third successive victory in the FIH women Pro League as the visiting team beat China 1-0 at the Wujin Hockey Stadium in Changzhou, Jiangsu province.
China made a bright start to the contest and almost opened the scoring through Peng Yang, who found space in the attacking circle but failed to beat Argentina goalkeeper Belen Succi.
Argentina opened the scoring in the 10th minute when Albertarrio scored from close range.
China searched hard for an equalizer in the following three quarters but found Argentina's defence in defiant mood.
Julieta Jankunas scored in the third quarter, but the goal was ruled out by a video umpire referral.
"It's not quite pity to lose the game, as the young team needs time to grow up. To compete with the powerhouse like Argentina is what we need," said Huang Yongsheng, the head coach of China.
"Our players learned a lot in the past six matches of FIH Pro League, so did I," added Huang.
"The match was very hard for us but we are so happy to win and to get the three points," said Lucina von der Heyde from Argentina, the player of the match.
The 1-0 result sees the second-placed Argentina narrow the gap with the leaders, the Netherlands at the top of the FIH Pro League standings, while China remained seventh ahead of their home match against New Zealand on Friday.
Chinese women's hockey team, known as the "Snow Lotus", were at the peak in 2008 when they finished the Beijing Olympic Games as the runners-up. Enditem
