Chian beat Japan 1-0 to lift the women's hockey title at the Doha Asian Games here on Wednesday.

Members of China's team throw their coach into the air after the medal presentation ceremony for the women's gold medal hockey match at the 15th Asian Games in Doha December 13, 2006. China took the gold medal. [Reuters]

The Chinese pressed hard in the first half and controlled the game, but also wasted a number of chances to score.

China's best chance came in the eighth minute when unguarded Fu Baorong received the ball in semi-circle, but her reverse stick shot just slipped past the net by a little margin.

In the 20th minute, China was awarded the first corner penalty which was denied soon, and 10 minutes later, Gao Lihua missed a good opportunity to score as she shot a loose ball wide in semi- circle.

Japan's only chance to shot in the first half appeared in the 43rd minute from a corner penalty, but it also failed to find the net.

China continued its dominance of the game in the second half. And it took only five minutes after the break for China to earn its second corner penalty.

China did not allow the chance to slip again. Ren Ye converted the penalty into net in the left corner by receiving a quick pass from Mai Shaoyan.

Japan fought hard in the last 20 minutes and forced a couple of chances to shot, with its best chance coming in the 68th minute.

Its leading scorer Kaori Chiba launched a fast counterattack to pull off a corner penalty, but Chinese goalkeeper Zhang Yimeng made a superb save to secure China's title.

China successfully defended its title after touching it the first time at the Busan Asian Games four years ago.