The match was announced over. Under scorching sun, spectators were still lingering on the stand, shouting "come on, China".

Chinese softball players, some with tears in their eyes, took out the balls from their bags and hurled to people.

Gazing at them, the 38-year-old short-haired lady knew that her last dream was shattered.

"We have prepared all these years, but the result was not satisfactory," said Wang Lihong, head coach of the Chinese softball team.

For eight years, China had always sought to break the so-called "fourth-placer spell".

Now that the spell was broken, but the result was not what they wanted. This time, the team even failed to enter the semi-final.

When softball was introduced into the Olympic agenda in 1996, Chinese softballers made history by grabbing a silver after a disputable 1-0 in the semi-final.

In the following Sydney and Athens Games, the ladies narrowly missed a podium by finishing fourth.

As the sport was voted out of Olympic programme at the 2012 London Games, Chinese players had been eager to make a happy ending.

"Some of our players are beyond 30. This is definitely the last chance for them to achieve glory," said the coach.

Wang had been one of the three best pitchers in the world.

Born in Dunhua of the northeastern Jilin Province, she used to be a speed skater, before graduation of junior middle school, when someone asked if she wanted to the provincial sports school and play softball.

"I had absolutely no idea what softball was, just fascinated at the idea of entering a provincial school," she recalled.

But well she played.

In 1990, the lady who was just 20 years old competed with the national team at the World Championships, where they got a bronze.

Several months later, she helped China seized a gold medal at the Asian Games and was awarded the best pitcher.

The year 1994 saw the peak of Wang, who led the Chinese team into the final, although at last they succumbed to the United States.

Her biggest regret was in 1996, when the exhausted pitcher missed the final competition at Atlanta Olympics.

After the event, she went to play in Japan like some others.

"I learnt a lot there," she said, "you know, softball has a long tradition in the country."

"It was then that I began to realize what softball was. People there were enjoying the game, not like us."

When China was preparing for the Sydney Olympics, all the veteran ballers returned, including Wang.

"We had the best lineup at that time, while the United States was not as strong then as four years ago," she said, adding that they even beat the champion in the preliminary.