China saw their dream completely dashed as they suffered their third consecutive loss in the Women's Hockey World Cup, beaten 3-1 by Germany on Sunday.

Forward Maike Stoeckel opened the scoring for Germany in the 24th minute when struck the ball past Chinese goalkeeper Zhang Yimeng.

Six minutes later, another forward Silke Muller made it 2-0 as her fierce shot gave Zhang no chance to save in the 52nd minute.

China pulled one goal back in the 53rd minute through Sun Zhen, but Mandy Haase sealed the win for Germany when she netted her personal second goal in the tournament with eight minutes to go.

The loss indeed smashed any chance for China, who arrived in Madrid as a serious potential title-contenders, to reach the semifinals, as Australia and Netherlands have garnered 9 and 7 points respectively, beyond China's reach with only two pool games left.

India drew with England 1-1 in an earlier Pool A match which was besmirched by controversies.

England's Kerry Williams set up Chloe Rogers for the opener in the 47th minute, before Surinder Kaur equalized for India 11 minutes later from the penalty spot.

Controversies arose as both teams had goals disallowed - India for dangerous play and Williams having her claims for a late winner dismissed.

Asunta Lakra scored a goal in the 34th minute, which should put India 1-0 ahead, but was overruled by the TV umpire for dangerous play.

The decision left Indian coach Mk Kaushik furious.

"I said 'please watch the TV again,' he just refused, he said no, and gave no explanation," he snarled.

"That's injustice, that should be cheat, that's wrong, it's very bad for hockey. I am very sorry for that," the incensed coach said.

"What's justice? I don't believe in that too much now. We deserved to win the match, we were a better side," he bemoaned.

After the match ended 1-1 for both sides, Danny Kerry, the English coach shunned any questions about the controversial goal.

"I didn't see it, I was looking at the substitutions and was thinking about the second half," he said.

And he felt aggrieved that Williams' goal did not stand.

"If you look at the umpire's reaction and Kerry's reaction they both instinctively felt it was a goal," he said.

"The brave decision would have been to go with instinct. It is easier not to give it."

In another Pool A match, the Netherlands beat Spain 2-0 to gain three wins from as many games in the world cup.
 
(Xinhua News Agency October 2, 2006)