(Beijing, September 15) The "Good Luck Beijing" 2007 Goalball Invitational Tournament entered the third day today. In the first quarterfinal match between China, winner of Group A, and Finland, last of Group B, the host team beat its Finnish counterpart 5-3 to enter the semifinals.

Goalball originated in 1946 and was introduced to China in 1992. Although China is a late-comer, the sport has enjoyed rapid development over the past two years. The Chinese women's team emerged the runners-up in last year's World Championships, while its men's team is catching up with the world first-class teams. During the group prelims of the Beijing tournament China made a breakthrough by beating Lithuania and Canada to lead in Group A.

In today's quarterfinal match against Finland, China fielded the same lineup for the group heats, No. 1 Yao Yongquan, No. 2 Cai Yonggui and No. 4 Chen Liangliang. Three minutes into the game China opened the score with a penalty throw. At the eighth minute, China's Yao Yongquan rolled the ball into his opponents' goal to score again. A minute later, the Finnish team broke the Chinese defense to turn the score to 2-1.

One and a half minutes into the second half, China's Yao Yongquan took a crosscourt throw to add one more goal for his team. His teammate Chen Liangliang then contributed another goal with a down-the-line throw, 4-1. After making a substitution the Finnish team score twice in a row through effective attacks. In the last two minutes, China played faster to score again with a penalty throw. The game ended 5-3 in favor of the host team.