Austria edges host China in women's flag football opener at World Games

CHENGDU, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- In its first international appearance, China's women's flag football team came close to pulling off a major upset against world No. 4 Austria, falling just short 47-45 in preliminary round action at the Chengdu World Games on Thursday.

"These players only began training on May 9 this year, and some only started playing the sport under two months ago," said China head coach Guo Ruibin. "Now we can compete with one of the best teams in the world."

Facing Austria, who finished fourth at last year's World Championships, China showed remarkable offensive efficiency, scoring on seven of their eight drives.

The two teams traded the lead throughout the match, with Austria ahead 27-25 at halftime. Wang Xin scored China's first international touchdown just two minutes into the first half after a pinpoint throw from quarterback Niu Xinyu.

In a nail-biting second half, Austria scored to take a 47-45 lead with only eight seconds remaining, leaving no time for the hosts to mount a comeback. Both teams had seven touchdowns, but Austria converted two more extra points to seal the win.

Guo admitted his players were "a little nervous" in the first 10 minutes. "We have to do better on defense, and they will gain experience day by day," he said.

Austria head coach Robert Riedl said his team had fought hard for the win. "China were really, really good. It was a close game, and we had to fight until the end."

International Federation of American Football president Pierre Trochet also praised the home team. "To be honest, I didn't expect that a new team could really compete with the world No. 4. I have seen team spirit, energy, and I heard the support of the fans in the stadium. The potential of China is very impressive."

China sits in Group A with Austria, Canada and the United States in the eight-team tournament. ■