JAKARTA, Aug. 17 -- China moved one step closer to retaining the women's water polo title at the Jakarta Asian Games by beating Japan 12-8 in their second round match here on Friday.

Niu Guannan scored the first goal for China as the defending champion led from start to finish, winning 12-8 (3-0, 3-1, 2-3, 4-4) for a second victory at the Asian Games. Zhang Jing and Xiong Dunhan both collected three goals for China.

Niu, the outside player, revealed that they studied Japan's match video and made plans before the contest. "We prepared well and fought until the last minute of the game. Both teams played very well and Japan is a team with a strong mentality. We tried our best," Niu said.

Gong Dali, the coach of the Chinese team, was satisfied with the performance. "We played against Japan during the World League in June, so we are familiar with each other. Japan is a strong team and is our top rival in the Asian Games. We did a good job today with our fast attacks," Gong said.

In other matches played on Aug 17, hosts Indonesia claimed a narrow 9-8 victory over Hong Kong, China and Kazakhstan thrashed Thailand 13-4.

A total of six teams compete in women's water polo at the Jakarta Asian Games. China has won the gold medal in the past two Games.

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