Jane Sixsmith booked Great Britain's place in the Sydney Olympics with the winning goal in a thrilling 1-0 victory over China in the qualifying tournament in Milton Keynes on Wednesday night.

Veteran Sixsmith struck in the 42nd minute to ensure the hosts finished top of their group, qualifying for a semi-final berth against 1992 Olympic champions Spain on Friday.

Germany, meanwhile, will take on New Zealand, who captured the other place in Britain's pool in the second semi-final.

In front of a packed crowd braving wintry conditions, the British women dominated the first half, creating several excellent chances and forcing three penalty corners.

But after the Brits had failed to find a way past some dogged defending, China hit back to finish the half strongly.

Sixsmith then delivered the killer blow seven minutes after the break when she collected a pass from captain Sue Chandler, twisted past two defenders and cracked in an unstoppable shot past the goalkeeper.

In a closely fought finish to the contest with both sides pushing forward at every opportunity, China were unable to equalise and must now win their next two games in the play-offs to clinch the fifth and final spot for Sydney.

British captain Chandler reflected on a tough match, saying: "They made us work really hard. The crowd were fantastic, and we deserved the win."

Earlier, Spain destroyed Ireland's hopes of clinching a place in the top two and qualifying automatically when they won 2-0.

While Spain therefore celebrated joining Germany in Sydney, the Irish must try to clinch the fifth spot via the play-offs.

Outplayed throughout the match, Ireland managed just one shot on target and failed to earn even a single penalty corner.