The new tournament favourites eased through the first two sets but Saudi Arabia responded brilliantly by showing the form that has seen them emerge as the surprise team of the event.
The Saudis, who shocked top seeds Japan in the quarterfinals, took a tight third set and then won four points in a row from 22-21 down to win the fourth and force a decider.
China moved 10-5 ahead but the Saudis rallied again before eventually going down 3-2 (25-20, 25-11, 23-25, 22-25, 15-13).
Shen Qiong top-scored for China with 20 spikes and they will now meet the winners of the second semifinal between Qatar and Korea in the final on 14 December.
Japan beat Kazakhstan 3-0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-23) to qualify for a play-off for fifth place against either Bahrain or IR Iran.
15th Asian Games, Doha 2006
Posted December 14th, 2006 by COBA
.thumbnail.jpg "Tough test: Tang Miao (L) and Wang Haichuan had to be at their blocking best")