In a rematch of the 2012 final, which was won by the Dutch, the defending champions were made to fight to the end as they emerged with a 6-5 victory.

The win for the home side, who are also the world champions, was greeted rapturously by the crowd inside the De Oosteveren Sport Hall.

They will have the chance of further success tomorrow when they clash with Italy in the tournament's showpiece finale.

Italy enjoyed a rather more comfortable progression to the final as they comfortably beat Germany 6-3.

The Italians had managed to squeeze through to the semi-finals with a draw with Finland yesterday and had too much power for the Germans, who will contest the bronze medal match against Belgium tomorrow.

Under its former name, electric wheelchair hockey, powerchair hockey was one of nine new sports or disciplines to apply for inclusion at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, only to fail to make it through to the final stage.

It was eliminated along with powerchair football, 3x3 intellectually impaired basketball, amputee football, one person multi-hull sailing, blind match racing sailing and 3-on-3 wheelchair basketball.

Only badminton and taekwondo were ultimately approved by the International Paralympic Committee Governing Board.