England needed other results to go their way in order to quality

England put themselves in pole position for second spot in pool A after they defeated Canada 5-1.

And a semi-final place was guaranteed when pool A winners Australia recorded a 5-2 win over New Zealand.

In pool B, Pakistan defeated Malaysia 6-5, a result that was enough for both teams to reach the last four.

The result was heartbreaking for India who had earlier given themselves real hope of making the last four after beating South Africa 2-0.

Malaysia started their last match needing to score at least four goals, and not lose by more than one goal, to edge India out of the semi-finals.

It was my first hat-trick for England and that will stay with me for a long time Matt Daly

England got off to the perfect start when Surbiton's James Tindall and Reading striker Simon Mantell put the side ahead against Canada.

Surbiton's Matt Daly made sure of victory with a second-half hat-trick but England then faced a tense two-hour wait to see if Australia could beat New Zealand.

"We've struggled against Canada in the past, so I was pleased with the win," said England head coach Jason Lee.

"But I think we're better than that. This tournament has been great because we now know where we need to get better to challenge teams like Australia."

The win over Canada provided a welcome return to form for England after the morale sapping 5-1 defeat to the Australians on Tuesday.

"There was a lot of pressure on us, but we've played a couple of good games in this tournament, so it's a case of dealing with the pressure and putting in a performance," said Daly.

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"There was a lot of disappointment for us after losing to Australia, but it was always going to come down to this game and we got the result we needed.

"I was pleased with my own performance. It was my first hat-trick for England and that will stay with me for a long time."

England's game with Pakistan and Australia's match with Malaysia will take place on Friday.

England's women will take on Australia in their semi-final clash on Thursday.

New Zealand play India in the other last-four contest.