England managed to book themselves a place in the 2014
Hockey World Cup in The Hague by virtue of winning their quarter final match against
Japan this afternoon in the Men’s World League in Johor, Malaysia.
Under the somewhat complex qualification
rules, the top three from each of the Round Three venues qualify for the World
Cup. However, as The Netherlands are the hosts and they finished third in
Rotterdam, an additional place goes to one of the two nations that finished
fourth in their Round Three. New Zealand
finished in fourth place in Rotterdam, and England is guaranteed at least a
fourth place by virtue of reaching the semi-finals. Where there are two teams
competing for the same place, FIH regulations require that the higher ranked
team qualifies – hence England is assured of a place.
England, who had finished second in Pool B, had a fairly
decisive result against Japan (finished third in Pool A) in today’s quarter
finals by beating them 5-0. The goals
came from Mark Gleghorne, Barry Middleton, Harry Martin, Simon Mantell and Dan
Fox. England will play Argentina, who beat South Africa 2-0 today, in Saturday’s
semi finals.
There was a upset this afternoon when Korea, who had
finished at the bottom of Pool A, beat Pakistan from the top of Pool B, 3-4.
The Koreans will play their semi final match against Germany, who overcame
Malaysia 6-0 today.
