Shaw hat trick sends Kiwis into men's hockey semis
Pat Rowley
A hat-trick by defender Hayden Shaw saw New Zealand come from behind twice to defeat Canada 3-2 and qualify for a semi-final against Pakistan in the Commonwealth Games men's hockey tournament on Wednesday.
Shaw's three goals took his tally to 11 in four games. He is the competition's highest scorer.
Canada who had never beaten New Zealand, went ahead through Wayne Fernandes and Ravi Kahlon in the first half but were forced to defend for most of the second period.
In the other elimination match South Africa pulled off an upset by defeating 1998 Commonwealth bronze medallists England 1-0 to set up a showdown with favourites Australia.
South Africa had lost twice in their pool, including a 4-1 loss to Australia, after beating Barbados 10-1.
Emile Smith's breakaway goal in the 29th minute, after Gregg Clark had stolen the ball in midfield, was the deciding factor after England had failed to take their chances.
Both sides played open hockey and only excellent goalkeeping by South Africa's Chris Hibbert and England's Simon Mason prevented a high scoring game.
In the women's competition, England advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-1 victory over Scotland.
England, who finished runners-up in their group that was headed by New Zealand and had to play Scotland to advance to the semi-finals, now meet defending champions Australia.
Olympic champions Australia, who advanced to the semi-finals automatically after winning their group, thumped England 8-1 in the final in Kuala Lumpur four years ago.
England who are unbeaten, found their best form with a high quality passing game to deprive the Scots of possession.
Leisa King opened the scoring for England in the 14th minute from a penalty corner.
Helen Grant, Sarah Blanks and Kate Walsh also scored before King completed her hat trick in the final minute. Sam Judge scored Scotland's solitary goal in the 50th minute.
In the other qualification match, India came from 3-0 down to beat South Africa with a golden goal in extra time to win 4-3 and set up a showdown with New Zealand in the other semi-final.
All four of India's goals came from corners with Jyoti Kullu scoring her second goal of the game for the winner.
Pietie Coetzee had given South Africa a great start by converting two early corners.
