England beat India to make semis

Our Correspondent

India's chances of entering the semi-finals of the women's World Cup hockey qualifier suffered a huge setback after they went down 1-2 to unbeaten England in a Pool A match on Sunday.

India, who were held by Ukranie 2-2 in a controversial match on Saturday, suffered their second reverse from four matches. They have four points from a win in their opening match against Uruguay and the draw against Ukranie.

England became the first team to make it to the semi-finals, having won all the five matches they played in the seven-team pool.

Leisa King put England ahead in the ninth minute and Jane Smith made it 2-0 in the 24th.

The Indians were seen in better light in the second session. They had a few good chances to snatch at least a point but were able to score only once, through Sunita Kullu in the 50th minute.

Ukraine also kept themselves in the running for a semi-final berth by beating Uruguay 4-1.

Fyeridye Bilyalova (29th), Olena Fritche (31st - penalty-stroke), Zhanna Savenko (35th and 41st) scored for the winners while Ana Hernandez reduced the margin for Uruguay five minutes from the final hooter.

Ukraine, with 10 points, are placed second behind England, who have 15 points.

In another match in the same pool, France pulled off an upset, beating Ireland 1-0 to leave the second semi-final spot from the pool wide open.

After a goalless first-half, Peguy Bergere scored from a penalty-corner in the 56th minute to give France their first victory from four matches, one of which was a draw -- against Kazakhstan.

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