Men’s Hockey World Cup qualifier: Ireland 4 Poland 1

Ireland’s men’s hockey team, who had had already been assured of a place in the semi-finals, have topped their pool at the World Cup qualifying tournament in Chile after making it three wins out of three with a 4-1 defeat of Poland on Wednesday.

A goal in each quarter from Louis Rowe, Lee Cole, Ben Walker and Matthew Nelson wrapped it up, the Poles getting what proved to be a consolation score 10 minutes from time.

Ireland will play the runners-up in pool A – made up of Scotland, France, Chile and Wales – in Friday’s semi-final (10.30pm Irish time). The winner of that game will qualify for the World Cup.

The Irish women are also safely through to the semi-finals of their qualifier in Santiago and need just a point against Canada on Thursday (6pm Irish time) to top their pool.

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They will then play one of Chile, Australia, France or Switzerland in Saturday’s semi-final. Again, the winner of that game will book their place in the World Cup which will be hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands in August.