After trailing 1-2 at halftime, Australia, however, bounced back in the second half to clinch a fighting win, which became possible because of a brace by dragflick master Jeramy Haywards. He scored both the goals, converting penalty corners.

Spain had a huge chance in the final five minutes through a penalty stroke, and captain Marc Miralles stepped up to take it. He went to his right, but Charter guessed correctly and got his hand to the ball to save the attempt and maintain the lead for Australia.

In the second quarterfinal, Belgium started on the backfoot without their ace drag flicker Alex Hendrickx, who pullout for the rest of the World Cup after suffering an injury. But they overcame the handicap with two goals in the first quarters. These two goals, scored by Tom Boon and Florent Van Aubel turned out to be the dicissive factor of the match.

In the semi-finals, Australia will face the winner of the match between Germany and England, while Belgium will take on the winner of the quarterfinals match between Netherlands and Korea.

RESULTS (24 January 2023):

Match 29 (QF-1, Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar): Australia (Flynn Ogilvie 29-FG, Aran Zalewski 31-FG, Jeremy Hayden 32-PC, 36-PC) beat Spain (Xavier Gispert 19-FG, Marc Recasens 23-FG, Marc Miralles 40-PC) 4-3. PoM: Andrew Charter (Australia).

Match 30 (QF-2, Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar): Belgium (Tom Boon 10-PC, Florent Van Aubel 15-FG) beat New Zealand 2-0. PoM: Felix Denayer (Belgium).
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TOP: Players of Australia celebrate after scoring a goal in their Hockey World Cup quarterfinal match against Spain in Bhubaneswar on 24 January 2023.
RIGHT: Players of Belgium celebrate after scoring a goal in their Hockey World Cup quarterfinal match against New Zealand in Bhubaneswar on 24 January 2023.