The hosts surged to the top of Pool A with a convincing 7-3 win over their opponents at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

England moved into a 2-0 lead within the first eight minutes thanks to goals from Barry Middleton and Christopher Griffiths.

Malaysia hit back, however, and ensured they went into the half-time break on level terms as Faizal Saari and Tengku Tajuddin both found the net.

The home side came out with renewed vigour after the restart and three goals in seven minutes effectively killed the game as a contest.

Sam Ward put England back in front before Middleton scored his second of the match to make it 4-2.

Mark Gleghorne netted a fifth, before Ward also notched his second.

Gleghorne also managed a two-goal salvo as he bagged the seventh, with a consolation strike from Saari rounding off the high-scoring affair.

India geared up for their crunch meeting with arch-rivals Pakistan tomorrow with a 3-0 win over Canada in Pool B.

Sunil Sowmarpet got the Indians off to the best possible start as he opened the scoring in the fifth minute against a Canadian side who impressed in a 6-0 demolition of Pakistan yesterday.

India, runners-up during last year's Champions Trophy at the same venue, added a second shortly after through Akashdeep Singh.

Victory was effectively sealed on the 18 minute mark when Sardar Singh scored India's third and it proved to be the last goal of the match.

Elsewhere, China bounced back from their defeat to England in their opening encounter by overcoming South Korea.

The Chinese side looked in good form as they dispatched their Asian counterparts 5-2.

The Netherlands also have maximum points from their first two games as they swept aside Scotland 3-0 to move into top spot in Pool B.