Cumbrian Lauren Smith's medal hopes at the Commonwealth Games remain alive after the badminton star helped England into the team semi-finals.

Smith and Marcus Ellis helped the host nation see off Canada in the last eight.

The Longtown star and her mixed doubles partner beat their opponents Ty Lindeman and Josephine Wu with a convincing 21-12, 21-9 victory.

That was part of a 3-0 team win which set up a semi-final encounter with Malaysia on Monday evening in Birmingham.

Smith, who is hoping to add to her five medals from previous Commonwealth Games, said the dominant performance helped put the previous day's group stage defeat to Singapore behind them.

“If you look at the momentum we got in the second game, that’s what I’d call a groove," said the Carlisle-born star.

News and Star: Smith and Marcus Ellis claimed a dominant victory over CanadaSmith and Marcus Ellis claimed a dominant victory over Canada

"It’s a testament to our character that no matter what’s been happening over the past few months, we still go out on that court and dig really deep. No matter how we play, we’re giving it our best. 

“Today we went out with a fresh mindset, let yesterday slip out of our minds. We really stamped our authority and hopefully it will help the team with a bit of momentum. 

“We just assessed our game style, but also our mentality. Whatever happens on the court, we need to have more presence.

“If we’re down, we need to still show them that we’re fighting. It’s coming out there with that positive mindset and trying to show them they had a fight on their hands and they’ll have to fight for every single point and we did that.”