Olympic champions Australia, Asian Cup champions India and Pakistan have all scored wins on the opening day of the Sultan Azlan Shah men's field hockey tournament in Malaysia.
Australia scored an easy win over host country Malaysia, 3-1. Travis Brooks had goals for the Aussies in the 8th and 19th minutes.
Meanwhile, defender Len Aiyappa scored two goals for India in its 2-1 win Thursday, over South Africa. India is competing in its first international tournament under new coach Rajinder Singh.
India's archrival Pakistan defeated New Zealand, 2-1, thanks to first-half goals from Adnan Zakir and Mohd Imran.
The other nation in the seven-team tournament is South Korea. Each team will play the others with the top two teams meeting again in the final on June 5.
Many of the teams are using this tournament to test player combinations ahead of next year's World Cup in Germany. India has earned a berth in the World Cup while Australia, New Zealand and South Africa hope to earn berths later this year in their continental tournaments. Malaysia, South Korea and Pakistan compete later this year in World Cup qualifiers.
Some information for this report provided by AP.