Holders Pakistan and title favourites Australia both made impressive starts when the men's World Cup got underway in Utrecht yesterday. Pakistan maintained their supremacy over Asian rivals Malaysia with a 7-2 victory while Australia achieved their biggest ever win over Poland with an 8-0 success. Also in Pool B, Spain gained a comfortable 3-1 win over England, who replied only through Mark Pearn in the 69th minute.

Australia's 8-0 victory sent Poland reeling to their biggest defeat for seven years. Pakistan seemed to be heading for a record win over Malaysia when they led 6-0 after 54 minutes but their defence was occasionally slack and Nor Saiful Nasiruddin saved Malaysia's face with a couple of late corner goals.

In Pool A, India started disappointingly, conceding four goals in the first half against Germany and lost 4-1. New Zealand, who have rarely tasted success since they won Olympic gold in Montreal in 1976, beat South Korea 3-1.

The Netherlands scraped a 3-1 win over Canada, who had pulled back to level at 1-1.

On the second day of the women's World Cup, South Korea remarkably came from 4-0 down to beat New Zealand 5-4, scoring five goals in the last 16 minutes.

Both the Netherlands and Argentina posted their second successive wins to become clear favourites to reach the semi-finals. The hosts came from 2-1 down to beat England 3-2 while Argentina conceded a penalty strole to India only to prevail 2-1.