A fine penalty corner effort from Sam Lane gave New Zealand an early lead in the Pool C encounter, but Germany turned the match around with strikes from Timm Herzbruch and man of the match Anton Boekel.

Earlier in the day, Spain were in top form in their 4-1 win against Japan as Lucas Garcia Alcade netted a double alongside goals from Marc Serrahima and Pablo de Abadal.

The concluding matches in Pool C are due to take place on Sunday (December 11), when Germany face Japan and Spain meet New Zealand for a place in the quarter-finals.

Today also saw the first two Pool B matches played with Belgium and The Netherlands both claiming convincing victories.

Belgium made light work of African champions Egypt, registering a 4-0 triumph thanks to goals from Philippe Simar, Henri Raes, Alexandre van Linthoudt and Gregory Stockbroekx.

The Netherlands were in ruthless mood in their meeting with Malaysia, powering to a 7-2 win.

Bram van Groesen scored twice, while Thijs van Dam, captain Thierry Brinkman, Terrance Pieters, Daniel Aarts and Jorrit Croon also got their names on the scoresheet.

The Pool A contest between Argentina and Austria begun today’s proceedings, with the latter claiming a surprise 1-1 draw against the 2005 junior world champions.

Argentina dominated for long spells and deservedly took the lead when Tomas Domene fired home a backhand effort in the 47^th minute.

However, the Austrians claimed a share of the points seven minutes from time thanks to Oliver Binder’s low and powerful penalty corner drag flick.

"We had a lot of chances but we couldn’t score, and that is a problem for us," said Argentina captain Maico Casella after the match.

"We have some things we need to work on."

Action in Lucknow is due to continue tomorrow with matches in Pools A and D.

The Pool A schedule is made up of South Korea’s clash with Austria and Argentina’s encounter with Australia.

Hosts India face England in the second of the day’s Pool D matches, following the game between South Africa and Canada.