Visit the FIH tournament website for the men's Sahara Hockey Champions Trophy

The top two ranked teams in the world have been quick to move to the top of the points table after a pair of wins on the opening day of competition at the men’s Sahara Hockey Champions Trophy in Terrassa.

In a day where the set pieces ruled (nine of the 13 goals were scored from penalty corners, plus one from the penalty spot), Australia and the Netherlands were first-up winners with the world number one and defending champions defeating Pakistan, and the Dutch overcoming Argentina.

The other match resulted in a draw between Spain and Germany, with neither team able to take advantage of some good scoring chances, particularly in the second half.

Despite the favourites’ early jump, the chasing teams will have an immediate chance to make ground when the pair clash in the final match on tomorrow’s schedule.

Thankfully for the competing teams, the temperature at the start of play today was milder than expected, with a slight breeze taking the edge off the oppressive conditions to make it more tolerable for the players.

Australia never looked in serious jeopardy of losing to Pakistan but flirted with danger far too long for the scoreline to be convincing.

Pakistan’s Sohail Abbas almost proved the saviour for his team as the penalty corner expert kept his side in the match.

Abbas only announced his re-entry onto the international arena shortly before the tournament and he nearly managed to earn his team a point with a penalty stroke followed a trademark drag flick, forcing Australia to further concentrate their efforts after they had twice taken the lead only for Pakistan to respond.

However the Kookaburras had a set piece expert of their own, with midfielder Troy Elder relishing his first outing at a major tournament in almost two years to notch a pair of goals and reduce the influence of Abbas.

Spain’s draw against Germany was hard fought, with the home team struggling to find their rhythm in a match that failed to capture the imagination. Germany took the initiative early thanks to the decisiveness of Tibor Weissenborn down the left side of the pitch and they defended their lead for more than 60 minutes.

It wasn’t quite enough to win the match, with hometown representative Santi Freixa scoring from a penalty corner five minutes from full time to give Spain a deserved point considering the flow of play and the opportunities they created late in the match.

In the late match, a late flurry of goals, including a hat trick to Taeke Taekema gave the Netherlands their win over Argentina.

Despite the two-goal margin, the Dutch were not comfortable until late in the contest, with three goals in eight minutes near full time giving them breathing room after Argentina had mounted a brave challenge.

The result was in the balance until the 53rd minute when reigning WorldHockey Player of the Year, Teun de Nooijer, produced a great finish to spark the Dutch attack after it looked like Argentina might be able to hold their more fancied opponents.

With their opening victories safely recorded on the points table, Australia and the Netherlands will face each other on day two in a match that will provide the winner with a significant edge in the battle for a top two finish at the end of the preliminary rounds, although there are likely to be more twists and unexpected results in the coming days.

In tomorrow’s other matches, Pakistan will play Germany and Argentina battle Spain.