England

England's men opened their Champions Challenge bid with a convincing 4-1 victory over hosts Egypt in Alexandria.

A youthful side - the average age is just 23 - completely dominated and only briefly, early in the second half, did the African champions threaten.

The competition is for the nations ranked seven to 12 in the world with the winners promoted back to the elite Champions Trophy.

England made a good start but did not open the scoring until six minutes before half-time when Old Georgians' James Tindall - the only player in the squad not playing top-flight hockey - swept home a penalty corner which was switched to the left.

Nine minutes after the interval Cannock's Barry Middleton, reigning player of the year, flicked a shot just under the crossbar from 10 yards but Egypt hit back within three minutes from Tamer El Sayed's penalty corner.

However, Surbiton's Matt Daly flicked home a penalty corner after Ben Hawes' dummy strike in the 54th minute and seconds from the end Glenn Kirkham, of Loughborough Students, saw his tame shot somehow beat goalkeeper Ossama Hassanein.

Belgium - who only got their place after New Zealand withdrew for financial reasons - top the table on goal difference after beating South Africa 5-1 with England undoubtedly benefiting from top seeds Korea's 3-3 draw with Argentina.

Coach Jason Lee, who coached Great Britain against Egypt at the Athens Olympics, was more than satisfied with the performance.

"It was good. We beat them 3-1 in the Olympics so to win 4-1 against Egypt in Egypt is great," he told the Press Association.

"We expected it to be a tough game and this is a good reflection of where we stand - but there is a long way to go."

There is no time to reflect on the victory as England face Korea tomorrow but Lee believes his young side can learn a lot from such an encounter.

"There are improvements which need to be made to get us to where we want to be but at this point I'm hopeful the players will stand up to it against Korea," he added.

"And teams like Korea and Argentina taking points off each other will work in our favour."

Tindall sustained a cut face in the victory and Cannock's Andy West took a knock to his leg but both are expected to play tomorrow.

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