By Gary Anderson

December 1 - Greg Westlake and Brad Bowden were both on target for hosts Canada as they cruised passed South Korea 5-2 © Getty Images Paralympic gold medallists the United States and reigning world champions Canada registered opening day wins over Russia and South Korea respectively at the World Sledge Hockey Challenge in Toronto's MasterCard Centre.


The US were first up as they took on a Russian side who will be going all out next March to bag a medal on home ice at Sochi 2014.

After a goalless first period, Dmitry Lisov found the net early in the second to put his side one nil to the good and raise the prospect of an early upset.

However, Tyler Carron soon restored parity and after that the sides remained all-square until the US once again showed why they are one of the top sides in the world by grinding out a win through a late Alexi Salamone strike.

The Russians will be buoyed by their performance which saw them match the Americans for long periods and finish the contest trailing their opponents on the shots at goal count 15-11.

The noise levels inside the arena rose considerably as hosts Canada took to the stage after that to take on a South Korean side fresh from victory at the Sochi 2014 Qualification Tournament in Turin in October.

The South Koreans started confidently and would have been satisfied after the first period which saw the sides go in scoreless.

Alexei Salamone bagged a late strike to hand the USA victory over Russia an day one in Toronto © Getty Images Alexei Salamone bagged a late strike to hand the USA victory over Russia an day one in Toronto ©Getty Images

























It was not long after the restart that their resolve was finally broken as Brad Bowden evaded the defence to put the hosts one up.

Kevin Rempel soon doubled that lead before Greg Westlake put the game more or less to bed with a third strike.

This was followed by an Adam Dixon effort to put the rampant Maple Leafs 4-0 up.

Seung-Hwan Jung always looked like the most likely man to trouble the Canadian defence and he pulled one back for the South Koreans but this was quickly cancelled out by Anthony Gale.

With seconds remaining Young-Jae Cho managed to squeeze another goal home for South Korea but it was all in vain as Canada ran out 5-2 winners to send out a clear signal of intent to their North American rivals.

Next up for Canada is a clash with Russia while the USA take on the South Koreans.

The action in Toronto is due to continue through until (Saturday) December 7.

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