Defending champions Germany began their pursuit of a third consecutive Men’s Junior Hockey World Cup title with a narrow 2-1 victory over Spain ©FIH

Defending champions Germany began their pursuit of a third consecutive Men’s Junior Hockey World Cup title with a narrow 2-1 victory over Spain on the opening day of the event at the Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium in Uttar Pradesh.

The German side were pushed all the way by a determined Spanish side but managed to open their Pool C campaign with a win.

Anton Boeckel got Germany off to the best possible start 25 minutes in as he broke the deadlock but Spain hit back, restoring parity thanks to Manual Bordas Fabregas.

Just as the contest looked to be heading towards a draw, Timm Herzbruch was in the right place at the right time to fire home what proved to be the winning goal for Germany.

In the other match in Pool C, New Zealand edged past Japan with a dogged 1-0 triumph.

Neither side could quite find the net and 0-0 appeared to be the most likely scoreline until Oliver Logan scored in the 55th minute to earn victory for the Oceanian outfit.

Hosts India, who are listed among the favourites to clinch the Junior Hockey World Cup crown on home soil, started with a comfortable 4-0 rout of Canada in Pool D.

In a match that was brought forward 15 minutes by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) due to heavy fog in Lucknow, Mandeep Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar and Ajit Pandey all got on the scoresheet as the Indian team strolled to an easy win.

England were involved in a thrilling contest with South Africa as they claimed a 4-2 win ©FIH
England were involved in a thrilling contest with South Africa as they claimed a 4-2 win ©FIH

The pick of the entertainment on day one at the tournament, which attracts the world’s top players under the age of 21, came when England and South Africa took to the field in the other Pool D encounter.

England raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to two goals from Edward Horler and an effort from Peter Scott within the first 11 minutes.

Matthew De Sousa and Ryan Crowe reduced the deficit to one before Jonathan Griffiths sealed the 4-2 win for England late on.

The FIH has confirmed that future evening matches at the tournament will start earlier than scheduled at 6pm Indian time.

A planned rest day, which had been set for December 13, has also been scrapped as a result of the adverse weather conditions, with the Pool A encounter between Australia and South Korea and England’s match against Canada due to take place.

"The FIH, in consultation with Hockey India and our global broadcast partner Star Sports, has made the proactive decision to make adjustments to the match schedule," the FIH said in a statement.

"With the existing adverse weather conditions set to continue, the FIH felt it was important to review the schedule in order to minimise any future disruption."