The home favourites faced an formidable Egyptian line-up of Ali Farag, Karim Abdel Gawad and Tarek Momen, ranked first, third and fourth in the world, respectively. 

Momen gave Egypt the lead by defeating Chris Hanson 11-2,11-9, 11-8 on the Squash on Fire show court.

Todd Harrity managed a closer battle with Farag but was still defeated 11-6, 11-7, 10-12, 11-4.

The final match saw Gawad come back from a game down to triumph 8-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-6 over event debutant Andrew Douglas.

"I'm really pleased with our start," said Farag afterwards. 

"We had a strong team in front of us in the US - Todd has been playing well so it was good to get that win myself and also for Tarek to give us that head start.

"It's good to get the first win under our belt.

"Having the likes of Karim, Abou and Tarek next to me gives me a lot of confidence and a lot of things to look up to. 

"We lift each other up and hopefully we can bring home the title."

France took on Colombia in Pool C, with the French former world number one and world champion Gregory Gaultier returning after a 14-month injury break.

Gaultier swept aside Colombian Ronald Palomino 11-1, 11-5, 11-2, before his team mates Gregoire Marche and Baptiste Masotti made it a maximum points win for the third seeds with straight games wins over Juan Camilo Vargas and Erick Herrera, respectively.

Malaysia eased past South Korea 3-0. 

Fourth seeds New Zealand began their campaign with a 3-0 win over Ireland 3-0, while Scotland beat Singapore by the same scoreline. 

Australian Cameron Pilley was stunned in Pool F after losing 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 to Abdullah Al Muzayen of Kuwait. 

Order was restored for Australia when Ryan Cuskelly and Rex Hedrick both recorded straight games wins to give their country a 2-1 victory.

England faced Canada in their opening tie, with captain Daryl Selby leading the five-time former champions to a 3-0 win.

Action in the pool stage of the World Squash Federation event continues tomorrow.