It was not so much the margin of victory as the fluency and rhythm that the Indians displayed which stood out.

Manjnder Kaur and Pritam Rani led the scorers' list with three apiece, while Jyoti Kullu and Kamala Dallal chipped in with a brace, and Sita Gussain, Surinder Kaur and Suraj Lata Devi knocked in one each to complete a fairy-tale beginning for the Indians.

Earlier, Japan, who fancy themselves for a medal, had a trying time in overcoming Uzbekistan 2-1. The Japanese expertise at penalty corners finally stood them in good stead as Keiko Miura converted two to provide the cushioning against a Uzbek fightback. For the vanauished feruza Makaeva scored the consolation goal.

Meanwhile, Korea, too, began in an impressive fashion, overruning Kazakhstan 6-0. Incidentally, this game was umpired by India's 1982 Asiad gold medallist MadhuYadav whose handling of the encounter came in for much praise.