Chile's national under-20 ice hockey team defeated England 8-0 while Portugal defeated Ecuador 47-0 on Saturday, the opening day of the third edition of the sport's world championships.

 

The matches, held in Chilean capital Santiago's San Miguel Olympic Gymnasium, are part of the Group C action of the 16-team tournament.

 

Teams from other groups will begin competing on Sunday in the following pairings: Australia faces Switzerland and Argentina faces the United States in Group A; South Africa faces Angola and Spain faces Colombia in Group B; France faces Brazil and Italy faces Germany in Group D.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2007)