Germany scored in the 21st minute from a corner variation flick from Anke Keuhn and they seemed to have the match under control until India's Surinder Kaur deflected the ball into the net seconds before half-time to equalise.

With nine minutes left in the match India snatched the lead when Mamta Kharb scored a great back stick goal as she ran across the face of goal.

This shocked the Germans into action and Mandy Haase levelled in the next minute followed by a vital goal from Natasha Keller with five minutes remaining.

German Coach Markus Weise was very relieved after the game.

"I was impressed with the quality we showed after we were 2-1 down. We were worried about the match and we are happy to take a win."

World number one Netherlands had to fight all the way to scrape a 1-0 over England.

The young England side had the Netherlands hitting long from defence and matched them in midfield control right from the start.

But the Dutch found the target with the only goal of the game in the 13th minute when they won a corner and scored from a new precision, 'zig-zag' move.

A short pass to the right dragged the defence left, then a short pass across the goal, which included double-bluff shots at the target, found Janneke Schopman and she scored unchallenged at the left post.

England's hopes then suffered a cruel blow when captain Kate Walsh suffered an injured knee.

The battle raged on into the second half with ferocious tackling from both sides.

England, who performed way above their ninth place in the rankings, had more possession but it was the Dutch forwards who were more dangerous in attack.

The Netherlands finished with six shots at goal and three corners while England had three shots at goal.

Netherlands coach Marc Lammers said: "The English have really improved in the last year so our tactics were to play more technical hockey. We played well but there in still room for improvement."

England coach Danny Kerry bemoaned his team's lack of firepower.

"After the goal went in our team settled down and played better as the game progressed. In the second half, despite increasing the pressure, we really did not threaten to score.

"Full credit to the Dutch, they made the best of their opportunities and I expect them to win this tournament."

Meanwhile, Spain goalkeeper Maria Jesus Rosa made seven brilliant saves to help her country to a 1-0 win over China.

Rosa was particularly strong thwarting the corner shooting of Ma Yi Bo.

Spain started strongly and their flair was rewarded in the 12th minute when Silvia Munoz scored a deflected corner goal.

After the break, China coach Kim Chang sent star strikers Gao Li Hua and Fu Bao Rong deep into their attacking quarter.

China forced four corners in 10 minutes and Ma forced brilliant saves by Rosa each time.