India made short work of Ghana, winning their opening match 8-0 in the women's hockey tournament at the inaugural Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad on Thursday.

Played under overcast conditions at the newly-constructed Gachibowli hockey stadium, on the outskirts of the city, India piled the misery on their lowly opponents, pumping in goals at will.

Seven Indians were among the scorers, with Surinder Kaur sounding the board twice.

Captain Suraj Lata Devi began the scoring spree in the 19th minute as the Indians, who led 3-0 at the break, pumped in five goals in the second session.

Sanggai Chanu (27^th minute), Jasjeet Kaur (30th), Annarita Kerketta (50th), Adline Kerketta (64th) and Sumai Tete (68^th) accounted for the other goals.

In another match, Jung Eun Kim scored twice as Korea steamrolled a depleted Kenyan side for a 5-0 victory.

Jin Ju Kim (4), Yuon Hee Lee (40) and Buyong Ju Sin (51) were the other scorers.

India could not have asked for a better start to the tournament since some last minute changes in the schedule saved them from taking on African Games winners South Africa.

Ghana, coming into the event following the last minute withdrawal of Japan and Namibia, proved no match for the Indians despite the fact that the hosts are without five of their top players who were not selected for various reasons.

While Sita Gossain has almost quit the game following her marriage, two stars of the Commonwealth Games -- Mamata Kharab and Sabah Anjum -- are under rehabilitation at Patiala after recovering from knee injuries.

Two other senior players -- Manjinder Kaur and Pritam Siwach -- were ignored for the event after they failed to turn up for the camp for "personal reasons".

But the second-string Indian team did not face any problem in sweeping past Ghana, which played like a club side, before a handful crowd cheering every goal scored by the hosts.

Continuing the high scoring spree on the opening day of the competition, South Africa blanked Kazakhstan 12-0 in a pool 'A' match later.

Susan Webber scores five for South Africa

South Africa rode on five goals by captain Susan Webber to emerge easy winners after leading 4-0 at half-time.

Shame Wehmeyer (31st, 45th minutes), Pietie Coetzee (37, 42nd), and Kerry Bee (33rd, 59th) scored twice each to join the goal feast along with Browyn Ross, who netted once in the 17th minute, as the African champions joined India and Korea on the winners' list on the first day of the comepetiton.

Webber's goals came in the 5th, 30th, 51st, 55th and 57th minutes.

The fourth match of the day between China and Nigeria could not take place due the World Cup winners' failure to reach the venue on time.

China, who are expected to arrive tomorrow morning, will now play Kenya in their opening match tomorrow. 

Tomorrow India will take on South Africa while Korea will play Nigeria. Kazakhstan are slated to face Ghana tomorrow.