Hosts Canada began the tournament, which is the biggest wheelchair rugby competition outside the Paralympics, with a 48-41 victory over Britain in front of a rapturous sold-out crowd largely made up of local school children.

Led by hometown favourite and co-captain Ian Chan, the Paralympic bronze medalists used their trademark aggressive man-to-man defense to continually force the British team to turn the ball over and grind out a seven point victory.

Canadian head coach Kevin Orr said: "It was a great first win for us against a very quality opponent.

"We felt that GB was one of the strongest teams here at the tournament, so for us to come out with a win was very good for Team Canada."

In their first game, defending world and Paralympic champions USA crushed Germany 54-37 in a dominant display.

Though Germany crept back to within three points of the US late in the first half, they soon struggled against the fast tempo set by the world’s number one ranked team and in the end were well beaten.

American star Chuck Aoki said: "It was good to win our first game and we’ll go from here."

Meanwhile second seeds Australia, who are looking for an elusive first World Championship title, saw of a spirited Japan side 65-52 with the Beijing 2008 Paralympic silver medalists looking in good form during the win.

Australia’s coach Brad Dubberley said: "It was a game we were worried about leading into it.

"Japan is always a difficult team to face but the boys handled the occasion really well.

"The first games at the major tournaments we have played in recent years have generally been our worst games so we wanted to make sure we started well today."

However, the most exciting game of the day saw Sweden claim a narrow 57-54 victory over Finland in a thrilling match between the close rivals.

Swedish team captain Tobias Sandberg admitted: “We came out a little bit nervous but we finished strong.

"The next game we have is against Great Britain, which is a much stronger team and we’ve got to go out and get them."

Elsewhere, Argentina lost their first major international game in the team’s history to New Zealand by a score of 62-18 while Belgium defeated Poland 51-39.

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