New Zealand got goals from three different players to pick up an impressive 3-0 tournament-opening win over Argentina in Group B play of women's field hockey on Sunday.

Kelsey Smith, Hope Ralph, and Holly Pearson did the damage on the South Pitch at the Oi Hockey Stadium.

New Zealand was a semifinalist in 2016 before losing the bronze medal match to Germany, while Argentina was eliminated by silver-winning Netherlands at the quarterfinal stage.

Hosts Japan staged a thriller with China on the North Pitch, where Gu Bingfeng scored twice in a 4-3 win for the Chinese.

China lost 2-0 and 3-2 leads to the hosts, but rallied to win when Liang Meiyu scored late.

Australia also won a Group B match, taking down Spain by a score of 3-1.

Earlier in Group A, Netherlands beat India 5-1 and Ireland handled South Africa 2-0 before Germany got by Great Britain 2-0