Wales take on a major challenge in their opening match at the World Team Squash Championships in Marseille, France this afternoon.
Joel Makin, from Pembrokeshire, leads the Welsh challenge against fourth seeds Australia, who have won the title a record eight times.
Ryan Cuskelly, ranked 16 in the World, Cameron Pilley, Rex Hedrick and Zac Alexander are the Australian players, Joel Makin, Peter Creed, Emyr Evans and David Haley represent Wales.
Australia have already beaten Czech Republic, the third team in this group, 3-0, while today’s clash is a first game for Wales.
Two teams will progress to the last 16 knockout stage from each group.
Three-time champions Egypt are seeded to reclaim the title in France next month, having lost 2-1 against England in the 2013 final.
Egypt have four players in the World’s top 11, including the fit again three-time World champion Ramy Ashour.
England’s line-up includes former World number ones Nick Matthew and James Willstrop, both making their seventh appearances in the championships.
Hosts France, led by world number one and former Maesteg Superleague player Gregory Gaultier, are the third seeds.
They played Ireland, the 20th seeds, and won 3-0. Gaultier defeated Arthur Gaskin 11-8, 11-7, 11-6.
Former Wales director of squash Chris Robertson is national coach of Hong Kong, who won 3-0 against Iraq.
Robertson, the ex-World number two, took charge of Welsh squash when he retired from playing and later took up the same role with England.
“The Iraq players were not bad – and hit the ball well,” said Robertson. “They were aggressive players, which is a good thing.
“We’ve got some good players who play at a high level and I want to see them play at that level here.
“This event only happens every two years, so you have to get it right. We have the Asian Games next year, which is important.
“How the team perform here will give me a feeling for how they will perform there.
“I like this event – it’s one where countries can create a bit of history.”
Results from day one (seedings in brackets):
Pool A: [1] EGYPT bt [17] PAKISTAN 3/0
Marwan Elshorbagy bt Amaad Fareed 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 (25m)
Ali Farag bt Shahjahan Khan 11-3, 11-4, 11-9 (30m)
Karim Abdel Gawad bt Farhan Zaman 11-7, 13-11, 7-11, 11-4 (29m)
Pool B: [2] ENGLAND bt [18] ARGENTINA 3/0
Daryl Selby bt Juan Pablo Roude 11-3, 11-6, 11-6 (30m)
James Willstrop bt Robertino Pezzota 7-11, 11-2, 11-2, 9-11, 11-6 (41m)
Nick Matthew bt Leandro Romiglio 11-4, 11-8, 11-5 (29m)
Pool C: [3] FRANCE bt [20] IRELAND 3/0
Lucas Serme bt Sean Conroy 11-9, 8-11, 11-2, 11-7 (44m)
Gregoire Marche bt Brian Byrne 11-7, 10-12, 11-5, 11-3 (44m)
Gregory Gaultier bt Arthur Gaskin 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 (29m)
Pool D: [4] AUSTRALIA bt [19] CZECH REPUBLIC 3/0
Zac Alexander bt Jakub Solnicky 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 (35m)
Cameron Pilley bt Ondrej Uherka 11-2, 11-4, 11-4 (27m)
Ryan Cuskelly bt Martin Svec 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 (33m)
Pool E: [5] HONG KONG CHINA bt [24] IRAQ 3/0
Yip Tsz Fung bt Rasool Alsultani 11-2, 11-13, 11-1, 11-2 (39m)
Leo Au bt Mohammed Hasan 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 (28m)
Max Lee bt Husham Al-Saadi 11-3, 11-5, 11-3 (21m)
Pool F: [6] NEW ZEALAND bt [22] SOUTH AFRICA 3/0
Evan Williams bt Gary Wheadon 11-9, 12-10, 11-4 (36m)
Campbell Grayson bt Christo Potgieter 11-3, 11-8, 11-5 (24m)
Paul Coll bt Thoboki Mohohlo 11-4, 9-11, 11-2, 11-2 (38m)
Pool G: [7] GERMANY bt [21] JAMAICA 3/0
Valentin Rapp bt Bruce Burrowes 11-5, 11-1, 11-8 (23m)
Raphael Kandra bt Lewis Walters 12-10, 11-3, 7-11, 11-6 (36m)
Simon Rösner bt Christopher Binnie 11-7, 12-14, 11-2, 11-9 (45m)
Pool H: [8] INDIA bt [23] AUSTRIA 3/0
Mahesh Mangaonkar bt Paul Mairinger 11-0, 11-6, 11-2 (23m)
Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu bt Jakob Dirnberger 11-9, 11-6, 11-6 (27m)
Vikram Malhotra bt Aqeel Rehman 11-6, 11-5, 11-1 (25m)