The Danish third seed is now the top ranked player at the Hong Kong Coliseum due to the withdrawals of Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei and China's Chen Long.

Top seed Lee failed to recover from a hamstring injury while Chen, the Olympic champion, was a late drop-out.

Jørgensen won the China Superseries title by beating Chen in the final in Fuzhou on Sunday (November 20) and the former European champion began his campaign for another big title by beating India's B. Sai Praneeth 21-18, 21-18 in a tight first round encounter.

Also through is South Korea's fourth seed Son Wan-ho, the 2014 winner in Hong Kong who defeated Malaysia's Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin in three games, 21-11, 19-21, 21-15.

China's fifth seed Tian Houwei was knocked out, departing to Hong Kong's home favourite Lee Cheuk Yiu 22-20, 21-19.

Chou Tien-chen, the sixth seed from Chinese Taipei, was another early casualty as he was beaten by Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana, 21-19, 16-21, 21-18.

In the women's tournament, Spanish Olympic champion Carolina Marin, the top seed, eased into round two thanks to a 21-8, 21-14 win over Thailand's Busanan Ongbumrungpan.

India's P.V Sindhu, the champion in Fuzhou and the Olympic silver medallist, also progressed after a 21-13, 21-16 triumph against Yulia Yosephin Susanto of Indonesia.

Fourth seed Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei progressed after a three game tussle with Japan's Minatsu Mitani, 21-11, 17-21, 21-10.

The second round matches will be played in Hong Kong tomorrow.

Elsewhere, a BWF Grand Prix Gold event - the Scottish Open - also begun at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.

Men's top seed Hsu Jen-hao of Chinese Taipei progressed to round two, seeing off Johnnie Torjussen of England, 21-15, 21-7.

Scotland's home hope Kieran Merrilees beat another Englishman in Yuehang Wang, 21-11, 21-10.