Number one seed Eszter Muhari of Hungary made it through her two matches today thanks to a 15-9 win over Britain’s Emily Southern and then a close win over France’s Fanny Depanian.

On the other end of the bracket, Italy’s Alice Clerici made short work of Ilona Syvala of Finland in her opening match, winning 15-6.

However, the Italian suffered a 15-10 defeat at the hands of compatriot Roberta Marzani, who was seeded at 63.

The third seed, Russian Tatyana Andryushina, had a tight last-64 contest with Alexandra Predescu of Romania but won 12-9.

While fourth seed Katharine Holmes of the United States won by just one point against home favourite and 125h seed, Sara Fernandez Calleja and would do the same in a 9-8 win over Germany’s Shirin Vollrath.

The top seed to be knocked out in her first match was Nardin Ehab of Egypt, who went down to 139th seed Shi Yuexin of China, who has now defeated two higher seeds in her first two rounds.

She faced fellow surprise package, Poland’s Barbara Brych, and the number 182 seed continued her winning streak by making it to the final 32.

But the lowest seed still left in the competition is Switzerland’s Pauline Brunner at 188.

Brunner has defeated 69th seed Kristina Yasinskaya and 60th seed Kim Chea-rin.

In extraordinary fashion, she would also defeat fifth seed Laura Staehli of Switzerland in the last 64.

Other top-20 seeds to be knocked out alongside Ehab include Italy’s Alberta Santuccio, who was knocked out by 77th seed Kseniya Pantelyeyeva of Ukraine.

Britain’s Susan Maria Sica, seeded 20th, also suffered a shock defeat to Beatrice Cagnin of Italy in her first match of the World Cup.

Tenth seed Beate Christmann of Germany was knocked out by Romanian Amalia Tataran in the last 64.

The second day will see the conclusion of the women’s épée and with just 13 of the top 20 still left in the competition there are plenty of opportunities for upsets for the rest of the tournament.