Men's world number one, Kento Momota of Japan, squeezed through the opening round, requiring four-straight points in the third game to eventually eke out a victory.

In the round of 16, it was much more straightforward, Momota dispatching Denmark's Rasmus Gemke 21-19, 21-18.

In the women's singles, Akane Yamaguchi, also Japanese, sailed through her round of 16 contest with National Badminton Federation of Russia's Evgeniya Kosetskaya 21-17, 22-20.

In fact, all of the top five seeds in the women's singles draw secured relatively comfortable wins.

Thailand's number two seed Ratchanok Intanon beat Taiwan's Pai Yu-po 21-16, 21-12, while India's number three seed and reigning world champion Pusarla Venkata Sindhu defeated Line Christophersen of Denmark 21-19, 21-9.

South Korea's An Seyoung, who won the French Open in 2019 when it was last played, hammered Denmark's Line Højmark Kjærsfeldt 21-9, 21-7.

And Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand also won convincingly, easing past Germany's Yvonne Li 21-10, 21-5.

The only other seed remaining in the women's draw is Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan, who beat Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour 21-15, 21-15.

The draw is much more open in the men's, after eighth seed NG Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong lost to Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan 9-21, 12-21.

The only seed remaining is Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen, who beat France's Brice Leverdes in three games, 21-16, 17-21, 21-19.

Competition continues tomorrow with the quarter-finals, headlined by the women's first seed against fifth, Yamaguchi against Chochuwong.