Champion Akane Yamaguchi cruises in badminton worlds opener

Japan's Yamaguchi beat Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 21-12, 21-15 in front of an appreciative home crowd in Tokyo to kick off her hunt for a second straight world title. "I wasn't really nervous but you do get players who lose in the first round and go straight out, so I was really focused on getting the result," said 25-year-old Yamaguchi. "I never felt that I had any breathing space until towards the end of the second game.

It was more about dealing with my opponent than me going on the attack." Spain's Carolina Marin, who is aiming to win a record fourth world title in Tokyo, got her campaign off to a steady start with a 21-16, 21-14 win over Canada's Wen Yu Zhang. Former world number one Marin endured a horror 2021, missing both the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics and the world championships in her hometown of Huelva after suffering an ACL injury. Marin returned to action in April this year but she said Tuesday that she was "not 100 percent yet".

"This is the condition that I have right now and I have to play in this condition," said Marin, seeded number five for the competition. "Let's see how far I can go in this tournament. Of course I want to get a medal here and I want to win, but this is not something I have in my mind." There were also first-round wins for South Korean number three seed An Se-young -- 21-18, 21-10 over Vietnam's Thuy Linh Nguyen -- and India's Saina Nehwal, who beat Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi 21-19, 21-9.