Rio Olympic bronze medalist Nozomi Okuhara eased into the second round of the Yonex Open Japan on Wednesday by defeating Line Kjaersfeldt 21-13, 21-6 in her opening match.
Okuhara won seven straight points at the start en route to sending the Dane packing in half an hour. She dealt well with shots from her 174-cm-tall opponent and worked her across the court at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, where she won her Super Series title last year.
"The performance was OK," said Okuhara, who had only four days rest after returning from Brazil. "I was (very pleased) by the loud cheers from the fans when I entered although it's only the first round."
After Okuhara's bronze and gold in the women's doubles by Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi in Brazil last month, tickets for the tournament have been snapped up by fans anxious to see them play at home in the first Super Series tournament after the Olympic Games.
Akane Yamaguchi, who lost to Okuhara in the final of this tournament last year and in the quarterfinals at the Rio Games, also advanced to the second round by defeating Yip Pui-yin of Hong Kong 21-13, 21-14.
And Natsuki Nidaira, 18, claimed a big scalp as she upset Rio Games quarterfinalist Porntip Buranapras of Thailand 15-21, 21-19, 22-20.
In the men's doubles, Rio Games quarterfinalists Kenichi Hayakawa and Hiroyuki Endo defeated Mathias Christians and Kim Astrup of Denmark 21-16, 21-19.