The five-time world champion was made to work hard by tall Swede Juliana Soderstrom, but ultimately prevailed 3-0 to advance to the second round.

Victory sets up a clash on Saturday (May 21) with Germany’s Azize Nimani, who recorded a surprise 3-0 success over Asian Games bronze-medallist Nandintsetseg Myagmardulam of Mongolia.

Kom, bidding for a record sixth world title, will have to reach at least the semi-finals in order to give herself the opportunity to win another Olympic medal at Rio 2016.

Also still in the running to secure their ticket are Hungary’s Katalin Ancsin and Belarus’ Yana Burym, the winners of the day’s opening flyweight bouts.

Ancsin beat the Dominican Republic’s Estefani Almanzar de Leon 2-0, while Burym claimed a 3-0 victory over Jamaica’s Sarah-Joy Rae.

"I felt great in the first two rounds against my young opponent," said Ancsin.

"I boxed from a longer distance and knew I could control the contest.

"I had a few problems in the third but finished well in the fourth.

"The opening contest is always hard and the last round was really hectic, but I feel I had the clear shots and kept smiling throughout."

In other flyweight contests,  France’s Sarah Ourahmoune narrowly came through her first test against Vietnam’s Thi Bang Le and talented American Virginia Fuchs won her debut World Championship bout against Brazilian Grazieli Jesus de Sousa.

The first bout of the middleweight competition saw Germany’s Sarah Scheurich beat Tajikistan’s Shoira Zulkaynarova, before Gabon’s Chimene Moulomba shocked International Boxing Association (AIBA) Women’s Youth World Championships bronze medallist Alina Gadzhiyeva of Azerbaijan in their light heavyweight contest.

It was Moulomba’s first-ever international elite-level bout, which she won by TKO in the second round.

The afternoon session also saw Uzbekistan’s Dilnozakhon Odiljonova beat Bolivia’s Nadia Barriga Villarroel 2-0.

The flyweight will now go on to face be Britain’s Olympic champion Nicola Adams' in the second round.

Adams’ team-mate Chantelle Cameron got her campaign off to a flying start in the opening bout of the evening's lightweight session with a first-round TKO against Jordan’s Asma Ismail.

Sweden’s Agnes Alexiusson successfully negotiated her tricky tie against Italy’s Irma Testa, setting up a tough second-round match with Irish superstar and five-time world champion Katie Taylor.

In a repeat of the final from the AIBA African Olympic Qualification Event in March, Morocco’s Hasnaa Lachgar again got the better of Tunisia’s Hlimi Khouloud to advance to the next round.

North Korea’s Tong Sun Ri will face France’s Estelle Mossely after beating Germany’s Tasheena Bugar and Valerian Spicer made history for the Dominican Republic, winning their first match ever in the tournament with a TKO against Hungarian Timea Takacs.

In the final bout of the day, American Mikaela Mayer put in an impressive display to progress at the expense of Turkey’s Esra Yildiz.

The evening’s action was preceded by an Opening Ceremony, while a press conference was held with AIBA executive director Karim Bouzidi and Kazakhstan Boxing Federation counterpart Bekzhan Bektenov prior to the afternoon session.

"The Kazakhstan Boxing Federation has always been an important partner for AIBA and I would like to thank them and the Local Organising Committee for their amazing work in organising this Women’s World Championships," said Bouzidi.

"This is a land of boxing and another important milestone for the championships.

"We have 285 boxers taking part and are fortunate to have some fantastic ambassadors for the tournament that include Olympic gold medallists and brilliant officials."

To read our live blog from the opening day's action click here.