Ledoux and Vanzwieten, who joined forces at the start of this year, beat Austria’s Cornelia Rimser and Lena Plesiutschnig 21-13, 21-17 in their opening match at Guanyinshan Gold Beach. 

"We’re really excited, this is our first international event together so it’s nice to start it with a win and qualify," Ledoux said. 

Spain’s Amaranta Fernandez Navarro and Angela Lobato Herrero also paired up for the first time in January and defeated Romania’s Adriana-Maria Matei and Beata Vaida 18-21, 21–17, 15-8 to enter the main draw.

Germany’s Sandra Ittlinger and Teresa Mersmann were among the other duos to progress after defeating Scotland’s Lynne Beattie and Melissa Coutts 21-16, 21-14.

Brazil’s Maria Antonelli and Carolina Horta Maximo advanced thanks to a hard-fought 21-10, 18-21, 15-13 victory over wild cards Katrien Gielen and Liesbeth Mouha of Belgium in their first international tournament.

There were a number of upsets in the men’s qualification, headlined by a 25-23, 16-21, 15-12 win for Czech underdogs Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner over Qatar’s Jefferson Pereira and Cherif Younousse.

Brazil’s Oscar Brandao and Hevaldo Sabino Moreira produced a major shock in their first international tournament together, overcoming top-seeded qualifiers Sean Faiga and Ariel Hilman of Israel 21-12, 16-21, 15-12.

Estonia’s Mart Tiisaar and Kusti Nolvak arrive in Xiamen on the back of a bronze medal at the Malaysian Open last week and overturned Germany’s Lorenz Schumann and Julius Thole 21-16, 21-18.

Another pair who got the better of higher-seeded opposition was France’s Youssef Krou and Quincy Aye, beating Norway’s Daniel Bergerud and Svein Oddmund Solhaug 21-18, 17-21, 15-11.

Switzerland’s Mirco Gerson and Michiel Zandbergen continued the theme of the day with a 19-21, 21-16, 15-13 victory over Turkey’s Murat Giginoglu and Safa Urlu.

The tournament is due to conclude on April 23.