The Iranian team took just seven seconds to take the lead at the Indoor Stadium Huamark, with Fatemeh Etedadi finding the net.

It set up a tough match for Turkmenistan, who proved unable to stem the flow of Iranian goals.

Etedadi, Fahimeh Zarei and Karimi all found the net twice in the first half, helping Iran to an 8-0 lead at half-time.

Karimi would complete her hat-trick in the second half, while Etedadi scored to late goals as Iran ultimately secured a 14-0 success.

The result puts them top of Group D and should secure their place in the knock-out stage of the competition.

Turkmenistan will hope to bounce back from their damaging debut defeat when they meet Uzbekistan in their second match on Saturday (May 5).

China and Japan both began their Group C campaigns with comfortable victories against Bahrain and Lebanon.

The Chinese team recovered from conceding in their first minute to Bahrain to secure a 5-2 victory in their contest in the Bangkok Arena.

Japan were able to complete a 5-1 win over Lebanon to put themselves top of the group.

The top two teams from each group will advance.

Group A and B will resume tomorrow.