Women's top seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan booked her place in the second round in Bangkok ©Getty Images

Women's top seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan booked her place in the second round of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Thailand Open as she eased to a comfortable win over China's Gao Fangjie in Bangkok.

Yamaguchi, silver medallist at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, beat Gao 21-14, 21-14 to progress at the Nimibutr Stadium in this HSBC BWF Super 500 event. 

The Japanese player will face Goh Jin Wei of Malaysia next after she dispatched Indonesia's Fitriani Fitriani 21-12, 21-19.

She was joined in round two by India's Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu, who defeated Bulgaria's Linda Zetchiri 21-18, 21-15.

Sindhu's opponent tomorrow is set to be Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong after she edged Lee Chia Hsin of Chinese Taipei 21-14, 21-10.

In the men's singles event, India's HS Prannoy, seeded fourth, progressed with a 21-16, 21-19 win over Spain's Pablo Abian.

The Indian player is due next to take on Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia next after he beat team-mate Ihsan Maulana Mustofa 21-19, 21-8.

India's HS Prannoy was among the winners in the first round of the men's singles draw ©Getty Images
India's HS Prannoy was among the winners in the first round of the men's singles draw ©Getty Images

Both the men's and women's singles main draw were hit with a spate of withdrawals before the event got underway in the Thai capital.

Defending women's champion and home favourite Ratchanok Intanon was among those to pull out of the tournament.

Intanon, world champion in 2013, cited a back injury as the reason for her withdrawal, with her coach claiming she has been "advised to take a break" from the sport to properly recover.

Chinese top seed Shi Yuqi and Olympic champion and compatriot Chen Long also decided not to play at the last minute.