Zhang was in solid form as she recorded a comfortable 21-17, 21-11 victory against her Japanese opponent at the Topsportcentrum.

She was one of several seeded players to progress to the second round of the main draw on the opening day of women's singles action at the BWF Grand Prix tournament.

Denmark's Mette Poulsen, a European Championships bronze medallist, is also through as the second seed ousted Welsh player Jordan Hart.

Poulsen battled through a tough opening set before claiming a 24-22, 21-11 win.

Her compatriot Mia Blichfeldt, the third seed, enjoyed a much more straightforward encounter as she proved far too strong for Hungarian Agnes Korosi.

Blichfeldt wasted little time in booking a place in the next round as she clinched a commanding 21-11, 21-4 triumph in 24 minutes.

Natalia Koch Rode, also of Denmark, justified her fifth-seeded billing with a 21-12, 21-10 victory against Sri Krishna Kudaravalli of India.

Danish players did not have it all their own way, however, as Fabienne Deprez of Germany dispatched Irina Andersen 21-8, 21-13.

In the men's singles, top seed Wang Tzu-wei of Chinese Taipei, a double gold medallist at the recent Summer Universiade in his home country, was made to work hard for his 21-8, 19-21, 21-19 success over India's Pratul Joshi.

Dutchman Mark Caljouw delighted the home crowd as the seventh seed fought back from a set down to beat Jonathan Persson of Germany 17-21, 21-7, 21-12.