Momota, who won this tournament in 2018 and 2019 before pulling out last year due to the coronavirus situation in Europe, triumphed 21-12, 21-15 against France’s Toma Junior Popov.

Elsewhere in the men’s singles, third seed Anders Antonsen faced fellow Danish player Rasmus Gemke in a repeat of the showpiece match from last year’s event.

Antonsen came from a game down to win on that occasion, but things were more straightforward for the defending champion this time, as he won 21-16, 22-20.

In the women’s singles draw, the two seeded players in action on day one both enjoyed routine victories, with fourth seed Pusarla Sindhu of India overcoming Neslihan Yigit of Turkey 21-12, 21-10.

An Seyoung of South Korea was also a straight games winner, overcoming Germany’s Yvonne Li 21-12, 21-17.

Among the other winners in the women’s singles was Mia Blichfeldt, competing on home soil, who defeated Lianne Tan of Belgium 21-16, 21-15.

In the doubles competitions, there were contrasting fortunes for the men’s and women’s top seeded pairings, who were both in action at the Odense Sports Park.

In the men’s event, top seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia overcame French duo Christo and Toma Junior Popov 21-14, 21-19, with Toma Junior left to reflect on an unkind draw that pitted him against the top seed in both the men’s singles and doubles.

In the women’s event, top seeds Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan of China were trailing 5-1 in the first game when they withdrew from their match against Denmark’s Amalie Magelund and Freja Ravn.

First round action is scheduled to continue across all five competitions at the Super 1000 World Tour event tomorrow.