Alex Lanier, seeded eighth, kicked off his run to defend his title with a solid win over Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao, 21-12 21-14.

“Maybe there is small pressure (as defending champion) for sure, but I feel we’re all good, and I’m taking it one by one and trying to play my best badminton and to enjoy on court. It’s different feeling, but I’m in the same focus,” the Frenchman said after his win.

Lanier will have a day off before returning to the court for the second round, where he’ll face Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan. The last time they met was two years ago at the World Junior Championships in the team event, where Farhan won. But a lot has changed since then, with Lanier now sitting 20 places higher in the world rankings.

“I’m not the underdog anymore. I feel good on court. I’m better also, physically, and mentally I feel stable. I’m getting used to the big hall and the conditions,” he admitted, reflecting on how much has changed since lifting the trophy in Japan a year ago.

Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen are safely into the second round as well. They faced fellow Danes Daniel Lundgaard/Mads Vestergaard and secured a solid win, 21-19 21-16. It wasn’t the only Danish success of the day in men’s doubles, as Rasmus Kjær/Frederik Søgaard have also advanced to the next round after defeating Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei/Yang Po-Hsuan 21-15 21-16 – it’s the first time the Danes have managed to beat this pair.

More Europeans on court tomorrow
Tomorrow, the first round continues with many big matches still to come. Toma Junior Popov will take on third seed Shi Yu Qi, Mia Blichfeldt faces a tough opener against Akane Yamaguchi who competes on home soil, and there’s an all-European clash between Rasmus Gemke and Christo Popov.

You can see all of today’s results here and tomorrow’s order of play here. Matches start at 2 AM (CEST).