It was a challenging opening day for the European players at the Kumamoto Masters Japan. None of the three entries managed to advance past the first round.

Camille Pognante/Margot Lambert pushed their Chinese Taipei opponents to three games but narrowly missed out with a tight 19-21 loss in the decider. Similarly, Rasmus Kjær/Christian Faust Kjær—playing their first tournament together—came close in a dramatic match against Korea. After dropping the first game 19-21, they responded strongly to win the second 21-10 and even led for most of the decider before falling 19-21.

Magnus Johannesen was also in action, but the Dane went down 16-21 16-21.

Europe will have more chances tomorrow when Mathias Christiansen/Alexandra Bøje, Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue, Tereza Švábíková, Keisha Fatimah Azzahra, and Rasmus Gemke step onto court.

All matches are available live on BWF TV on YouTube.