Ireland's Nhat Nguyen advanced to the second round of the badminton World Championships in Paris with a 21-9 21-18 victory over Brian Yang of Canada.
Nguyen, who is ranked 30th in the world, faced a player just one place behind him in the game's global pecking order, but the reigning two-time Irish Open champion dominated the opening game and held his nerve in the second stanza to advance in 51 minutes.
The 25-year-old will face Japan's Kodai Naraoka in the second round on Wednesday, following the world number eight's commanding 21-10 21-7 win over Sri Lanka's Dumindu Aberwickrama.
Nguyen's team-mate Rachael Darragh retired when trailing Ranithma Liyanage, with the Sri Lankan leading the encounter 19-21 21-11 11-3 at the time.
Moya Ryan and Orla Flynn also fell at the first hurdle in the women's doubles, with Sung Shuo-yun and Yu Chien-hui of Chinese Taipei progressing on a 21-8 21-9 scoreline.
