Singapore's paddlers got off to a winning start at the Women's World Cup in Kobe, Japan, as both Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu posted victories in their respective matches on Saturday.

Feng, the world No. 4, suffered an early scare against Japan's Ai Fukuhara when she fell two games behind early in their tie. But the Singaporean regrouped in time to beat her world No. 15 opponent 9-11, 7-11, 11-3, 11-3, 11-9, 11-5.

Her team-mate Yu will play world No. 1 Liu Shiwen of China and South Korean Seok Ha Jung in Stage 2 of the group rounds, after topping her group in Stage 1 with two victories. The world No. 27 beat Turkey's Melek Hu 4-1 and Yadira Silva of Mexico 4-0.

Feng was a losing semi-finalist to Liu last year, while Yu lost to Feng in the quarter-finals.