Axelsen faced compatriot Genke in his opening Group A match of the men’s singles event at the Bali International Convention Center.

The contest ended after six points with Axelsen leading 5-1, with Gemke forced to withdraw from the event.

Momota also pulled out of his Group A tie against India's Lakshya Sen after two points.

The retirements of Genke and Momota have led to Axelsen and Sen being assured of semi-final spots after the first of three days of group matches.

"This situation is so absurd," Axelsen wrote in now deleted Twitter post.

"Not how you want a tournament like this.

"This should be the 8 best players in the world competing at the highest level.

"This schedule is slowing running everyone down.

"I feel sorry for all the players who are injured."

The BWF World Tour Finals is the third consecutive event taking place in Bali, following Indonesia Masters and Open events in recent weeks.

Group B matches in the men’s singles competition were both completed with Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia beating Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-15, 21-16 in his opening contest.

India’s Srikanth Kidambi overcame France’s Toma Junior Popov 21-14, 21-16 in the other tie.

South Korea’s An Se-young won her first match in Group B of the women’s singles event, following her back-to-back Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open triumphs.

An secured a 21-16, 21-5 win over Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand.

Top seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan won 21-11, 21-14 against Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min in the second match in the group.

World champion PV Sindhu of India secured a 21-14, 21-16 win over Denmark’s Line Christophersen in Group A.

Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand beat Germany’s Yvonne Li 21-18, 21-18 in the second match in the group.

Indonesia’s Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo overcame Olympic champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei 23-21, 21-19 in the opening men’s doubles Group A match.

Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark won 21-16, 21-5 against Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty of India.

Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi won 21-14, 21-19 in Group B against Pramudya Kusumawardana and Yeremia Rambitan of Indonesia.

Malaysia’s Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi were 21-16, 21-19 winners over France’s Christo and Toma Junior Popov in the second contest in the Group.

Indonesia’s Olympic champions Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu won their opening match of the women’s doubles competition.

The home pairing were 21-15, 21-12 winners over Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand in Group A.

South Korea’s Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong won 21-14, 21-14 in the same group against Malaysia’s Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan.

Group B saw Bulgaria’s Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva win 21-12, 21-11 over England’s Chloe Birch and Lauren Smith, while Japan’s Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida beat India’s Ashwini Ponnappa N. Sikki Reddy 21-14, 21-18.

Mixed doubles competition saw Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying win an all-Malaysian Group A match 21-14, 21-13 against Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing, while Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino beat Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Bøje of Denmark 21-12, 21-15.

Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai won in three games 21-14, 10-21, 21-11 against Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti in Group B.

Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet clinched a 21-11, 21-16 win over England’s Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith in the same group.