Denmark's Viktor Axelsen secured a hard-fought victory, overcoming China's Wang Zhengxing 16-21, 21-17, 21-11 in the first round of the 2025 BWF China Masters on Wednesday.

The two-time Olympic champion, who has been recovering from injury, admitted that he is still working his way back to full fitness. "It wasn't an easy win. Wang is a very talented opponent, and it was very difficult to play against Chinese shuttlers here," Axelsen said in fluent Chinese.

Olympic champion Chen Yufei of China also made a successful return from injury, defeating teammate Han Qianxi 21-13, 21-16. "This was my first full match since the World Championships, and my movement was better than I expected. I'm just here to give it a shot," Chen said.

Han urged Chen to "win it all" and said she hoped she could go as far as possible while staying healthy. On their early matchup, she added: "I didn't want to face her in the first round, but in a way it fulfilled my wish to compete against her, even if it wasn't in the finals."

Men's doubles pair Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in action in the game. [photo:xinhua]

Malaysia's mixed doubles world champions Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei advanced smoothly, beating the American pair of Chen Zhiyi and Francesca Corbett 21-12, 21-14. "We have to start from zero. There will be more difficulties, but overcoming them is what we need to do," Toh said.

Men's doubles pair Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang scored a swift 21-14, 21-13 victory over Denmark's William Kryger Boe and Christian Faust Kjaer. In women's doubles, their compatriots Jia Yifan and Zhang Shuxian also powered into the second round. "Our goal right now is to qualify for the finals," Jia said.