Denmark's Viktor Axelsen fought off tenacious challenge in the first set to beat Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei in the second round of the Hong Kong Open badminton championships on Thursday.

Second-seeded Axelsen, playing his first tournament after retaining the Olympic champion in Paris, won 24-22, 21-6 to book a quarterfinal showdown against sixth seed Chou Tien Chen, also of Chinese Taipei.

"I did not train enough after the Olympic Games," Axelsen said. "So it is not easy to win two matches in a row. My goal is to find back my form."

Defending champion Jonatan Christie of Indonesia defeated Rasmus Gemke of Denmark 21-12, 21-19, and will next play fifth seed Kodai Naraoka, who beat his Japanese compatriot Takuma Obayashi 19-21, 26-24, 21-11.

China's Lei Lanxi dropped the first set but rallied for a 17-21, 21-16, 21-14 victory over Jeon Hyeok-jin of South Korea. He takes on Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong, China.

The other men's quarterfinal will be held between Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia and Jason Gunawan of Hong Kong, China.

On the women's side, three-time champion and top seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei withdrew due to injury when she led 6-2 over Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia.

Third seed Han Yue of China beat Liang Ting Yu of Chinese Taipei 21-14, 21-13. She will next play fifth seed Aya Ohori of Japan, who fought back from one set down to see off Saloni Samirbhai Mehta of Hong Kong, China, 9-21, 21-16, 21-12.