Just 24 hours after his opening-round triumph, Axelsen was back on the stage at the Royal Arena producing another masterless to the delight of the home fans.

Axelsen has often found Frenchman Christo Popov a tricky customer having dropped sets in previous encounters.

But there were no such problems for the Dane this time around as he swept to an impressive 21-6, 21-8 triumph.

Popov took the opening two points of the second set but Axelsen quickly hit back before storming to victory.

He will next face Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien-chen who saw off American Howard Shu 21-8, 21-12.

Third seed and last year’s finalist Kunlayut Vitidsarn of Thailand defeated Brazil’s Ygor Coelho 21-9, 21-18.

The victory set up a meeting with India’s 11th seed Lakshya Sen who saw off South Korea’s Jeon Hyeok-jin.

China’s Li Guang Zu was the only seed to fall in the men’s singles today as the 13th seed lost 21-16, 18-21, 21-19 against Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu-wei.

Wang has been rewarded with a clash with another Chinese player in sixth seed Li Shi Feng who beat Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen 21-10, 21-12.

India’s HS Prannoy was in fine form as he crushed Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo 21-9, 21-14.

There was also a big victory for Singapore's seventh seed Loh Kean Yew who thrashed Azerbaijan’s Ade Resky Dwicahyo 21-4, 21-11.

After receiving an opening-round bye, Olympic bronze medallist An came out for the first time in Copenhagen.

There were no early wobbles from the South Korean as she beat Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei 21-12, 21-14.

Her next opponent will be 12th seed Beiwen Zhang of the United States who overcame Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour 21-18, 21-14.

India’s PV Sindhu, the two-time Olympic medallist, was knocked out following a 21-14, 21-14 loss to Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara.

It was a tough draw for the 16th seed as she came up against the former world number one and 2017 world champion who is coming back from injury.

"I feel much better today," said Rio 2016 bronze medallist Okuhara.

"I wasn’t nervous at all.

"It was just myself challenging a good opponent.

"It was difficult getting back when I was 0-9 down, but once I reached 11, I was able to regain my confidence.

"Of course I feel special when I face her, because we’ve played at the Olympics and the World Championships in the past.

"It’s a very special feeling."

Despite the early exit, Sindhu refused to get downhearted about the result.

"I shouldn’t lose hope, and I should believe in myself," said Sindhu.

"I know it’s really sad, I feel bad, I’ve been working hard, but nothing’s working out.

"But it’s important that I go back and work on my skills mentally and physically and come back stronger."

Okuhara will now take on Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon who saw off Chinese Taipei’s Wen Chi-hsu 21-19, 21-19.

China’s fifth seed He Bing Jiao was left breathing a sigh of relief after coming through a thrilling three-setter.

He dropped the opening set before winning a tight second and third to complete a 18-21, 21-19, 21-17 win against Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani.

It sets up an all-Chinese third-round battle against 10th seed Wang Zhi Yi who downed Germany’s Yvonne Li 21-18, 21-11.

Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt delighted the home fans with her 21-14, 21-17 success against Ireland’s Rachael Darrach.

China’s third seed Chen Yu Fei also cruised through, beating Chinese Taipei’s Pai Yu-po 21-14, 21-13 to seal a match against Blichfeldt.

Competition is due to continue tomorrow.