Viktor Axelsen and Nozomi Okuhara stormed into the third round to stay on course for back-to-back men's and women's titles at the badminton world championships on Wednesday. Denmark's Axelsen, the top seed and men's world number one, subdued a spirited first-game challenge from China's unseeded Huang Yuxiang.
The first game was tied at 16-16 when water drops on the court forced a lengthy delay and eventually the relocation of the match to another court. That's when Axelsen caught fire, closing out the first game and stepping on the gas in game two to win the match 21-17, 21-8.
"I was not prepared for the unexpected incident on the court," Huang said. "He (Axelsen) went into the game much better after the break. I didn't get used to the new court as quickly as he did." Women's eighth seed Okuhara of Japan made shorter work of unseeded Rachel Honderich, sending the 22-year-old Canadian packing 21-11, 21-9 in just 28 minutes in Nanjing. Hosts China, led by the great Lin Dan, are the sport's superpower, but they have seen their dominance slip of late and can expect a tough fight against the rest of the world's best in Nanjing.
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