The 30-year-old Danish star, who is gunning for his third consecutive Malaysia Open title, tamed the Singaporean 21-13, 21-15 in 43 minutes to extend his winning record against his opponent to eight.

They have now played each other 10 times following today’s bout.

“I feel very happy with my first round performance since he is not an easy opponent, especially in the first round. So, I was really focused on bringing the right gameplan today, and I think I executed it well,” Axelsen told reporters after the match.

In the second round on Thursday, the reigning Olympic gold medallist and two-time world champion will take on Taiwan’s Lee Cheuk Yiu, who beat Axelsen’s fellow Dane Magnus Johannesen 21-13, 18-21, 21-19.

Axelsen said Malaysia has been a happy hunting ground for him when asked about his chances of a hattrick of titles.

“I will try to do my best here in Malaysia, especially KL (Kuala Lumpur), it is one of my favourite places to play. So I will see if I can win this week.

“I have been really fortunate to win not only the Malaysia Open, but also the Malaysia Masters in this stadium, which is a legendary stadium, so I am happy to be here,” he said.

Axelsen had previously won the 2022 and 2023 Malaysia Opens, as well as the 2018 Malaysia Masters at the Axiata Arena.

He also finished runner-up to Japan’s former world No 1 Kento Momota at the 2020 Malaysia Masters.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) recently announced Axelsen as the World Tour’s highest earner in 2023, after raking in US$645,095 in prize money.

Meanwhile, world No 24 Srikanth Kidambi of India stunned world No 5 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia 12-21, 21-18, 21-16 in another men’s singles match.

The former world No 1 is set to face Angus Ng in the second round after the Hongkonger had earlier defeated Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama 21-15, 21-9.