Ranked 41 in the world, the 33-year-old fought for 46 minutes to secure a 21-12, 21-18 win to defeat the Dane at the Impact Arena in Bangkok according to the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

“I am quite surprised. Before the tournament, I was not sure if I would be participating because I was on the reserves list. So to make it at the last minute and to win against the third seed is a big surprise for me.

“I did not train much because of the lockdown. I just kept myself fit at home. I always think I can compete, because my past results showed that sometimes I did well, so I believe in myself, but it’s just that sometimes my condition is not so good,” he told BWF after the match.

In the second round tie, Daren, the 2018 World Championship bronze medallist, will face Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu, who defeated Abhinav Manota of New Zealand 21-13, 21-17.

Daren’s winning form was followed by compatriot Lee Zii Jia in bouncing back from a set down to eliminate HS Prannoy of India 13-21, 21-14, 21-18 after a close to an hour battle.

The world No 8 is scheduled to face another Indian shuttler, world No 14 Srikanth Kidambi, in the last 16 stage tomorrow.

However, the country’s challenge in the women’s singles category ended when both Soniia Cheah and S Kisona were ousted from the tournament.

National No 1 Soniia went down 15-21, 12-21 to world No 9 An Se-young of South Korea after a 38-minute battle, while Kisona lost to former world No 1 Saina Nehwal 21-15, 21-15 in a match rescheduled from yesterday.

Meanwhile, BWF confirmed that a German coach and a team entourage member from France were positive for Covid-19 in a mandatory PCR test conducted on Tuesday.

“The positive results were then confirmed today in a second test. They are currently in hospital for further observation and testing, and are required to stay in hospital for a minimum of 10 days.

“All players tested on Tuesday have returned a negative result,” BWF said in a statement.