BWF Thailand Open 2022 second round: Lee Zii Jia reaches last eight, Axelsen withdraws

The second round is underway at the Thailand Open 2022, a BWF Badminton World Tour Super 500 event being held in Bangkok's Impact Arena.

Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia is safely through to the quarter-finals after seeing off Germany's Kai Schaefer 21-7, 21-11 in straight sets.

That leaves the sixth seed as the top-ranked player left in the men's singles tournament and the only seed remaining after men's world number one, Olympic champion and top seed Viktor Axelsen, has conceded a walkover in his second-round match to Japan's Naraoka Kodai.

"After slipping on the courts last week during Thomas Cup, I suffered a minor injury which I have been dealing with the last 7-8 days," Axelsen wrote on social media. "After my match yesterday it has gotten worse and therefore I have decided to pull out from Thailand Open and get 100% again."

Also out – and also through a withdrawal – is the man who would have likely faced him in the quarter-finals, India's Kidambi Srikanth.

You can read the Olympics.com updates from the second round of play below as it happened.

All times below are local time (UTC +7 hours).

7:05pm – Sindhu to face Yamaguchi

We now know that India's P.V. Sindhu will take on Yamaguchi Akane in the last eight.

Sindhu's through to the quarters after beating Korea's Sim YuJin 21-16, 21-13.

6:25pm – Lee wins easily

That took no time at all.

It looked like it would be a rout, but Schaefer puts up a bit more of a fight in the second.

Lee wins 21-7, 21-11 in 34 minutes.

He's the sole remaining seed in the competition.

5:40pm – Lee Zii Jia takes the court

Malaysia's Asian champion, Lee Zii Jia, is now on Court 1 at the Impact Arena to face Germany's Kai Schaefer.

The withdrawal of Axelsen has really opened up a chance for Lee to win another title.

5:25pm – Yamaguchi Akane secures last eight berth

Yamaguchi Akane, the women's world number one, is also through to the quarter-finals, but needed three games to do so.

She sees off Kim GaEun of Korea 21-23, 15-21, 16-21. She'll play Sim YuJun or P.V. Sindhu.

3:45pm – Tai Tzu-ying through

Women's singles top seed Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei is into the quarter-finals.

She's beaten Indonesia's Ruselli Hartawan 21-15, 21-14 in just 29 minutes.

China's eighth seed He Bingjiao awaits Tai in the last eight.

3:10pm – Thai hopes through; Chen Yufei survives decider

Thailand's women's singles seventh seed Ratchanok Intanon, and their mixed doubles top seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh / Sapsiree Taerattanachai are both safely through in their respective events after winning this morning.

Ratchanok defeated China's Wang Zhiyi 21-13, 21-15 while Dechapol and Sapsiree saw off Chinese Taipei's Lee Jhe-huei / Hsu Ya-ching 21-15, 21-19.

Meanwhile, China's women's third seed Chen Yufei, the Olympic champion, survived a three-setter against counterpart Zhang Yiman.

Zhang took the opener 21-19 before Chen showed her experience and calmness to hold on for the 19-21, 21-14, 21-13 win.