Viktor Axelsen and Anthony Ginting make winning starts at German Open

Olympic badminton champion Viktor Axelsen secured a comfortable win at the German Open which started on Tuesday (8 March).

Denmark's world number one needed just 33 minutes to defeat home player Max Weisskirchen 21-11, 21-14.

The German, ranked 63 in the world, was unable to upset the form book against top seed Axelsen who claimed his first Olympic title at Tokyo 2020.

The Super 300 tournament in Muelheim an der Ruhr, Germany is the third event on this season's World Tour calendar which commenced with back-to-back tournaments in India earlier this year.

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Fourth seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting also enjoyed a winning start in Germany as he defeated Spain's Pablo Abian.

The Indonesian led from start to finish in the opening game, but Abian fought back in the second and, at one stage held a 9-5 lead. However, the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist responded and managed to close the gap as they headed into the mid-game interval.

The second half of the second game was a closely-fought encounter with the players trading points. It was Abian who brought up the first game point at 20-18, but was unable to force the decider as Ginting levelled before clinching victory 21-14, 23-21 in 41 minutes.

Ginting will face play India's Lakshya Sen in the last 16 with Axelsen taking on Toma Junior Popov of France for a spot in the quarter-finals.

For most of the field, the German Open is a chance to sharpen their game ahead of the first Super 1000 event of the year, the All England Open, taking place in Birmingham from 16-20 March.