Lee Zii Jia was sent packing 19-21, 19-21 against reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in the Denmark Open quarter-finals.

Axelsen came into this match having last lost a match in the final of the European Championships when he was forced to concede a walkover against team-mate Anders Antonsen.

Before that, the only time Axelsen completed a match on the losing side was to Lee at the All-England final back in March.

The lanky Dane, full of confidence since clinching gold in Tokyo, only needed 39 minutes for the win.

“He was the better player today. He was playing at a high level throughout the match and I couldn’t maintain that tempo. That is my biggest problem at this point,” admitted Lee after the defeat.

Axelsen will face Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu in the semi-finals, while Kento Momota is up against Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto.

All in all, it was a day of exits for the Malaysian camp, except for men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin, who shocked fourth seeds Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto 21-18, 21-17 to check into the semi-finals.

They will face Danish pair Kim Astrup-Anders Rasmussen for a place in the final.

Mixed doubles pair Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing exited after a 21-19, 12-21, 14-21 loss to Japan’s Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino, while Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi were also no match for Germans Mark Lamsfuss-Marvin Seidil following a 18-21, 19-21 defeat.