Defending champions Team China scraped past Denmark 3-2 to secure a semifinal spot at the badminton 2021 Sudirman Cup in Vantaa, Finland on Friday.

In the opening match of the men's doubles, China's He Jiting and Zhou Haodong were overpowered by the Danish duo Anders Rasmussen and Frederik Sogaard 21-17, 16-21, 19-21.

Zhou rued the defeat while leading for most of the time. "We had led 8-2 in the third set, and keep the lead until 19-19. We're probably not patient enough by losing too many consecutive points," he said.

The second match featured China's Olympic champion Chen Yufei and Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt in the women's singles. Chen lost the first set, 21-18, but fought back to win the next two sets 21-8, 21-17.

"Maybe I was thinking too much like I need to win back the point for China," she said, referring to her first set loss that followed the doubles match.

The two top players had not met for two years in world tournaments. Chen said there is tough competition every time they play.

"No matter how hard it would be, there always are chances to turn the tide as long as I stuck to my own style. She played good defense, did not miss any chance to save shots. I tried to make more moves instead of sharp attacking. It's a challenge for energy," the Tokyo Olympics champion said.

In the third match, the men's singles competition, Danish superstar Viktor Axelsen finished strongly against China's Shi Yuqi, winning 21-17, 21-14.

The men's singles Olympic champion from Tokyo displayed the same power as in the quarterfinal of the Olympics where he also defeated Shi.

"I'd like to play against the shuttlers like Shi, but he has been through some injuries, I think. I'm happy to be here and take the win for the team," said Axelsen, "It means a lot to me. Every win against China is super important. It gives more confidence."

The world No. 2 women's duo of Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan helped Team China to level 2-2 by smashing Maiken Fruergaard and Sara Thygesen 21-10, 21-13 in the fourth women's doubles match.

Tokyo Olympics champion duo Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping won the deciding battle for China, beating Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje 21-18, 21-12 in the fifth mixed doubles match.

"We were a bit nervous in the first game, but we made some adjustments to get into our rhythm," said Wang. "The pressure was definitely higher on us but it's a part of the competition, and we just had to turn pressure into motivation."

Huang continued, "Anyone who plays the deciding match would be under great pressure, so do I. Though we won the match, it's definitely not the time to relax."

Team China will face South Korea in a semifinal on Saturday.

(With input from Xinhua)