China's Shi Yuqi beat 11th seed Rasmus Gemke of Denmark to reach the last 16 at the World Badminton Championships in Tokyo on Tuesday. 

Shi, who returned to action after a 10-month suspension, took 46 minutes to down the Dane 21-13, 21-16 in the second round. 

"I played much better than the first match, although there is still a long way from my best badminton," the 2018 world finalist said, whose world ranking slipped from 10 to 25th because of the absence.

Shi will next take on the sixth seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia, who crushed Georges Julien Paul of Mauritius 21-10, 21-16. Shi has kept a perfect record in their six previous meetings. 

"He is a tough player and always makes you suffer," Shi said. "That will definitely be a difficult match." 

Meanwhile, China's Lu Guangzu crashed out of the tournament after losing to Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei 21-18, 21-16. 

"I made many errors," Lu said after the match, "I was not patient enough, and I need to improve the combination of techniques and tactics."

On the women's side, ninth-seeded He Bingjiao beat American Wang Yuanli 21-13, 21-7 without much difficulty, and will next face off three-time world champion, Spanish star Carolina Marin, who eliminated Canadian Zhang Wenyu 21-16, 21-14. 

Wang Zhiyi saw off Dane Line Christophersen 21-15, 21-14 and will have a Chinese derby against her compatriot Han Yue next. 

In the mixed doubles, all three Chinese pairs have advanced to the next round, with Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping opening their campaign with a difficult win, beating Malaysian duo Chen Tang Jie and Peck Yen Wei 21-14, 12-21, 21-11. Tokyo Olympic silver medalists Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong defeated Ties Van Der Lecq and Debora Jille of the Netherlands 21-11, 21-12. Both pairs secured spots in the quarterfinals thanks to their first-round bye.

Guo Xinwa and Zhang Shuxian beat American Vinson Chiu and Jennie Gai 21-14, 21-14 in the first round.

On Wednesday, China's Tokyo Olympic champion Chen Yufei and women's top seeds pair Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan will have their debuts at the Championships. Another highlight of the day will be Japan's local favorite Kento Momota's clash against Indian Prannoy H. S.

(With input from Xinhua)

(Cover image: Shi Yuqi of China competes in the men's singles second round match against Rasmus Gemke of Denmark during the BWF World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, August 23, 2022. /CFP)