India's Ajay Jayaram beat the third seed at the BWF Swiss Open ©Getty Images

Ajay Jayaram knocked out world number 12 Rasmus Gemke in the second round of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Swiss Open, breaking the seeds' monopoly on men's singles quarter-final places.

Denmark's Gemke, seeded third, is the only one of eight top-ranked players not to reach the quarter-finals because of Jayaram's efforts.

The Indian player, who has not won a BWF World Tour title since 2015, triumphed 21-18, 17-21, 21-13 in Basel.

"The first set was a see-saw battle, but I did well in the end to pull it out," Jayaram told The Indian Express.

"Had to dig deep and throw in a mix of attacking and defensive play."

Jayaram added that his "focus now is on getting my body ready for tomorrow’s quarter-final".

Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn - seeded eighth - awaits.

Olympic champion Carolina Marín has opened the BWF Swiss Open with back-to-back straight-games victories ©Getty Images
Olympic champion Carolina Marín has opened the BWF Swiss Open with back-to-back straight-games victories ©Getty Images

The top two seeds - Dane Viktor Axelsen and Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia - both won in straight games.

The same can be said of the top two in the women's singles - Olympic champion Carolina Marín of Spain and India's world champion PV Sindhu.

South Korean Sung Ji-hyun was the sole seed to lose, upset 20-22, 19-21 by Thai 20-year-old Phittayaporn Chaiwan.

Six of the eight women's singles quarter-finalists were among the eight seeded players.

The top seeds also won in the men's, women's and mixed doubles today, with the latter tournament down to the final four.