The world No 40 defeated seventh-seeded Zii Jia 24-22, 21-14 in the first round match that lasted 39 minutes in Stade Pierre de Coubertin, Paris.

The shocking defeat somehow indicated that the All England champion was probably still struggling to rediscover his fine form after he went down 21-19, 21-19 to Olympic gold medallist Viktor Axelsen in the last eight of the Denmark Open last week.

In men’s doubles, Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik strolled into the next stage as they trounced the new professional duo, Goh V Shem-Low Juan Shen, 25-23, 21-12.

In the second round, Aaron-Wooi Yik will lock horns with Supak Jomkoh-Kittinupong Kedren of Thailand or home pair Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar who play later today.

Meanwhile, women’s pair Lee Meng Yean-Yap Cheng Wen emerged victorious against Ukraine’s Mariia Stoliarenko-Yelyzaveta Zharka 21-12, 21-17 to book a tie against the winners of the match between home duo Margot Lambert-Anne Tran and sixth-seeded Chloe Birch-Lauren Smith of England.

In mixed doubles, second-seeds from Indonesia, Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti managed to escape a scare in a tight battle against Malaysian pair Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei 22-20, 21-19.