Zii Jia lost 24-26, 21-12, 11-21 to World Championship silver medallist and fourth seed Kodai Naraoka of Japan in one hour and 15 minutes.

The 25-year-old Zii Jia, ranked 14th in the world, has been struggling to regain his form having lost in the third round of the world meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, last month.

He has reached three semifinals this year – at the All England and Swiss Open in March and the Australian Open last month – out of the 15 Badminton World Federation (BWF) tournaments he has competed in.

Malaysia’s hopes in the men’s singles now rest on the shoulders of Ng Tze Yong, who upset India’s World Championship bronze medallist HS Prannoy yesterday to make the second round.

Meanwhile, national mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei qualified for the second round after beating India’s Rohan Kapoor and Reddy Sikki 21-15, 21-16.

They will next play the sixth seeds from South Korea, Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun.

In the women’s singles, Goh Jin Wei lost 18-21, 12-21 to Japan’s Aya Ohori in the opening round.

Several other Malaysian representatives are scheduled to play today on the second day of the competition, including former men’s doubles World Champions Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik.