The 26-year-old, who is the tournament’s fifth seed, lost the first game 19-21 before putting on a calm and composed performance to win the next two games 21-11, 21-14 at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil here.

This is World No 10 Zii Jia’s third win over Jun Peng, having defeated the Chinese shuttler in the 2022 German Open and 2023 Hong Kong Open.

The 2021 All England champion will next take on India’s Kiran George after the latter downed Japan’s Takuma Obayashi 21-16, 21-17 in another first-round match at the Super 500 tournament.

“I think the confidence I gained in Thailand helped me to manage the disappointment (of losing) the first game. I am happy with the way I managed the game today,” he said.

“Usually, these rising stars (like Kiran) … they have no pressure and just come up and upset you. These are the challenges that I have to manage as well,” he said.

Meanwhile, top national men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik also cleared the first hurdle when they edged South Korea’s Kim Young-hyuk-Wang Chan 21-18, 22-20.

The win ensures the top-seeds a first-ever meeting against China’s Chen Bo Yang-Liu Yi in the last-16 tomorrow.

On paper, the 2022 world champions and current World No 4 Aaron-Wooi Yik should have no problems getting past the World No 25 Chinese pair for a place in the quarter-finals.