Zii Jia, seeded fourth, will take on Lin Chun Yi next after the Taiwanese upset reigning champion Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia 13-21, 21-16, 21-8.

World No 10 Zii Jia said he was glad to survive a scare in the second game when Lu took a seven-point lead at 18-11 before he regained his composure to book his second round ticket.

“To be honest, I was ready for a rubber game at 11-18 but I knew I still had to capitalise on whatever chances came my way,” he told reporters after the match.

The 25-year-old admitted that his good run in the Sudirman Cup last week, where he won all five of his matches, had boosted his confidence in this tournament.

Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games silver medallist Ng Tze Yong squandered a first-game win against Japan’s world No 13 Kenta Nishimoto to succumb to a 21-17, 16-21, 13-21 loss.

“I scored many points in the first game because Nishimoto made many mistakes but it was not easy after that, especially in the rubber game, as he was faster than me,” said Tze Yong.

After losing to Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh-Supissara Paewsampran 20-22, 20-22 in the mixed doubles with his partner Lai Pei Jing earlier today, Tan Kian Meng suffered another first round exit, this time in the men’s doubles with Tan Wee Kiong.

Despite taking the first game 23-21, Kian Meng-Wee Kiong ran out of steam in the next two, losing 14-21, 16-21 to Scottish pair Alexander Dunn and Adam Hall.

Zii Jia will join four other Malaysian representatives in the second round tomorrow, comprising three men’s doubles pairs, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi and Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun, as well as national top women’s doubles duo Pearly Tan and M Thinaah.