The unseeded Zii Jia had only himself to blame as he squandered a bright start in the first game to allow world No 19 Guangzu to stage a fightback and take the match to a rubber game.

Rattled, Zii Jia made numerous mistakes in the final game as Guangzu remained composed to silence the home crowd and book his place in the second round.

This is Zii Jia’s third straight early exit in the Malaysia Open – having lost 19-21, 21-19, 16-21 to Indonesia’s Shisar Hiren Rhustavito in the second round in 2022 and 21-13, 17-21, 19-21 to Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the opening round last year.

Zii Jia had also made an early exit in the Malaysia Open in 2019, going down 17-21, 21-19, 15-21 to Thailand’s Suppanyu Avihingsanon in the first round.

World No 11 Zii Jia admitted that Guangzu performed much better than him today, especially in defensive play throughout the third game.

“I did whatever the coach taught me, just that I wasn’t consistent enough. However, many more tournaments are coming up and I just have to keep trying harder,” he said.

The 25-year-old, however, believes in his ability and is confident that he will win on home soil one day.

“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I hate having to answer if I can come back stronger after a defeat, tired of repeating the same thing, but I need to be patient. Don’t know when I can stand up there as a winner…hopefully, one day,” he said.

The Kedah shuttler will be back in action at next week’s 2024 India Open in New Delhi, where he will take on Canada’s Brian Yang in the first round.