Showing superior control and accurate placings throughout the two games, the defending champion and world No 4 took 43 minutes to defeat Popov 21-15, 21-11 at the Energia Areena in Vantaa, Finland.

Zii Jia also beat the world No 27 in their sole previous encounter at the 2022 German Open.

However, a tough match awaits the Olympic bronze medalist as he will take on Japan’s Yushi Tanaka who defeated China’s rising star and world No 22 Lei Lanxi.

Zii Jia has been placed in the top half of the draw along with Denmark’s world No 3 Anders Antonsen, Indonesia’s world No 9 Anthony Ginting and Taiwan’s world No 10 Chou Tien-chen.

Ginting, another Chinese player Lu Guangzu or Japan’s Koki Watanabe could await the Malaysian in the last eight if he clears his next hurdle.

Zii Jia beat fellow Malaysian Ng Tze Yong in the Arctic Open final last year.