Tze Yong who had to sweat it out against his unknown opponent for 82 minutes, will next face Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn, the seventh seed in the tournament, who had to dig deep into his reserves to overcome Taiwan’s Wang Tzu Wei 21-15, 14-21, 28-26 in another three-set thriller.

Also marching into the second round are professional mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai who defeated Indonesia’s Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto-Lisa Ayu Kusumawati, ranked 10th in the world.

Soon Huat-Shevon, ranked No 17 in the world, lost the first set 15-21 but came back strongly to win the second set 21-18 and force the match into a decider which they eventually won 21-14.

Waiting for them in the second round tomorrow will be Hong Kong pair Lee Chun Hei Reginald-Ng Tsz Yau who also had to go the distance to overcome Scotland’s Adam Hall-Julie Macpherson 21-14, 17-21, 21-11.

Meanwhile, another national mixed doubles pair Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing failed to get past their opponents from South Korea, losing 12-21, 21-14 and 10-21.