World No 11 Zii Jia was made to slog for one hour and 15 minutes before beating Tze Yong 21-15, 20-22, 21-17 at the Shenzen Bay Gymnasium.

“This is the last tournament of the season for me so I just wanted to go all out. It hasn’t been a good year. I hope to regain my confidence as soon as possible,” he said in an audio recording shared by the Badminton World Federation.

Zii Jia said he and his coach Wong Tat Meng had drawn up a strategy for his future matches.

He will play China’s Lu Guang Zu in the second round tomorrow.

Meanwhile, top women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and M Thinaah ended their season on a losing note after they were beaten 11-21, 21-15, 20-22 by South Korea’s Jeong Na-eun and Kim Hye-jeong.

The same fate befell mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai, who lost 17-21, 20-22 to Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet.