KUALA LUMPUR: The lack of consistency is proving to be a huge problem for Lee Zii Jia, who suffered a shocking first-round exit at the French Open on Wednesday.
Up against an old foe in the form of Loh Kean Yew, the 23-year-old Malaysian was left chasing his own shadow as the Singaporean wrapped up proceedings 24-22, 21-14 in just 39 minutes.
For the Penang-born Kean Yew, the victory was his first over Zii Jia, who got the better of him in the 2019 Philippines Sea Games final.
While Zii Jia continues to look for meaning behind his recent dip in form, Kean Yew will take on the winner of the match between India's Lakshya Sen and Ireland's Nhat Nguyen in the second round of Thursday.
In the men's doubles first round, Tokyo Olympics bronze medal winners Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik nearly did not make it, as they had to dig deep before notching a 25-23, 21-12 win over Goh V Shem-Low Juan Shen.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, who have also been on a low since the Thomas Cup in Aarhus, will play the winner of the match between Thailand's Supak Jomkoh-Kittinupong Kedren and France's Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar in the second round of Thursday.
Also checking into the second round were world No 12 mixed doubles Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, who scored a comfortable 21-18, 21-15 win over Denmark's Jeppe Bay-Sara Lundgaard.
The independent pair will face Thailand's Supak-Supissara Paewsampran next for a place in the quarter-finals.
In the women's doubles, Lee Meng Yean-Yap Cheng Wen scored a 21-12, 21-17 win over Ukraine's Mariia Stoliarenko-Yelyzaveta Zharka, and are slated to take on sixth seeds Chloe Birch-Lauren Smith of England or France's Margot Lambert-Anne Tran next.