Home hope Lee Zii Jia is through to the first round of the Badminton World Federation Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur ©Getty Images

Home hope Lee Zii Jia is through to the opening round of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Malaysia Masters after winning his two qualification matches in Kuala Lumpur today.

Lee started his men's singles campaign in the BWF World Tour Super 500 event by beating fellow Malaysian Soong Joo Ven 21-23, 21-13, 24-22 at the Axiata Arena.

He then defeated Thailand's Sitthikom Thammasin 21-17, 21-16 to set up a first-round meeting with another Thai, Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk, who also progressed through qualification today.

Saensomboonsuk registered a 21-18, 21-13 win over India's Subhankar Dey before overcoming Malaysia's Iskandar Zulkarnain 12-21, 21-16, 21-12.

Also earning their place in the men's singles main draw were India's Parupalli Kashyap and Denmark's Victor Svendsen.

Parupalli clinched his spot by beating Russia's Vladimir Malkov 21-12, 21-17, while Svendsen did so with a 22-20, 8-21, 21-19 victory over Malaysia's Chong Wei Feng.

Indonesia's Yulia Yosephin Susanto was one of four players to advance through to the first round of the women's singles event ©Getty Images
Indonesia's Yulia Yosephin Susanto was one of four players to advance through to the first round of the women's singles event ©Getty Images

In the women’s singles event, Indonesia’s Yulia Yosephin Susanto and Ruselli Hartawan were two of the four players to advance through to tomorrow's first round.

In qualification, Susanto defeated the United States' Disha Gupta 21-17, 21-13 and Hartawan overcame India's Rituparna Das 21-13, 26-24.

Susanto will face compatriot Fitriani Fitriani, who claimed the BWF Thailand Masters title on Sunday (January 13), in the opening stage.

Standing between Hartawan and the second round is Hong Kong's Yip Pui Yin.

The two other players coming through qualification today were Switzerland's Sabrina Jaquet and Singapore's Yeo Jia Min.

Jaquet beat India’' Mugdha Agrey 21-17, 18-21, 21-19, while Yeo defeated Germany's Yvonne Li 21-8, 21-13.