KUALA LUMPUR: Following another Malaysia Open failure, Lee Zii Jia admitted that having to repeat the phrase "come back stronger" can get tiring, even for him.
However, the 26-year-old former world No.2 stressed that he will not give up on his dream to one day be a champion.
The world No. 11 failed to reach the second round after succumbing 16-21, 21-19, 21-15 to China's Lu Guang Zu today.
It was Zii Jia's second straight first-round exit in the home tournament, and third since his debut in 2019.
"There will always be losses and victories, I have no choice.
"I hate to keep saying 'I want to try again' or 'I will come back stronger' because it gets tiring and boring," said Zii Jia.
"But I will remain positive, I will never give up.
"I still show up for training and complete all my coach's (Wong Tat Meng) tasks. As I always say, this is all part of the process.
"I may not even be able to do it (peak) even until I retire, but I will keep trying and trying. I will be patient.
"I don't know when I will be able to stand here and say I'm a champion, but I hope one day I'll be able to say that," said Zii Jia, who suffered 13 early exits (including the second round) from 18 World Tour events last year.
Zii Jia's best achievement last season was winning the Arctic Open and reaching the final of the Denmark Open, both in October.
The former All England champion, who is still on course to qualify for the Paris Olympics in July, will next compete in the India Open (Jan 16-21) and the Indonesia Masters (Jan 23-28).
Meanwhile, Guang Zu, who recorded his second win over Zii Jia in six meetings, will take on Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the second round.
The other Malaysian men's singles, world No. 15 Ng Tze Yong, will play Japan's Koki Watanabe in the second half of first-round matches on Wednesday.
The last Malaysian men's singles player to win the Malaysia Open crown was former world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei, who claimed his record 12th title in 2018.
SELECTED FIRST ROUND RESULTS
Men's singles: Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt Loh Kean Yew (Sin) 21-13, 21-15; K. Srikanth (Ind) bt Jonatan Christie (Ina) 12-21, 21-18, 21-16; Shi Yu Qi (Chn) bt Rasmus Gemke (Den) 20-22, 21-12, 21-10; Lu Guang Zu (Chn) bt Lee Zii Jia 16-21, 21-19, 21-15; Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Ina) bt Su Li Yang (Tai) 21-18, 21-12; Toma Junior Popov (Fra) bt Chou Tien Chen (Tai) 21-11, 19-21, 21-15.
Men's doubles: Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun 21-12, 21-19; Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Ina) bt Adam Dong-Nyl Yakura (Can) 21-16, 21-13; Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Den) bt Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin (Ina) 21-16, 21-10; Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi bt Lu Ching Yao-Yang Po Han (Tai) 21-14, 21-15; Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Lee Yang-Wang Chi Lin (Tai) 21-16, 21-15.
Women's singles: An Se Young (Kor) bt Line Kjaersfeldt (Den) 21-16, 21-10; Han Yue (Chn) bt Putri Kusuma Wardani (Ina) 21-11, 21-13; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Supanida Katethong (Tha) 21-15, 22-20.
Women's doubles: Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yifan (Chn) bt Lee Yu Lim-Shin Seung Chan (Kor) 21-14, 21-14; Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah 22-20, 21-15; Kim So Yeong-Kong Hee Hong (Kor) bt Lee Chia Hsin-Teng Chun Hsun (Tai) 21-11, 21-11.
Mixed doubles: Kim Won Ho-Jeong Na Eun (Kor) bt Tan Kiang Meng-Lai Pei Jing 21-11, 21-16; Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong (Chn) bt Reginald Lee-Ng Tsz Yau (Hkg) 21-14, 21-17; Supak Jomkoh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) bt Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping (Chn) 22-20, 21-19; Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai bt Gregory Mairs-Jenny Mairs (Eng) 21-16, 15-21, 21-17.