The 32-year-old, who finished third at Athens 2004 and has two World Championships medals to his name, could not find his form on home soil as he succumbed to a 21-13, 21-16 defeat.

The result provided disappointment for the expectant crowd inside the Jakarta Convention Center.

It was to get worse for Indonesia as home favourite Ihsan Maulana Mustofa followed his team-mate in being knocked out of the tournament at the qualification stage, losing in three games by Wei Nan of Hong Kong.

The 21-year-old, a Southeast Asian Games gold medallist and a member of the Indonesia squad which won the Asia Team Championships in Hyderabad last year, fell to a 15-21, 21-18, 21-13 reverse at the hands of Wei.

However, Wei was unable to make it through his second qualifier as he followed Mustofa in exiting the competition after he was beaten 21-16, 21-4 by Sakai.

Asian Games team champion Lee Dong-keun was another casualty at the qualification stage of the tournament, a World Superseries Premier event.

The South Korean was locked in a fierce battle with Denmark's Emil Holst as he ended on the wrong side of a 21-11, 10-21, 21-14 scoreline in a contest which lasted exactly an hour.

Main draw action is set to get underway tomorrow.

Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying will begin the defence of her women’s title with a match against Japan’s Minatsu Mitani, while second seed Carolina Marin of Spain will meet China’s Chen Xiaoxin.

In the men's draw, perennial Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei, the defending champion, gets his campaign in Jakarta up and running when he meets Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia.