KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — National professional men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia started his campaign at the 2024 Australia Open badminton championship on a positive note by eliminating India’s S. Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian today.
However, the 26-year-old had to struggle to secure his spot in the second round, taking one hour and four minutes to defeat Sankar 21-16, 18-21, 21-10 in the match at Sydney Olympic Park.
Lee is next scheduled to meet compatriot Soong Joo Ven, who overcame Canadian challenger Victor Lai 21-16, 21-16 in another first-round match today.
National women’s singles player K. Letshanaa also advanced to the second round after an easy victory over host shuttler Ira Sameer Acharya 21-6, 21-5.
She will face Taiwan’s Pai Yu Po in the second round. The Taiwanese defeated India’s Imad Farooqui Samiya 23-21, 13-21, 24-22 in the first round.
Meanwhile, mixed doubles pair Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing also secured a spot in the second round after brushing aside host pair Ephraim Stephen Sam-Dania Nugroho 21-13, 21-13.
The fifth-seeded pair of the tournament are scheduled to face a tough challenge against the tournament’s top seeds from China Jiang Zheng Bang-Wei Ya Xin in the second round.
— Bernama
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