All six seeded players in the BWF Australian Open 2024 men’s singles badminton draw, including Malaysian Lee Zii Jia and Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew, made it past their opening tests on Wednesday (12 June).
Lee was made to work the hardest out of all six, with the third seed being taken to a three-game thriller by unfancied Indian opponent S. Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian, with the eighth seed eventually winning 21-16, 18-21, 21-10.
The Malaysian had to come from behind to take the opening game, before struggling to keep pace with Sankar Muthusamy in the second as the Indian levelled the match.
However, the world number eight finally managed to gain control in the decider, leaving his 77th-ranked opponent in his wake to book a second-round match against his compatriot Soong Joo Ven.
The later rounds of the Australian Open are available to stream live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the Olympics mobile app, subject to territorial restrictions.