KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 — Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh congratulated national professional shuttler Lee Zii Jia for winning the men’s singles title at the 2024 Australian Open after beating Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the final yesterday, his second title of the season.

"Congratulations to Lee Zii Jia for winning the 2024 Australian Open. Keep up the momentum! #RoadtoGold,” said Hannah in her official Facebook posting today.

In the action at the Quaycentre in Sydney Olympic Park, the former All England champion, ranked world number eight however, did not have an easy passage to the podium, since Naraoka, the world number six, who had lost the first game 19-21, bounced back to take the second game 21-11 and force the outcome to be decided in a third game, before Zii Jia found an extra gear to take the third game 21-18.

Zii Jia, the 2024 Thailand Open winner, had earlier secured a slot for the 2024 Paris Olympics which is scheduled from July 26 to August 11.

Also in the list of players for the Paris Olympics are Goh Jin Wei (women’s singles), Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles), Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah (women’s doubles) and Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (mixed doubles). — Bernama