Sydney: Professional men's singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia suffered an opening-round exit at the Australian Open 2026 after losing to Taiwan's Lee Chia Hao in Sydney today. Zii Jia was shown the door after he went down 13-21, 22-24 to Chia Hao in the Super 500 tournament at the Quaycentre, Olympic Boulevard. According to BERNAMA News Agency, in contrast, national shuttler Justin Hoh enjoyed a winning start to his campaign, battling past India's Kiran George 21-19, 14-21, 21-15 in a gruelling 62-minute first-round match. The world No. 47 will next face Ireland's Nhat Nguyen, who dispatched Singapore's Jason Teh 21-18, 21-11. In the women's singles action, national player Wong Ling Ching was made to slog for 75 minutes before prevailing in her maiden meeting against Aakarshi Kashyap from India, 21-19, 19-21, 22-20. Awaiting Ling Ching in the second round tomorrow is eighth seed from Taiwan, Huang Yu-Hsun, who eliminated American player Disha Gupta 21-17, 21-16. Meanwhile, national mixed doubles pair Jimmy Wong- Cheng Su Yin made it to the next round as they triumphed against home duo Andika Ramadianshyah-Nozomi Shimizu, 21-15, 21-16. Jimmy-Su Yin will set up the second-round clash against Ruttanapak Oupthong-Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat from Thailand, who defeated home pair Timotius Elbert-Sylvina Kurniawan, 21-11, 21-17. Other results from the tournament saw Lee Cheuk Yiu from Hong Kong defeating Eogene Ewe 18-21, 21-10, 21-15 in men's singles. In mixed doubles, Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing emerged victorious against Australian pair Michael Owen-Gronya Somerville with scores of 21-17, 21-14, while Loo Bing Kun-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan overcame German duo Calvin Devereux-Desiree Toepffer 21-1, 21-3.