Kuala Lumpur: Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has expressed optimism that professional men’s singles badminton player Lee Zii Jia will accept the offer to join the Road to Gold (RTG) programme as part of the preparations for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles (LA28).

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Hannah met with Lee, the bronze medallist in men’s singles at the Paris 2024 Olympics, last week to discuss the RTG initiative’s benefits, particularly its enhanced support for independent athletes. “We do hope to offer the Road to Gold services to Zii Jia. I hope that he will say yes, because there is nothing to lose. The final decision lies with Zii Jia, and I am confident he will consider all factors,” she stated during the Daikin International Badminton Championship 2025.

In April, the RTG Committee announced the inclusion of Zii Jia, the reigning Badminton Asia Championships men’s doubles champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, and 10 other badminton players in the RTG programme ahead of LA28. Zii Jia, currently ranked eighth in the world, previously declined a spot in the RTG programme during the Paris 2024 cycle.

The RTG also includes three non-badminton athletes for the LA28 cycle: track cyclists Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri, along with weightlifter Mohamad Aniq Kasdan. Minister Yeoh mentioned that the final list of RTG members for LA28 is expected to be confirmed by the end of June, citing the athletes’ frequent tournament schedules as a factor for the timeline.

LA28 is scheduled to take place from July 14 to 30, 2028.