KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Zii Jia hopes to capitalise on the momentum gained from his creditable outing at the All England last week as he aims to justify his top seeding at the Swiss Open this week.
Being seeded first in a rare occurrence, it becomes even more imperative for the world No. 10 to prove that his energetic display last week was not a one-off.
Zii Jia displayed flashes of his best form by convincingly defeating Japan's Kodai Naraoka and Singapore's Loh Kean Yew before losing 20-22, 21-16, 21-19 to India's Lakhsya Sen in a tense quarter-final battle.
Despite being the highest-ranked player in the field, Zii Jia faces a challenging path to the final in the upper half of the draw.
While he is expected to overcome his first-round opponent, Taiwan's Yang Su Li, the Malaysian will likely meet Lakhsya once again in the quarter-finals for a rematch of their encounter last week.
Lakhsya, who has struggled in the past year, seems to be on a path to redemption after reaching consecutive semi-finals at the French Open and All England.
The second round could also present difficulties, with Taiwan's Wang Tzu Wei as a potential opponent.
Tzu Wei defeated world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen and newly-crowned All England champion Jonatan Christie during the French Open two weeks ago.
If Zii Jia advances to the semi-finals, he could be up against Kean Yew or Japan's Kanta Tsuneyama.
It is worth noting that Zii Jia has yet to achieve the level of consistency that saw him win back-to-back titles at the Asia Championships and the Thailand Open in 2022.
Despite winning the Arctic Open and finishing runner-up at the Denmark Open last year, he experienced 14 early exits, seven of which occurred in the first round.
Zii Jia is determined to make his top seeding count.
"There is the Swiss Open, and I am the top seed. It's going to be a tough week again. I have to refresh myself, start over again, and hopefully, I can bring the positives from here (All-England) to the Swiss Open," said Zii Jia last week.
The last time Zii Jia was seeded first was during the German Open last year, where he faced a disappointing exit, losing to Taiwan's Lee Chia Hao in the round of 16.
Zii Jia reached the semi-finals of the Swiss Open in 2021 and 2023.