Swiss Open: Zii Jia overcomes Iskandar Zulkarnain's mentee to check into last eight

The Asian champion, who took down All England title holder Li Shi Feng in three pulsating games in the first round, faced a different kind of test against the plucky Irishman, who was coached by former Malaysian men’s singles shuttler Iskandar Zulkarnain.

It was far from a straightforward affair against the 22-year-old, who clawed back a big deficit to draw level at 19-19 in the first game before Lee sealed the first game.

In the second game, the Malaysian had to be sharp as Nguyen often threatened and made the game difficult for him.

It took Lee 51 minutes to bag the win, booking him a meeting with Chinese Taipei’s Chia Hao Lee in the last eight.

The second seed should fancy his chances of making his second consecutive semi-final appearance when he takes on the qualifier on Friday.

In the mixed doubles, Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei continued to impress in their new partnership as they beat China’s He Ji Ting-Du Yue 11-21, 21-14, 21-14 in 47 minutes.

The men’s doubles saw third seeds Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi come from behind to beat Japanese pair Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura 15-21, 21-13, 21-15.

They marched on to the last eight as Malaysia’s only representatives in the men's doubles after top seeds Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik lost for the second time in three weeks to Akira Koga-Taichi Sato.

The Japanese pair, who defeated the world champions at the German Open earlier this month, came from behind to win 17-21, 21-16, 21-17.

For Chia-Soh, the defeat was their third early exit in as many tournaments since the start of the BWF European leg.