Lee Zii Jia will consider it a failure if Malaysia do not reach the final of the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) next week.
In fact, the 24-year-old who courted controversy last month when he suddenly quit the national team, wants Malaysia to win the title, when the biennial event gets underway on Tuesday at the Setia City Convention Centre in Shah Alam.
According to the world No 7, Malaysia should not aim for anything less, especially when the rest of the playing field have decided to go with their second stringers.
This include 2020 defending champions Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea.
Speaking to the press after coming back to the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara for the first time in weeks since turning professional, Zii Jia said: "Honestly, I don't want to pressure myself but everyone knows the other teams are not so strong as they have decided to send their second stringers.
"Personally, my target is to be champion, there should be no other choice. We should at least be in the final, anything less is considered a failure, I would take it as a failure.
"In terms of ranking, we are the strongest team."
Apart from wanting to win the title on home soil, Zii Jia is also looking forward to his much anticipated showdown with reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew, when Malaysia takes on Singapore in the first Group B match on Wednesday.
"Playing Kean Yew is of course an important match for me, and for him, it's about living up to his world champion status.
"Since I left BAM the challenge is different for me, it's bigger.
"However, I'm prepared to take responsibility and to take this challenge head on," added Zii Jia.
For the BATC, Malaysia and Singapore are in Group B with Japan and Kazakhstan, while Group A consists of defending champions Indonesia, India, South Korea and Hong Kong.
The top two teams from each group will also qualify automatically for the Thomas Cup in Bangkok on May 17-22.