KUALA LUMPUR: Mixed doubles Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing hope their Commonwealth Games high will take them further than the last 16 at the World Championships in Tokyo next week.
The world No 11 started the season strongly by clinching the Korea Open title in April. And in their last assignment, the pair won a gold (mixed team) and bronze (mixed doubles) at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Kian Meng-Pei Jing are now hoping to break their duck by advancing further than the third round after four appearances at the world meet as a pair.
Kian Meng said: "I really hope Pei Jing and I can go further than the round of 16 this time. It will be our fifth world meet as a pair, and we have never gone further than the third round.
"This year, it feels a little different because we are still on a high from our Commonwealth outing.
"We are feeling confident, and we hope to do better."
At the 2017 Glasgow edition, Kian Meng-Pei Jing were knocked out in the third round by China's Wang Yi Lyu-Huang Dong Ping.
The Malaysians crashed out in the second round of the 2018 (Nanjing) edition, and in 2019 (Basel), they were sent packing in the last 16 by eventual runners-up Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand.
At the previous edition in Huelva, Kian Meng-Pei Jing lost in the third round to eventual silver medallists Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino of Japan.
This year's draw looks a lot more hopeful for Kian Meng-Pei Jing. They will likely face Denmark's Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje in the third round.
"We stand a chance of doing one better because we've beaten this pair. It could go either way.
"We do not want to think too far ahead, but surely, we hope to do more better than our previous best (last 16)," added Kian Meng.
The other Malaysian pairs in the fray are world No 14 Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai and Hanoi Sea Games gold medallists Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei.
Soon Huat-Shevon, who received a first-round bye, are likely to face seventh seeds Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue of France in the third round, while Tang Jie-Yen Wei will open against the Unites States' Mathew Fogarty-Isabel Zhong.
