KUALA LUMPUR: Men's pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik will have their work cut out for them to clear the World Tour Finals group stage for the first time in Hangzhou this week.
The world No. 3, making their fourth appearance in the season finale, have been handed a tricky path after being drawn into Group A with two home pairs - world No. 1 Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang and reigning champions Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi, and Japan's Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi, the 2021 winners.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will need to win at least two of three matches to make the semi-finals.
However, the odds are heavily stacked against them as they do not have a good track record against their group rivals, particularly Wei Keng-Wang Chang and Hoki-Kobayashi, where they trail 1-5 and 2-6 respectively in past encounters.
Aaron-Wooi Yik were last beaten by Wei Keng-Wang Chang in the China Open final, while against Hoki-Kobayashi, they lost in their only meeting this year in the quarter-finals of the Japan Open.
The only bright spot is that they have been doing well against Xuan Yi-Yu Chen.
Aaron-Wooi Yik won both of their matches against them, with the latest win being in the quarter-finals of the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Meanwhile, mixed pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei are in for a tough time, too, considering they are debutants as well as the lowest-ranked among all eight qualifiers.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei were placed in Group A, with China's Feng Yang Zhe-Huang Dong Ping, Japan's Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino, and two-time winners Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand.
However, if Tang Jie-Ee Wei can reproduce their top performance, they stand a chance against anyone - just as they did earlier this year with wins over Yan Zhe-Dong Ping in the first round of the Thailand Open and Dechapol-Sapsiree in the Arctic Open quarter-finals.
The only group rivals they have not tasted success against were Watanabe-Higashino, where they lost in both encounters thus far.
Plenty is at stake for both Aaron-Wooi Yik and Tang Jie-Ee Wei as they will be seeking to end the year on a high note.
They will be vying not only for the substantial total prize fund of US$2.5 million (RM11.7 million) but also for significant world ranking points equivalent to the Super 1000 events.
The doubles winners will earn a whopping US$210,000 (RM983,000).