National No 1 men's doubles Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik have run into a new bogey pair in Japan's Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi.
The world No 8 just can't seem to get the better of Hoki-Kobayashi as the Malaysians suffered their second straight defeat to the World No 16 during yesterday's Group D tie of the Thomas Cup.
The Olympic bronze medallists came into the match looking for revenge following their straight games defeat to Hoki-Kobayashi in the semi-finals of the Sudirman Cup earlier this month.
Instead, it was Hoki-Kobayashi who made a mockery of the rankings and Olympic achievements as they powered to a 21-13, 21-13 win yesterday.
It proved to be a crucial win as the 2019 World Championships runners-up gave Japan a much needed 2-0 lead after world No 1 Kento Momota had downed world No 8 Lee Zii Jia in the opening men's singles match.
And Aaron-Wooi Yik believe it is now on them to find a solution to get out of this rut.
"I think their style of play favoured the outcome, especially since we've played them so many times," said Aaron.
"It is the outcome we would have liked, but now we need to figure out how to manage it in future matches."
Wooi Yik added: "I think Hoki-Kobayashi came into the match with more self-confidence after beating us at the Sudirman Cup.
"They used a similar strategy, and we definitely need to improve the next time we face them.
"I think what we really need is to work out a strategy to counter opponents who have analysed our game and found our weaknesses.
"There is not much time as we play again tomorrow, but we will come back to give it our best."