KUALA LUMPUR: With great power comes great responsibility. In the case of top men's doubles Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, it is an even greater expectation.
The reigning world champions moved up to a career-high world No 3 on the BWF rankings this week and will open their campaign next season with the Super 1000 Malaysia Open on Jan 10-15.
Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky has made it clear that nothing less than a silver medal is expected of them at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but what about the curtain raiser on home soil?
ABM technical director Dr Tim Jones pointed out that Aaron-Wooi Yik must learn to live with the pressure but assured that his team was doing everything to assist the players in managing the stress.
"Let's be honest, this is something Aaron-Wooi Yik cannot run away from.
"Now that they are world No 3, they will be expected to reach at least the semi-finals or finals in tournaments.
"The recent World Tour Finals in Bangkok hit everybody really hard, and it's something we don't want to be going through again anytime soon.
"Since returning, everyone has been training really hard. In some ways, the Malaysia Open could be redemption," said Jones.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, who did not record a single win at the recent season-ending tournament, will play Taiwan's Lee Jhe Huei-Yang Po Hsuan in the first round of the Malaysia Open.
Barring any upsets, they will face China's Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi, who won the World Tour Finals, in the second round.
"The China pair will be tough because they are in hot form. However, let's not forget the English pair (Ben Lane-Sean Vendy) and what they did at the Commonwealth Games.
"Right now, we are doing our best to help these players manage stress and expectations," said Jones.
The other national pairs in the fray are world No 10 Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin will face China's Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang in the opening round, while Wei Chong-Kai Wun take on former world No 1 Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia.
Independent pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi are in the top half of the draw. They will play China's Ren Xiang Yu-Tan Qiang in the first round.