KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia may dominate the top three men's doubles seedings at the Indonesia Masters, but home favourites Fajar Alfian-Shohibul Fikri are determined to spoil the party at the Super 500 tournament in Jakarta.
World No. 2 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, world No. 6 Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun and world No. 7 Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani are seeded one to three at the tournament, which begins on Tuesday.
However, history shows it is never easy for Malaysians to lift a title in front of the partisan crowd at Istora Senayan.
Aaron-Wooi Yik defeated world No. 4 Fajar-Shohibul and world No. 8 Sabar Karyaman-Moh Reza Isfahani en route to the Malaysia Open final two weeks ago, but Jakarta presents a very different challenge.
This will be Fajar-Shohibul's first home appearance since forming their partnership in September, and the Indonesian pair have already sounded a warning to their rivals.
"Our target is to become champions, but we know it won't be easy. From Super 500 to Super 1000 tournaments, only the best pairs are competing," said Shohibul.
Several big names will be missing from the men's doubles draw, including South Korea's world No. 1 Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae, India's world No. 3 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, India Open champions Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang of China (world No. 5) and Japan's Takuo Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (No. 9).
National doubles coach Herry IP, who has guided numerous pairs to titles at the Indonesia Open and Indonesia Masters, knows just how tough the Istora can be.
"We hope we can win the title, but it will be very tough for our pairs," said Herry.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, who reached the semi-finals of the India Open on Saturday, begin their campaign against Denmark's world No. 28 Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard on Tuesday.
The Malaysians lead the head-to-head 2-0.
Defending champions Wei Chong-Kai Wun face a tricky all-Malaysian first-round clash against world No. 17 Wan Arif Junaidi-Yap Roy King.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin, who exited in the last 16 at both the Malaysia and India Opens, will be hoping for a better showing in Jakarta when they face American world No. 31 Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith.
Independent world No. 27 Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong have a tough opening match against Taiwan's world No. 21 Lee Fang Chih-Lee Fang Jen.
Another independent pair, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi, will take on Taiwan's world No. 15 Lee Jhe Huei-Yang Po Han.
World No. 33 Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri will be desperate to avoid a third straight first-round exit this season when they face England's world No. 13 Ben Lane-Sean Vendy.
