BIRMINGHAM: High-flying Indonesians Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin are out to inflict more misery on Malaysia's world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik when the two pairs face off in the first round of the All England in Birmingham tomorrow.
Buoyed by their scintillating run of late, the world No 11 Leo-Daniel declared that they are taking aim at the All England crown this week and making it three victories in a row.
Leo-Daniel, despite being unseeded, are certainly the men to beat as they have just bagged back-to-back triumphs at the Indonesia Masters and Thailand Masters in January and February.
World No 2 Aaron-Wooi Yik, on contrary, entered the Super 1000 showpiece at the Utilita Arena Birmingham on the back of a demoralising last-16 exit at the German Open last week.
"We're going to try to deliver our maximum performance right from the start. We are optimistic about our chances to become champions. Hopefully, everything goes well for us and we ask for the prayers and support of all Indonesian people," Leo told All Indonesia Badminton Association (PBSI).
"We have been gearing up for the battle with Aaron-Soh through our training in Indonesia. We know each their style of play well enough. So, it's just a matter of implementing what we have planned on the court," Daniel added.
Leo-Daniel will be determined to follow in the footsteps of their compatriots Muhammad Shobihul Fikri-Bagas Maulana who emerged as surprised winners and helped Indonesia reclaim the honour in the men's doubles contest.
Indonesia were dominating from 2017 to 2019 through Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo-Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (2017 and 2018) and Hendra Setiawan-Mohammad Ahsan, who pipped Aaron-Wooi Yik to the 2019 title.
On paper, Aaron-Wooi Yik appear to have the upper hand over the former world junior champions having been undefeated in all their previous four encounters.
But this head-to-head record will hardly count for anything if their form inconsistency is anything to go by.
It's also worth noting that Aaron-Wooi Yik's last win against Leo-Daniel came way back in June last year, during the last 16 of the Indonesia Masters.
Should they win, then they could earn a shot at exacting revenge against Japan's Akira Koga-Taichi Saito, who knocked them out in Mulheim last week.
Koga-Saito are also going great guns at the moment as they ended their German Open campaign as semi-finalists.
The wounded and battered Lee Zii Jia will also open his campaign against Thailand's Sitthikorn Thammasin.
Zii Jia has won all his five matches against the world No 33 Sitthikorn but this tie can be potentially tricky with the latter seemingly having nothing to lose.
Sitthikorn has been struggling to impress too and has yet to win a match in his last four World Tour outings dating back to October last year.
His last win, however, was an impressive one as he stunned China's Shi Yu Qi in straight games during the first round of the French Open.
A win for Zii Jia should set him up for a meeting with Japan's Kenta Nishimoto next.
Also in action today are Liew Daren, who faces Indonesia's Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo and 2018 semi-finalists Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie who will be going up against South Korea's Seo Seung Jae-Chae Yu Jung.