KUALA LUMPUR: Mixed doubles Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin don't want their splendid run at the China Masters to be seen as a flash in the pan.
Thus, maintaining their consistency will be the biggest challenge faced by the Malaysian world No. 21 on the World Tour next year.
Prior to the Super 750 China Masters, Pang Ron-Su Yin had never gone past the quarter-final stage in any major tournaments (Super 500 to Super 1000).
Realising that the top pairs will come well-armed against them on the tour, beginning with the Super 1000 Malaysia Open (Jan 7-12), Pang Ron said they have been going the extra mile to stay competitive.
"Our main challenge is to be consistent and try to make it to the top four in the World Tour events," said Pang Ron.
"There will be a lot of scrutiny from the rivals after our performance at the China Masters.
"Since returning from the tournament, we didn't take a big break and continued training to be ready for the new season.
"Although we still consider ourselves as the underdogs, we need to keep challenging the top 10 pairs and make sure that we don't fall behind too far again."
Their win over world No. 2 Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin of China (second round) and world No. 5 Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong (semi-finals) earned them their maiden final in the China Masters.
Despite their failure to complete the fairytale run with the title, the Malaysians gained respect after their close three-game defeat against world No. 1 Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping of China.
Pang Ron has been getting the help of mixed doubles coach Nova Widianto to be prepared mentally for the upcoming season with Su Yin.
He also intends to get advice from his sister and former top women's doubles player Vivian Hoo in order to cope with the pressure that is prevalent in top flight badminton.
"Vivian is a two-time Commonwealth Games champion and I have so much to learn from her," added Pang Ron.
"Whenever I have doubts and need motivation and advice, I will get in touch with her. Talking to her will also give me ideas to progress in my career."
Pang Ron-Su Yin will need as much moral support as possible to make an impact at the Malaysia Open where they will be making their debut as a pair.