It’s a battle of the old guard vs the young guns in this year’s edition.

Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan rolled back the years to win the All England title at the expense of Malaysia’s determined rising pair, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, firing a stern warning to the men’s doubles division of their second coming.

Installed as one of the early favourites, the wily Indonesians will look to make it a treble of Malaysia Open titles after winning the coveted trophy in 2013 and 2015.

TAKESHI KAMURA-KEIGO SONODA

Don’t write the defending Malaysia Open champions off just yet.

Known for exemplary bravery at the net, Kamura-Sonoda will look to return to winning ways in Kuala Lumpur and recover from their recent German Open final and All England semifinal heartbreaks against compatriots, Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe and Ahsan-Setiawan respectively.

The third seeds will kick-off their Malaysia Open title defense against world No. 44, Huang Kaixang-Wang Zekang.

KEVIN SANJAYA SUKAMULJO-MARCUS FERNALDI GIDEON

Everyone’s favorite ‘minions’ got off to a characteristically strong start to the year – winning both the Malaysian and Indonesian Masters with relative ease.

To the shock of the badminton world, unseeded rivals, Liu Cheng-Zhang Nan sent the world No. 1 duo crashing out of the All England in the first round.

Left to lick their wounds, the flamboyant Indonesian pair will be itching to make an example out of their first round Malaysia Open opponents, Chinese Taipei’s Wang Chi Lin-Lee Yang as they aim to reclaim the throne they first won in 2017.

MOHAMMAD AHSAN-HENDRA SETIAWAN

The war horses aren’t done, just yet.

Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan ended their barren three-year spell in style by capturing the pivotal All England title. The much-celebrated doubles pair overcame a grim first set loss and showed grit, character albeit Setiawan nursing a calf injury.

On current red-hot form, a third Malaysian Open title, six years after their first in 2013, is on the horizon for the pair that continues to belie their combined age of 65.

AARON CHIA-SOH WOOI YIK

Few would have anticipated the unseeded Malaysians to have a tilt at the All England title.

Barely one year into their partnership, the fresh-faced duo captured the imagination of the badminton-obsessed country through a sensational final run that saw them outplay former world champions Liu Cheng-Zhang Nan and Asian Games silver medallists, Rian Ardianto-Fajar Alfian.

Combining a fluid attacking game and iron-willed determination, Aaron-Wooi Yik became instant crowd favorites.

The promising pair is scheduled to make their Malaysia Open bow against Rio Olympics bronze medallists, Marcus Ellis-Chris Langridge in what will be an enticing encounter at Axiata Arena.