Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik may have beaten Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan to the men’s doubles world title last month, but the Malaysians hailed their Indonesians as their idols.

“We have high admiration for Ahsan and Hendra. They are such a consistent pair and humble too. In fact, their advice to us is to always stay humble,” said Chia, with Soh echoing his partner’s sentiments.

“Their attitude and mental strength are unrivalled. It’s not easy to maintain that mindset for such a long time. They are consistent too, which is why they have been successful for so long,” said Soh.

In total, both pairs have met 11 times since 2018, with the Indonesians holding a 7-4 win record against Aaron and Soh.

On the world rankings, both pairs are only separated by one rung.

Ahsan-Hendra, who won the World Championships together three times, are ranked fourth, while Chia-Soh sit fifth separated by almost 4,000 world ranking points.

Despite their career heading upward since their world title triumph, the Malaysians remained humble and said every pair ranked in the world top 30 could not be underestimated.

“We can’t say if we have any particular opponent who is tough. All pairs in the top 30 are good and have their own strengths.”

The new world champions also had an opportunity to meet Formula One drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in a Petronas event in Kuala Lumpur ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend.

“All the best to Lewis and George at this weekend’s Singapore GP,” said Chia.