PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles pair Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King are heading into their debut World Championships with the same fearless spirit once shown by their seniors Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik seven years ago.

Arif, who was reported to be down with fever earlier, has fully resumed training since Thursday and looked in high spirits as he departed for Paris with his teammates ahead of the tournament starting tomorrow at the Adidas Arena.

Just kidding: Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King vow to ‘smash’ their seniors Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and win in straight sets should they meet in the third round.Although they have the recent Macau Open title in hand won just three weeks ago, the pair are determined not to let that achievement turn into a burden.

“I think talking about us being the Macau Open champions is in the past. We need to start fresh and we don’t want that to weigh us down. What matters is producing our best game and enjoying ourselves there,” said Arif.

Unlike the other Malaysian men’s doubles who received a bye in the first round, Arif-Roy King will begin their campaign against Japan’s Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura.

The real test is expected to come in the second round where they are likely to face world No. 12 pair Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Kittinupong Kedren of Thailand.

Should they advance, an all-Malaysian clash awaits in the third round with Aaron-Wooi Yik tipped to be their opponents.

But Arif-Roy King remain unfazed by the draw, displaying the same attitude that Aaron-Wooi Yik showed when they made their World Championships debut in Nanjing in 2018.

Back then, Aaron-Wooi Yik stunned the field by beating South Korea’s Chung Eui-sok-Kim Duk-yong in the first round, upsetting 12th seeds Lee Yang-Lee Jhe-huei in the second, and continuing their run by ousting eighth seeds Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.

However, Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen of China stood in the way of Aaron-Wooi Yik’s medal hopes after defeating them in the quarter-finals.

With the same mindset, and with a touch of humour, Arif-Roy King also harbour hopes of toppling their seniors should they meet in Paris.

“I don’t think the rankings matter much. We see ourselves as underdogs at the world championships and whoever comes into the court, we will fight all out.

“We’ll smash them (if they meet their seniors in the third round) and win in straight sets,” said Roy King with a laugh.