The competition for the world number one title in men's doubles badminton has turned into a domestic battle in Malaysia, with coach Pang Wei Xin urging the "Xie-Su duo" of Xie Ding Feng and Su Wei Yi to strive for their first-ever world number one ranking.

Pang Wei Xin, the head coach of the Malaysian national badminton men's doubles team, has called on the country's top men's doubles pair, Xie Ding Feng and Su Wei Yi, to aim for their first world number one title before this year's World Badminton Championships.

Since Pang Wei Xin (from the left) took over as coach, Xie Ding Feng and Su Wei Yi have seen a remarkable breakthrough, and now "Coach Fire Dragon" is urging this pair of students to pursue the world number one ranking.

The contest for the world number one title has resulted in a "domestic battle" in Malaysia. In next month's 2025 Japan Badminton Super 750 tournament (from July 15 to 20) and the China Super 1000 tournament (from July 22 to 27), Malaysia will engage in a "unique internal battle." Currently ranked second in the world, Xie Ding Feng and Su Wei Yi are looking to surpass the Malaysian independent men's doubles pair "Fei-Ting Duo" of Wu Shi Fei and Nuo Yi Zhu Ting by participating in these two high-level tournaments on the world tour.

At the end of May, Fei-Ting officially reached the world number one ranking in the BWF rankings; two weeks ago, Xie-Su returned to the world number two position after a year. The point difference between the two pairs is currently very small, with Fei-Ting at 91,090 points and Xie-Su at 89,870 points, a mere 1,220 points apart.

The Japan Open will award 11,000 points to the champion, while the China Open will offer 13,500 points, and Fei-Ting is the defending champion in both tournaments. In this regard, Pang Wei Xin, who took over as the head coach of the Malaysian national badminton men's doubles team in February this year and has significantly improved Xie-Su's performance, expressed his hope that Xie-Su can achieve their goal of becoming world number one before the World Championships, which will take place from August 25 to September 1.

Another achievement worth being proud of. Pang Wei Xin stated, "Becoming world number one before the World Championships is very important for them. If they can achieve this goal, they will receive a more favorable seed ranking at the World Championships, which has always been one of their personal goals." "Currently ranked second in the world, this position is already sufficient to help them secure a better draw at the World Championships, but if they could become world number one before that, why not? That would certainly be even better and a source of pride for them."

Xie Ding Feng and Su Wei Yi are likely to seize the world number one title from Wu Shi Fei (right) and Nuo Yi Zhu Ting (left) next month.

Xie-Su won the championship at the 2022 World Championships, becoming the first world champion in Malaysian badminton history. Based on the performances of Fei-Ting and Xie-Su this year, it is evident that Xie-Su is in better form. Under Pang Wei Xin's guidance, Xie-Su has experienced a significant breakthrough, achieving an impressive record of reaching the finals in four consecutive tournaments, including two championships at the Asian Championships and Thailand Super 500, followed by a runner-up finish at the Malaysia Super 500, and finally winning at the Singapore Super 750.

Meanwhile, Fei-Ting, who became an independent player after leaving the Malaysian Badminton Association last August, had a brief period of excellent form, winning four titles in just six months, including last year's Japan and China Opens. However, their performance has noticeably declined since winning the India Open in January this year.

Fei-Ting is facing pressure to defend their points. They were eliminated early in the All England and Swiss Super 300 tournaments and subsequently reached the quarter-finals in four consecutive events: the Asian Championships, Malaysia Super 500, Singapore Super 750, and Indonesia Super 1000. Furthermore, Fei-Ting must strive to defend their titles at this year's Japan and China Opens to maintain their points, while Xie-Su does not have to worry about point defense, giving them a certain advantage in the race for rankings.