The world No 4 pair, who won the silver medal at last year’s WTF, proved too strong for their older rivals, winning 21-13, 21-13 in 40 minutes at the Olympics Sports Centre Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.

In the next Group B match tomorrow, Tang Jie-Ee Wei face Indonesia’s Jafar Hidayatullah-Felisha Pasaribu, who lost to China’s world No 1 pair Huang Dong Ping-Feng Yan Zhe 18-21, 16-21.

A win for the Malaysians will guarantee them a semi-final spot.

As for Soon Huat-Shevon, they have a tough task ahead as they will have to beat Dong Ping-Yan Zhe in order to stay in the hunt for a semi-final berth.

The season finale WTF offers cash prizes of US$252,000 (RM1.03 million) for the winners of the doubles categories and US$120,000 (RM490,596) for the runners-up.

Semi-finalists will pocket US$60,000 (RM245,298) while those who finish third in the group get US$39,000 (RM159,443) and the last will receive US$21,000 (RM85,854).