All the attention in men’s doubles will be on Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae as they chase a record 11th title as a pair over a season. It is remarkable that in the hyper-competitive world of men’s doubles, the Koreans have put a great distance between themselves and the rest of the competition in their first season together.

Yet, they Koreans are by no means unbeatable, and over the season, they did suffer a handful of defeats – six, to be exact. What was particularly interesting though was that they never lost twice in succession to the same opponents!

Among the pairs they lost to this year, only two – Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik and Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri – will be among their fellow-contenders in Hangzhou. Alfian/Fikri have been the second standout pair this year – a combination caught fire as soon as they came together in July. The Indonesians made five finals in eight tournaments and won the China Open beating Kim/Seo.

Chia/Soh enjoyed some terrific spells, particularly midway through the year, when they made four straight finals, winning three, including the Asian Championships.

Meanwhile, the other five pairs can by no means be written off, and the particular format of the World Tour Finals – comprising of group matches and then knockout – presents a different challenge compared to other events. A title win for Kim/Seo would mean history, but with a field of world-beaters, that’s just one of many likely outcomes.

Kim Won Ho/Seo Seung Jae

Season Highlights:

Gold: World Championships
Winners: Malaysia Open, German Open, All England, Indonesia Open, Japan Open, China Masters, Korea Open, French Open, Kumamoto Masters
Runners-up: India Open, Singapore Open

Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik

Season Highlights:

Winners: Badminton Asia Championships, Thailand Open, Singapore Open
Runners-up: Malaysia Masters, China Open, Arctic Open

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty

Season Highlights:

Bronze: World Championships
Runners-up: Hong Kong Open, China Masters
Semifinalists: Malaysia Open, India Open, Singapore Open, China Open, Denmark Open

Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun 

Season Highlights:

Winners: Indonesia Masters, Malaysia Masters
Semifinalists: Malaysia Open, Indonesia Open, HYLO Open

Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani

Season Highlights:

Runners-up: Indonesia Open, Macau Open, HYLO Open
Semifinalists: All England, Australian Open

Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang

Season Highlights:

Winners: Hong Kong Open
Runners-up: Orleans Masters
Semifinalists: Badminton Asia Championships, China Open, Denmark Open

Chiu Hsiang Chieh/Wang Chi-Lin

Season Highlights:

Winners: Taipei Open, HYLO Open
Semifinalists: Kumamoto Masters

Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri

Season Highlights

Winners: China Open
Runners-up: Korea Open, Denmark Open, French Open, Australian Open