They have captured the biggies – the Olympic Games and the World Championships titles in the same year – but an All-England title has proved elusive to the trio.

And Malaysia’s doubles chief coach Rexy Mainaky is not optimistic that the Indonesia can end their All-England title drought this year.

Hendra has just recovered from dengue fever and even skipped the Thomas Cup qualifying tournament in Thailand two weeks ago.

“It will be a tall order for Hendra-Markis to be at their best – especially with limited time for preparation.

“Like Taufik, Markis-Hendra have never been lucky at the All-England. At least, Taufik made it to the men’s singles final twice but the doubles pair have always struggled here,” said Rexy.

“I do not see them (Markis-Hendra) as the heavy favourites here. They have never gone past the quarter-finals at the All-England.”

For now, Rexy views China’s Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng, Denmark’s Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen and South Koreans Lee Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung as the title contenders together with top seeds and 2007 All-England champions Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong.

Taufik has made known his intention of nailing his first All-England title – the only major crown missing from his collection.

But first he has to get the better of Denmark’s Peter-Gade Christensen in the quarter-finals. And if he clears this hurdle, his most likely opponent is Malaysia world No.1 Lee Chong Wei, an opponent he has not beaten over the last one year.

Courtesy of The Star