Near-misses are on Chetan Anand’s mind as he strolls the aisles of the CCI courts on the eve of the Tata Open All India ranking tournament. The last time he played in the city, he had lost 21-19 in the third game to Lee Chong Wei at a satellite tournament. The last time Anand gave rankings a serious glance was when he was at No 12, though his forgettable showing at the three Far East tournaments means he’ll need a gusty second wind to shrug off his present No 14 plateau. It was a case of near-misses again during the recent tournaments at Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia when he was unable to finish matches at crucial stages.

His first domestic tournament in almost a year might just be the tonic the doctor ordered to regain his confidence as India’s No 1 player. “I took a break and trained two weeks prior to the event but I couldn’t give it my 100 per cent. Also despite my fitness levels being all right, I was unable to finish matches at crucial stages. And that’s something I need to work hard on,” he says.

The Tata Open sees a strong draw in the men’s singles — with Anup Sridhar the sole top-rung withdrawal — but there is no dearth of youngsters aiming to be the upstarts. Local lads Anand Pawar and Ajay Jayram, the gritty P Kashyap and the indefatigable Guru Sai Dutt are a worthy second-rungs to defending champion Aravind Bhat and Anand in a draw-list comparable to a senior nationals tournament.

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