“But qualifying for the Olympics with a good draw, and hence the Asian Championships in another ten days’ time is very crucial. Hyderabad’s a Gold GP and there are a lot of points on offer, which makes it important, but not at the risk of injury,” he says.

The nationals have served as a wake-up call, since he hasn’t won the title for the last two years. “It wasn’t the best way to start in 2007, but things picked up as the year went,” he rewinds to a year back.

“So I’d call this a good omen even for this year,” he quips. Taking a game off world No 1 Lin Dan at the All England earlier this March followed by victory over No 17 Shoji Sato, before the heel complained and forced him to retire, Sridhar comes into Indian Open on good form, not necessarily peak fitness.

“It’s good to know that these top guys are beatable; more importantly figure out how to beat them,” he says.

While mentors like Prakash Padukone say there’s been a noticeable change in his attitude on court over the high-flying 2007, new traveling coach Tom John offers Sridhar methods that compliment his training and temperament. “It’s been only about 10-15 working days but I know he has what I need. The focus will be on improving my game physically,” Sridhar says.

Sridhar, though, steers clear of the cliché which says rankings do a significant lot to a player’s confidence. “It’s nothing much — not till you are world no 1 or something. But they do put you on the first page of the rankings list on the web-site,” he laughs.