The guy across the net on Sunday could have some answers to the finishing problems that have been leaving Anand Pawar frustrated. Chetan Anand has managed to reverse the result favourably in some of those tight matches, and Pawar is hoping to learn some of the same.

Pawar bottled the bouncing energy of Guru Sai Dutt 21-12 21-14 in the semi-finals of the Tata Open all-India national ranking tournament at the CCI on Saturday, but in the final, he will square off against India No 1 Anand. Pawar will not only have to dig into his existing repertoire of shot-making, but also bring out his best temperament to pull one back against his 29-year-old senior against whom he’s lost two close encounters in recent times. Top seed Anand made short work of P Kashyap, winning 21-11 21-12.

Pawar had lost agonisingly after being a match-point up against Anand at a semi-final at Belgium last season and in a team-event tie of the Goa nationals the previous year. Just last month, the world No 44 from Mumbai and India’s fifth-best ranked player had carried his jangling nerves to international events where he frittered a 17-13 lead away in the decider against Top10 player Sony Dwi Kuncoro to lose 21-15 13-21 21-18 at the Indonesian Super Series.

“I don’t want to be the player who came close to beating the names but never managed to do it. I need to hold my nerve and calm down. Maybe I should talk to Anup (Sridhar) or Chetan or Saina (Nehwal) about how to go about it,” Pawar says.

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