Now four years on, having made his peace with the panting pace of Mumbai-Thane, the bustle of the city and even the foam of the detergent, Sanyal’s switching to yet another zipping lane as he moves into senior ranks of badminton after a fulfilling colts’ career topped with the national juniors title in 2007. Crossing the threshold into the big, bang world of furious senior’s badminton — playing his first full sophomore season in 2008—Sanyal is the state’s newest hope to make a mark in the coming year.

Like a generation of youngsters from the twin cities seeking meteoric stardom in sport—or any other profession—Sanyal is wooing patience, which he says is central to success. “Still early days,” he laughs in mock-clipped tones, of his tryst with meditation—the 19-year-old’s first attempt at calming nerves not going beyond the first few seconds. Falling to the same nerves while sitting cross-legged-which crop up when his impetuosity costs him whole matches when on the run — Sanyal, like his coach Vad, stresses that impatience needs to be weeded out of his game. Pronto.

“Besides his fitness, his maturity and temperament need to improve,” Vad says, adding how keeping cool during the quick points and close games will matter much more when Sanyal attempts working his way around seasoned men, not similarly rash boys. “Suddenly you realise that in the seniors, things are tricky from point one of round one and so many players are as good, that mental toughness becomes important,” Sanyal sums up.

Still, for a boy who played just two seniors tournaments earlier this month — scalping bigger names like Sachin Ratti and the other warhorse Thomas Kurien — could count as a start. He didn’t go further than the semis. But scalding bigger reputations will undoubtedly be on the agenda next year, as India’s current No 12 works his way up, hoping to reach No 8 at least before the Nationals.

His success in taming tapering oldies runs the risk of being misinterpreted as the ability of a young tyro to overrun a tiring senior, though Sanyal has indeed worked on his fitness in a season when there was only a sprinkling of seniors tournaments to bare his wares. But far from being the triumph of the fittest, Sanyal’s recent wins point to the ability of the precocious left-hander to outwit his opponents. A self-confessed fan of deception, Sanyal is keen on clutching onto the Oriental wrist-artistry (though the Dane Peter Gade is its best-known current exponent), which Sanyal believes he was blessed with from early years.

“I need to make the most of what I’m gifted with, and deception’s my strong point,” he says with little deceit.