For two-time junior doubles champions Akshay-Jishnu, what should’ve been a seamless graduation into the seniors ranks, had turned into a compounding dilemma since Sanyal also picked the singles crown the same year, and obviously wanted to give his individual career a fair try. As the Thane duo prepare for their first senior nationals, the one year-gap in their partnership when Dewalkar paired with senior pro V Diju while Sanyal scratched around with little success in singles, now seems like a mere temporary pause.

Ranked 131 in the world, the left-right duo started with a title at Bahrain, but promptly stumbled out early in their next tournament in Italy. “Besides, working on our speed and strength, we need to mature a lot on court. The exit in Italy was because we lost focus in the wake of the Bahrain title,” Dewalkar admits.

In India, where they are a rare and recognized left-right combine _ Sanyal being the southpaw playing at the forecourt _ the sophomores still have the ripe and wily pair of Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar to try and get past, before they start aiming for scalps abroad. Also Diju is scheduled to pair up with Anup Sridhar at Indore _ a seemingly scratch pair, yet quite evidently daunting in caliber.

“We’re not expecting wonders. And we don’t want to take on pressure, but we’ll do our best,” Dewalkar says, explaining that with India perennially struggling to find that second quality doubles-pairing behind Sanave-Rupesh in team-events, there’s a glaringly obvious goal for any Indian-duo to aim at. “The Nationals will be the big test,” says coach Shrikant Vad, adding that the academy has left no loose ends as far as preparing their crack-pair goes.

From video analysis to roping in doubles expert Leroy D’Sa to help out, the upcoming duo are also working with Thane-based sports psychologist Dr Anand Nadkarni ahead of their maiden domestic test at the highest level in India. “He’s basically helping out with how to think at crucial game moments, how to approach it when we’re leading, and relaxing and staying focused in between points,” Sanyal explains. The pair had stretched Sanave-Rupesh during the Guwahati Satellite, but having lost since then, are hoping to make a lasting impression at Indore this time.

While Sanyal _ with his mop of Frodo curls _ creates openings from the front (but has defense and speed to improve upon) Dewalkar, also sporting long hair currently, packs a punch in every stroke from the baseline. Dressed for the double-brat act, both admit, though, that their junior days marked with boyhood-bullying of all opposition are over. Rivals in seniors tend to offer sturdier defenses, as rallies get longer and a single sharp smash does not seal the point. “We can’t afford to be impatient,” Dewalkar says now.

Though there are just 3-4 pairs in India devoted to year-round training in doubles, if Akshay-Jishnu have to get cracking on their 2009 goal of Top 50, they’d need to play plenty of tournaments. “And probably find a training-base in Europe,” says Vad, “because while we can manage strategy-coaching here, multi-feeding is a hugely specialised job needing coaches and sparring mates.”

Both keen lovers of clothes, their tastes tend to differ though. While Jishnu went and shopped for natty waistcoats inspired by Aamir Khan in Ghajini, Dewalkar prefers to lounge around in three-fourths and sleeveless Ts – like the older pirate dressing of Rafael Nadal. Sanyal’s more extroverted of the two and will casually flip through a Robert Ludlum, while Dewalkar, the quiet listener – on court too – prefers to stick to music on his iPod.