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Saina Nehwal will pick and choose her tournaments this year even if that affects her world ranking.

By Garima Verma

That rankings are nothing more than mere numbers has been proved once again. Usain Bolt will almost surely skip the Delhi Commonwealth Games this year because he has bigger goals in mind. India's top women's shuttler Saina Nehwal is planning on similar lines.

Rankings don't ensure glory. At the end of the day, if your showcase has a few international medals, they stay forever. Rankings don't. It comes and goes. Saina is probably being driven by such a philosophy ahead of the Commonwealth Games later this year.

"I don't care much about my ranking for the Commonwealth Games. Skipping the tournaments should not affect it much as I have played many international tournaments last year and performed quite well in most of them," says Saina, who started the year by skipping Korea Open Super Series in January.

"Even if my ranking slips down to somewhere between 10 and 13, it will not be a problem for me because as far as the draw is concerned there are only Commonwealth countries that will be taking part," the current world No. 6 told espnstar.com.

The 19-year-old Saina was the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament in Indonesia last June.

Be that as it may, Saina, however, wants to maintain a certain standard so that it doesn't affect her Commonwealth draw. "If the ranking slips beyond 13, it might be a worrying aspect as there are some Malaysian players in the top 20 and my draw will get tougher then," she added.

Saina, who became the first Indian to reach the singles quarterfinals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has already decided on the tournaments to play or skip in the run-up to the CWG.

"This month I just have the Uber Cup preliminary qualifiers (February 21-28 in Thailand). In March, I will be participating in the All England Super Series and giving the Swiss Open a miss," said this year's Padmashri winner.

"The Asian championship in April is in Delhi and I'd be representing the country in that. After that June will be very hectic as there are too many tournaments (two Grand Prix and two Super Series) but I am more focused on Commonwealth Games."

Qualifying for the Uber Cup will be the immediate target. If they do, it will be a first for Indian women. Saina says: "We will face tough competition from the Japanese and the Indonesians. Jwala (Gutta) and Ashwani (Ponappa) are in good form, but we really have to do well."