Saina not worried about ranking; eyeing good show in WC, CWG

Hyderabad: After notching up a hat-trick of international titles, Saina Nehwal is in no hurry to become the numero uno badminton player in the world and now wants to do well in forthcoming World Championships and Commonwealth Games in October.

"This year there is the World Championships, Commonwealth Games and also the Asian Games. So I will be working towards that. I did not expect to reach number three ranking, but have reached there and I am quite confident I can also reach number one position. But before that, it is important for me to play well in the World Championships and the Delhi Commonwealth Games," Saina told PTI. Saina, who pocketed the hat-trick of titles by defending the Indonesian Open Super Series trophy in Jakarta recently, also made it clear that she had never set deadlines for improve in the world ranking. "I did not keep a target to reach number three. I thought by this year end I may be at number four or five, but I have reached number three so fast. So, I can be number one or may go down also because I am not playing so many tournaments," she pointed out. The 20-year-old, however, feels that there is enough space for further improvement. "A player is never perfect. You have to work hard to keep on improving every time. I have to improve my defence, net, backhands and forehands. I should work on the areas where I am weak," she said. "The coaches are finding something special. They will try to improve and tell me to learn something new. Right now, I am not thinking of what to do. The plan is to start (practice) from the next week. "May be, they will tell me to improve my defence, which is a weak area. I am a good attacking player," she added. Before winning in Jakarta, which was her third Super Series title overall, Saina had won the India Open Grand Prix at home and the Singapore Open Super Series tournament. Saina stated that she does not believe in having foreign coaches and said, "I don`t believe in all that. It is more self-belief. You have to believe in yourself." Saina feels it was her hard-earned stamina which kept her going in the three back-to-back tournaments. "It was important that I improve my stamina because 15 days are lot and you have to play one match every day. The key was to improve the stamina and also the strokes," she said. "Indonesian Open was special because I was quite tired by then. It is special because I won it for the second time," she added. However, she refused to buy the theory that absence of top Chinese players made her tasks easier in Jakarta. "No, because all the upcoming players are playing really well and all of them gave tough fight. All of us were playing really well. Not only Chinese, all the international players are playing exceedingly well," Saina said. "Expectations are always high. For me, it is important that I stay focused and work hard. What I am getting it is all because of my game. I have to keep that in mind and keep working every day," she added. Saina also reminded the budding shuttlers that there was no shortcut to success. "I just want to tell them to work hard and believe in yourself. All the players are playing well, I just want to wish them all the best and stay focused." PTI