Saina Nehwal
Saina Nehwal is concentrating on maintaining her form and fitness, ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio.Reuters file

India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal has stated that she is working hard to achieve the world no.1 rank in the near future.

China's Li Xuerui is the current world no.1, while compatriots Wang Shixian and Wang Yihan occupy the second and third spots in the latest BWF rankings.

Saina had won the China Open Super Series Premier last week to move up from ninth to fourth in the rankings. The 24-year-old is now keen on putting up a good show in the Dubai Open next month as she continues to build on her form and momentum.

"I am happy that, from world number nine to I reached world number four with three titles. Now, I am hoping to do well in the Dubai Super Series final next month," PTI quoted the Hyderabadi star as saying.

"I will try my best. World Number One is a target obviously everyone wants to achieve. But it is not easy as the other Chinese are also strong. So, I would just keep working hard and you never know anything can happen.

"I reached world number four, so, hopefully, would like to win some more tournaments and would like to give my best. It is not going to be easy, but, I am going to work very hard for that."

Apart from achieving success in the tour events, Saina is also concentrating on maintaining her form and fitness, ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

"It is very important to stay fit now as the Olympics are coming nearer. It will be more about remaining fit and playing the best against the top three Chinese players in the world. I will try to beat them as many times as possible or try to give them a very tough fight which is very important."

Saina, who had trained with chief national coach Pullela Gopichand for several years in Hyderabad, shifted to Bangalore around two months ago to train under U Vimal Kumar.