The teenager, who won the silver medal in the all-round event in the World Championships at London's O2 in October, would have been one of Scotland's top hopes for a medal in Delhi but, along with Beth Tweddle and Louis Smith, will miss the Games because they are so close to the World Championships in Rotterdam, which open on October 14, just three days after the event in the Indian capital finishes.

Keatings said: "Doing well at the Worlds will hopefully help the Great Britain team get a place at the 2012 Olympics.

"I would like to have represented Scotland at the Commonwealths, but I can hopefully do that in 2014 and the London Olympics is something special and something that’s always in the back of my mind."

Keatings has emerged as one of Britain's best hopes for a medal at London in 2012 following a breakthrough year in 2009, capped by his performance at the O2 when he finished behind Japan's Kohei Uchimura to become the first British gymnast to win a medal in the all-round event.

He said: "It’s been an amazing year.

"I started off by picking up two medals at the Europeans and it all built up to the Worlds, which was the highlight of my career so far.

"It’s not quite sunk in how well I did at the Worlds yet, but I thought I was going to do well as it felt good in the warm-up and that really geed me up.

"I went there wanting to achieve a top-10 place and it was really amazing to come second.

"My dream is to get a gold medal at the Worlds and I didn’t get that, so I’m always going to be striving for that."

Michael Cavanagh, the chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland, has admitted they are disappointed that Keatings will be missing in Delhi but they understand his decision.

He said: "We had been led to believe that it would be unlikely Daniel would be able to do both the Games and World Championships.

"We'll be disappointed if he can't compete in Delhi, but to some extent you have to understand.

"Gymnastics is an Olympic sport, and with Olympic selection at stake, he doesn't have much choice.

"It's disappointing.

"We were hugely excited for Daniel when he won his silver medal at the World Championships, but it's a double-edged sword, because it means we'll probably be deprived of him at the Commonwealth Games."


Related stories
December 2009: Tweddle and Britain's top gymnasts to miss 2010 Commonwealth Games
October 2009: Keatings claims British all-round title
October 2009: Keatings wins Champions Trophy in Hanover
October 2009: Keatings shines brightly with historic silver at O2
September 2009: Keatings strikes bronze in World Championships warm-up