2 weeks ago
Kirsty Gilmour returns to Delhi for 10th World Championships
Kirsty Gilmour is a badminton player from Scotland.
She has been playing at the very top of her sport for a long time.
When she was 17, she went to Delhi, India, for her first big tournament as a senior player.
Now, 16 years later, she is back in Delhi for her 10th World Championships.
At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, she won a silver medal and became the first Scottish woman to reach that final.
Earlier this year, she won the European title, which was very special because she had been the runner-up many times before.
She says earning that title makes her feel calm and proud because she can finally call herself a European champion.
Gilmour says she has become a tough and resilient person because she has to balance her sport with building a normal life.
She thinks the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles might bring big changes to women's badminton because many top players are now over 30.
Even after all these years, she says the World Championships still feel special and exciting.
Kirsty Gilmour is back in New Delhi for her 10th World Championships, 16 years after her Delhi debut as a 17-year-old at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Gilmour represented Scotland in singles, women's doubles and the team event at Delhi 2010, which she says was key to her later career.
At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, she reached the women's singles final, becoming the first Scottish woman to do so, and won silver.
Earlier this year, Gilmour won the European women's singles title after five previous final appearances, giving Scotland its first European women's singles gold.
Gilmour predicts the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics could bring a major transition for women's singles, as many top players, including the retired Tai Tzu Ying, are now over 30.
She said building a life around her career has made her resilient, since many European players do not have a centralized national training structure.
- Who
- Kirsty Gilmour, Scottish badminton player and 2026 European women's singles champion.
- What
- Competing in her 10th World Championships and reflecting on her career since her Delhi debut.
- Where
- New Delhi, India, at the Indira Gandhi Stadium; her first World Championships was in Guangzhou in 2013.
- When
- The 2026 World Championships; her Delhi debut was at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
- Why
- Gilmour returns as one of the most experienced women's singles players and discussed the sport's evolution, her European title and her career milestones.
Key facts
- Player
- Kirsty Gilmour
- Sport
- Badminton (women's singles)
- Representing
- Scotland
- Event
- 10th World Championships (2026 edition)
- Venue
- Indira Gandhi Stadium, New Delhi
- Commonwealth Games debut
- Delhi 2010, aged 17
- Commonwealth Games best
- Silver at Glasgow 2014 (first Scottish woman in final)
- European title
- 2026 women's singles champion, Scotland's first European gold
Quotes
Kirsty Gilmour
Scottish badminton player and European champion
“I was a kid when I played here in the first place. But that's like the... I'm the oldest I've ever been, right now.”
thehansindia.com









