Would go to India again in a heartbeat, says Scotland badminton star Kirsty Gilmour

Scotland's badminton star Kirsty Gilmour who is currently competing in the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast recalled her recent trip to India and said that she would be ever ready to do it again. In a report in The Scottish Sun, 24-year-old Gilmour said: India was the best three weeks of my life. Just to feel that sense of arena was important. I’d do it again in a heartbeat."

She also said that the impact that badminton has in Asia, was an eye-opener. "Over there it’s like Premier League football every week. People really follow badminton. It’s their sporting event, the players are their equivalent of football teams in terms of support."

Recalling the days when she played for the Bengaluru Blasters, she said that they played in front of a crowd of 4,000 people.

During her trip to the subcontinent, she even took some time out from her Thai training camp for an elephant ride. While she was earlier excited about the prospect of the elephant ride, she said that when she did it, she "didn't feel so good about it anymore". She added that "Morality kicked in" when she took the ride and she decided that it was not something she wanted to do again.

She was also quoted as saying that during the 20 minutes of the trail, she started having an "existential crisis up there". She recalled how she started thinking over all the decisions that she had taken in life up till that moment which led her to make the decision to sit on top of that elephant. Calling it the 'most bizarre thing', she said she can't even see herself playing elephant polo in the future.