Ulitina’s Difficult Debut at ‘Dream’ All England
Maria Ulitina had always dreamed about playing at the YONEX All England. When the opportunity came on Wednesday, though, there were many other things on her mind. With her country in turmoil and thoughts of the…
· DEV SUKUMAR
Maria Ulitina had always dreamed about playing at the YONEX All England. When the opportunity came on Wednesday, though, there were many other things on her mind. With her country in turmoil and thoughts of the safety of her family, the Ukrainian could manage only token resistance against China’s He Bing Jiao.
Ulitina had left her war-affected country a week ago to her longtime club in Hungary with only the barest of her possessions. She talked of how the war had thrown her life into disarray; she admitted the future was uncertain, but for now, she addressed the importance of having played her first All England:
“I’m happy to be at this dream tournament. I always dreamed to be here and I’m happy to be here but I never thought it will happen under this situation. I’m sad that being here, I was not ready physically, I was not ready mentally, so it’s really hard, but I’m happy that I can play under the Ukrainian flag in these times.