‘I try to fight here for my country’: Ukrainian badminton star makes ‘crazy’ journey to reach All England Open

After fleeing Ukraine following the Russian invasion, Maria Ulitina continued her journey to Birmingham where she took pride in representing her country and those back home

Maria Ulitina: ‘People need to hear some positives. When people are fighting there, I try to fight here for the country’ (Badminton Wire )

From the sound of air raid sirens to ripples of polite applause, Ukrainian Maria Ulitina took her country's battle to a badminton court in Birmingham.

Ulitina was a shock late entry to the All England Open, one of the first Ukrainian athletes to enter Britain and compete since the Russian invasion of her country.

There was more than a hint of the surreal as the Olympian - who has seen things that no human being should have to - slipped out in the first round at Arena Birmingham.

"I am really happy to represent my country in such hard times," said Ulitina. "The journey to get here has been crazy.

"It was hard to control my emotions because I have this worrying feeling inside, all the time. We're always hearing news and keeping in touch, so it's tough.

"People need to hear some positives. When people are fighting there, I try to fight here for the country."

Ulitina is from Dnipro in the east of Ukraine, a city targeted by air strikes for the first time last week.

Many top Ukrainian badminton players were in Uganda at an international tournament when war broke out, but Ulitina was one of those at home.

She close to flee Dnipro and the 30-year-old, who has just recovered from Covid, left her family, friends and country behind for refuge at a badminton club in Pécs, Hungary.

With bare essential possessions she drove for four days straight, covering 1000km to the border with her phone pinging with news of the safety of her nearest and dearest.

"I wanted to stay at home with my country, with my people," she explained, "but I couldn't do much by staying there.

"The best I could do was go and do my job and play to represent the county. That was the main thing."

Most of Ulitina's family have fled Ukraine but her brother remains, with only women and children allowed to leave the country at this time, as well as many friends.

"They are in my heart, all of the time," she said.

"My brother is in one of the safest parts of Ukraine but they are dropping bombs on the airports and I just hope it won't happen like it did, in cities like Mariupol, where they are killing civilian people, women and children.

"It is real. Nobody could imagine this would happen in the 21st century."

The world No.58 was seventh reserve in the singles draw but drafted in at the last minute on a visa waiver, only landing in the West Midlands at 9pm on Tuesday night.

12 hours later she was plonked on court and faced China's world No.9 He Bing Jiao, falling to heavy defeat. She lost 21-8, 21-6 and her campaign was over in just 19 minutes.

"I wasn't practising that much because of the war and I would be a lot happier if I could show a better game today," she said.

Ulitina will now return to Hungary but her immediate future is uncertain. Badminton Europe have offered a number of places to young Ukranian players at their Centre of Excellence in Denmark.

Ulitina kept her composure throughout post-match interviews but emotion seeped into her voice as she used her platform to address the world.

"This is a real war and we need to stop it," she said. "Stop war and please, please, close the sky. This is what we need."

We welcome fans back to the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships this year. Now we want to welcome you back onto court. For more information and to find a court near you, visit The Time Is Now | Badminton England