AHMEDABAD: Bernadette Szocs generated plenty of buzz on Sunday. The paddler from Romania put up a five-star performance to help U Mumba TT clinch their first-ever title at the Ultimate Table Tennis at the EKA Arena here.
PB Abhinandh, who was playing the fourth match of the Mumba's final meeting against Jaipur Patriots, was involved during the winning moment. Having conceded the opening two games against Jeet Chandra, Abhinandh won the third game to seal the title.
Abhinandh might have helped U Mumba cross the finish line but it was Bernadette who was the standout for the champions.
Thanks to the Romanian pro's exploits, U Mumba had taken a massive 7-2 lead before Abhinandh went on to apply the finishing touches.
U Mumba's ascendancy in the decider began with Bernadette's game against Sreeja Akula. Bernadette won the first game by a narrow margin (11-9). The Indian paddler fought back and captured the second game with a golden point. However, Sreeja ran out of steam and her Romanian opponent used that to her advantage to bag the crucial third game.
In the following mixed doubles match, Bernadette, along with Indian paddler Akash Pal, dominated against Jaipur's Jeet and Britt Eerland. Bernadette and Akash were relentless and didn't allow their opponents any breathing space. Jeet clearly seemed rattled because of the pressure and was also guilty of conceding some cheap points. Bernadette and Akash's dominant 3-0 victory propelled U Mumba closer to the title.
Before Bernadette came to the fore, it was Lilian Bardet of France who had laid the platform for U Mumba with a crucial 2-1 win over Kanak Jha (USA).
In the second singles match, Jeet did well to keep Jaipur alive for some time by pocketing the first two games against Abhinandh. However, Abhinand ensured that the final didn't go to the fifth match by winning the final game 11-8. Yashaswini Ghorpade would have taken on Pritha Varthikar if Jeet had made a clean sweep against Abhinandh.
U Mumba head coach John Murphy was certainly impressed by the final outcome. "To win in four hours, not leading the last match just shows how good a performance it was," he told reporters post-match.
He also commended Bernadette. "Look, Bernie won five points today (Sunday). That was part of our team talk today. We have, for me, probably the best player in the tournament, someone who performed both in singles and mixed doubles and our line-up," he said.
The Romanian tasted success in a UTT final for the first time, after losing three finals with different franchises.
U Mumba got richer by Rs 60 lakh, while Jaipur Patriots walked away with Rs 40 lakh. The semifinalists were awarded Rs 17.5 lakh each.
Harmeet Desai of the Dempo Goa Challengers was awarded the most valuable player (MVP) in the men's section, while Bernadette walked away with the women's equivalent.
