Manush leads U Mumba to UTT title defence

Defending champion U Mumba TT snapped Dempo Goa Challengers’ unbeaten run to retain the Ultimate Table Tennis crown with an engrossing 8-5 victory in the Season 7 final at the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium on Sunday.

The summit clash ebbed and flowed before U Mumba’s superior depth and composure under pressure proved decisive.

Goa made the brighter start through teenager P.B. Abhinandh, who once again unsettled Frenchman Lilian Bardet with his unconventional style built around a long-pimpled backhand rubber. Although he could not replicate his 3-0 demolition of Bardet from the tournament opener, Abhinandh repeatedly disrupted the Frenchman’s rhythm before Bardet finally found his range with a flurry of forehand winners in the third game to put U Mumba on the board.

Bernadette Szocs then showcased why she remains one of the world’s elite. Locked in a high-quality contest against World No. 34 Anna Hursey, the World No. 24 trailed 4-6 after dropping the opening game before reeling off six consecutive points to wrest back control and restore Goa’s advantage.

Leading 4-2 after the opening two singles, the Challengers looked poised to tighten their grip. Instead, Manush Shah changed the complexion of the final. The bespectacled Indian combined superbly with Hursey to blank Alvaro Robles and Syndrela Das in the mixed doubles, silencing a partisan crowd of over 1,200 and drawing U Mumba level.

The momentum carried into the eagerly awaited all-left-hander duel between Manush and Robles. The contest lived up to expectations, with both players producing breath-taking forehand and backhand topspin exchanges.

The rally of the evening came at 6-6 in the opening game, Robles finishing a 13-shot exchange with a stunning forehand sidespin winner from well behind the table before stringing together four straight points to take the game.

Manush responded in style. Trailing 9-10 in the second, he produced a full-stretch forehand topspin winner to force a golden point, where Robles missed an ambitious third-ball attack. Buoyed by the escape, Manush quickened the tempo in the decider, forcing a string of unforced errors to put U Mumba within touching distance of the title.

Needing just one more game with U Mumba leading 7-5, Anusha Kutumbale, preferred ahead of Nithyashree Mani, kept her composure against teenage sensation Syndrela Das. While Syndrela was forced into an all-out attacking approach in pursuit of three straight games, Kutumbale played percentage table tennis throughout. Syndrela saved two championship points to force a golden point but miscued a high ball, handing U Mumba the game, the match and a successful title defence.

The result: U Mumba TT bt Dempo Goa Challengers 8-5 (Lilian Bardet lost to Abhinandh P.B. 7-11, 9-11, 11-6, Anna Hursey lost to Bernadette Szocs 11-5, 7-11, 7-11, Manush Shah & Hursey bt Alvaro Robles & Syndrela Das 11-8, 11-7, 11-9, Manush bt Robles 6-11, 11-10, 11-5, Anusha Kutumbale bt Syndrela Das 11-10).