Graphics of the ‘winner’ and the ‘runner-up’ were being tested on the big screen at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, more than two hours before the Ultimate Table Tennis 2026 final between Goa Challengers and U Mumba on Sunday. The in-house DJ even whipped out a remixed version of the quintessential song at any final, Queen’s We are the Champions.
In the lead-up to this clash, the Challengers were undefeated, while U Mumba recovered from an early hiccup to make the summit clash for the second edition in a row. But the host was due a bad day, if the law of averages is to be invoked.
Unlike the semifinals, the final went till the fifth match of the tie as U Mumba beat Goa Challengers 8-5 to lift its second consecutive title and take home the prize money of Rs. 60 lakh. The Challengers bagged Rs. 40 lakh as the runner-up, while losing semifinalists Dabang Delhi and Kolkata Thunder Blades each claimed Rs. 17.5 lakh.
It was 18-year-old Abhinandh P. B. who began the tie for Goa against Mumba’s Lilian Bardet. Just like the league-stage fixture between the two sides, which had incidentally opened this iteration, the Indian bagged the win. However, the Frenchman Bardet clinched the third to open his side’s account.
Next up was Goa captain Bernadette Szocs who came back from a game down to clinch a 2-1 win against Wales’ Anna Hursey. With Goa holding a slight edge at 4-2, the Romanian gave her side some breathing space, whilst doing her trademark heart celebration with a few spins.
Hursey then partnered with captain Manush Shah to face Syndrela Das and Alvaro Robles. In the league-stage match, it was Abhinandh and Szocs who had faced the same U Mumba and they had come away with a 2-1 win. On the other hand, the Syndrela-Robles pair had played four and won just two in the lead-up. The synergy between the U Mumba duo was on display with a point in the second game capturing it.
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Manush had to reach out under the table to retrieve with a forehand chop before Hursey sent it down the line to set up game point, leading to Robles throwing his racquet high in the air in exasperation. The Spaniard’s annoyance was only compounded after the U Mumba duo completed a 3-0 thumping, ahead of his crucial singles tie against Manush.
Despite the setback, Robles gave the Challengers a sliver of hope by winning one game to take the tie into the final match.
The second game had a few rallies which one finds on their Instagram feeds while scrolling — the players nowhere near the table and showcasing their athleticism to send the ball back and forth. Both those rallies ended in Robles’ favour, but his luck ran out when Manush clinched the Golden Point to equalise 1-1. The Gujarat local went on to bag the win and the tie stood at 7-5, and he had played a crucial role in his team bagging six games in a row.
After one bespectacled paddler did the job for U Mumba, it was the turn of another, Anusha Kutumbale, to complete the job for her side, needing just one game to retain the title.
And Anusha kept her nerve, converting the Golden Point in the first game. As Syndrela’s shot bounced off the net and went out, the U Mumba dugout ran out to embrace Anusha in jubilation. The team members jumped around in a circle as they became only the second team in UTT history to retain the title.
Published on Jul 26, 2026
