Leader Szocs soaks in U Mumba's triumph
Days after winning a silver medal in women's doubles at the World Table Tennis Championship, Bernadette Szocs, the Romanian paddler, arrived in Ahmedabad with an eye on building on the World Championship glory.
Three weeks later, on Sunday night, Szocs couldn't hide her emotions after lifting the glittering Ultimate Table Tennis trophy as the U Mumba captain.
Moments after a prolonged celebration at the EKA Arena and before joining her teammates at the hotel for a party, Szocs recalled her statement at the pre-tournament media briefing on May 29.
'I waited so much for this. In the first interview I gave, I said that I would like to bring the first title for U Mumba, and I did it,' an elated Szocs said.
'I am very proud of myself and my teammates and the support staff. They have given everything for us for this title. We were a dream team. We had an amazing spirit in the team, and this is our secret for bringing the title home for U Mumba.'
Ever since UTT's inception, the Mumbai outfit has been one of the underachieving outfits. On Sunday, though, with Szocs winning five of her six points, U Mumba defeated Jaipur Patriots to claim its maiden title.
'This gives me a lot of motivation for the future, a lot of confidence. When I came here, I was under a little pressure. I'm very happy after this dream result,' Szocs said.
While one would have expected the victory party to carry on till early morning, with the tight schedules that top paddlers work around, there was very little time. Even before sunrise, Szocs and her French teammate Lilian Bardet had to board a flight for a WTT event in Slovenia.
'I want to celebrate it very well, but I am going to Slovenia for WTT, so I don't have time. But I will make sure that I celebrate it with the people who were next to me, who supported me and believed in me'.
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