In Novi Sad, we will witness the start of what will be remembered as a historic season in the ETTU Champions League Women. The season kicks off with Stage 1 in Serbia, serving as a warm-up for the first-ever edition that will conclude by crowning the champions at the ETTU Champions League Final 4. The 2025/26 season marks a significant step forward in the evolution of European club competitions, as ETTU introduces the Final 4 format to the Champions League Women for the first time, following the successful implementation of the concept in the Champions League Men two years ago. Topping Group A are last season’s Europe Cup semi-finalists, Hungarian Budaörsi Sport Club, led by Europe’s no. 88 Dora MADARASZ. Also on duty will be Leila IMRE. The Hungarians are the top-seeded club in Group A, but French Saint-Denis TT 93 will challenge their position, led by the highest-ranked player on duty in Novi Sad, Prithika PAVADE. Last season’s Europe Cup champions have a few aces up their sleeve: besides Europe’s no. 7 PAVADE, they can count on Hana ARAPOVIC, ranked no. 33 in Europe, and Siqi FAN, ranked no. 33 in the World. PAVADE was part of Team France that won bronze at the World Championships in Busan last year; in 2025 she reached the semi-finals at WTT Contenders in Lagos and Skopje. ARAPOVIC reached the quarter-finals of the WTT Feeder in Otočec. Also in Group A are Portugal’s CTM Mirandela with Ines MATOS (Europe no. 94), and Mariana SANTA COMBA (Europe no. 195), and Spain’s MIRÓ Ganxets Costa Durada, led by Andrea TODOROVIC, who will play on home soil in Serbia. Andrea is currently ranked no. 56 in Europe, three places above Fiona Elvira RAD, who will also compete in Novi Sad. The line-up is reinforced by Yoo SIWOO, ranked no. 109 in the World Rankings. Leading Group B is Czech SKST Plus Hodonin. The club from Czechia lost last season’s Europe Cup final against Saint-Denis TT. The leading name in the squad is Karin GROFOVA (Europe no. 185), followed by Marketa SEVCIKOVA and Binyue ZHANG. Coach of SKST PLUS Hodonín Jaroslav MIKESKA: “The team’s goal is of course to advance to the next stage, but it will not be easy at all. The group is strong and the opponents are of high quality. I consider the Croatian club Dr. Časl, which has a very strong roster, to be the biggest favorite. But of course, it will be important which players come to the tournament. The fight for the second qualifying spot will be even.” TTC Novi Sad will play on home soil. Aneta MAKSUTI, ranked 70th in Europe, is the top name in the hosts’ line-up. Poland’s PGE Fibrain KU AZS Politechnika Rzeszow have Taipei’s Yi Tian YEH (world no. 61), alongside Europe’s no. 57 Zuzanna WIELGOS, and two Swedish players, Nomin BAASAN and 2013 European champion Fen LI. A host awaits the start of the Stage one with great anticipation and new players. From this season, STK Novi Sad has been strengthened with Russian national team players. In addition to Aneta MAKSUTI, Reka BEZEG, Sara RADAK, and Maša BOŠKOVSKI, coach Slobodan STOJANOV will also be able to count on Valeria KOTCUR, Valeria SHERBATH, and Arina SLAUTINA. “We have excellent reinforcements. They are all great players. They arrived just a week before the Champions League and immediately blended into the team. They are cheerful, hardworking, and represent the typical school with an attacking style of play. We will have the sweet trouble of deciding which lineup to field against extremely strong opponents,” said coach STOJANOV. The winners of the 2018 Champions League, Dr CASL, are the fourth club in Group B, arriving with the experienced Szandra PERGEL, Katerina TOMANOVSKA, Tamolwan KHETKHUAN. This weekend, during the three-day tournament, clubs seeded from positions 9 to 16 will compete in Stage 1, consisting of two groups of four teams. The group winners and runners-up will join the automatically qualified top eight seeds in Stage 2, which will feature four groups made up of three clubs each. The winners and runners-up from each Stage 2 group will qualify for the quarterfinals, which will be played as home-and-away matches. The winning teams will then proceed to the Final 4.
Game On in Novi Sad: Stage One of the Champions League Serves Up Fireworks
Novi Sad is the place to be as the ETTU Champions League Men 2025/26 season kicks off, bringing another thrilling season of elite club competition. The top eight seeds are exempt in this opening stage, but with Olympic bronze medalists such as the LEBRUN brothers and world-class names including Liam PITCHFORD and Tiago APOLONIA’s teams present, Stage One promises a fantastic weekend of action. The spotlight will be on Group B, where French champions Alliance Nîmes/Montpellier, led by Europe’s no. 2 and no. 3, Felix and Alexis LEBRUN, will fight for a place at the top. Their squad also features India’s Manav THAKAR, currently no. 43 in the World Rankings. Despite being seeded second in their group, they are widely considered favorites not only to progress to the next stage but also to challenge for the title. Last year they narrowly missed the ETTU Champions League Final 4, falling to Borussia Düsseldorf in the quarterfinals. Felix, an Olympic singles bronze medalist, teamed up with Alexis to also claim bronze in the Team event in Paris. Both were key players when France won gold at the European Team Championships and silver in doubles at the World Championships. Alexis also boasts European singles and doubles titles with Felix. Earlier this year Alexis clinched the title at the CCB Europe Top 16 Cup and reached the semifinals at the Singapore Smash. Group D is topped by SF SKK El Nino Praha of Czechia, last season’s Europe Cup runners-up, featuring Yevhen PRYSHCHEPA (ER 152), Tomas KONECNY and David REITSPIES. Also competing are Denmark’s Roskilde Bordtennis BTK 61, with Dominykas SAMUOLIS (ER 103), and Italy’s ASD TT Santa Tecla Nulvi, led by Chile’s Nicolas BURGOS (WR 124). Coach of SF SKK El Niňo Praha Petr KAUCKÝ: “Last season, we achieved a historic success for our club by reaching the final of the Europe Cup and this year we will play with the same line-up. It will not be easy to build on this success. We have a difficult group. Roskilde has strengthened its team, Montpellier has the brothers Felix and Alexis Lebrun on the roster. It is difficult to estimate what the opponents’ rosters will be, but I think it will be harder than last year.” The top-seeded club in Stage One is French AS Pontoise Cergy TT, boasting Europe’s no. 19 Liam PITCHFORD and Alexandre CASSIN. The French side, already twice Champions League winners (2014 and 2016), return aiming for another trophy. PITCHFORD claimed the WTT Feeder Manchester in April. They will face ASC Grünwettersbach, Europe Cup semifinalists, led by world no. 23 Hiroto SHINOZUKA, Europe’s no. 33 Tiago APOLONIA, and no. 44 Ricardo WALTHER. Also in the group are Europe Cup quarterfinalists Real Club Cajasur Priego TM, featuring Hampus SODERLUND, Carlos MACHADO and Alejandro CALVO, and TTC Ostrava 2016 with Ondrej KVENTON and Jakub KLEPRLIK. Group A will be led by Germany’s Post SV Mühlhausen 1951 e.V. Europe Cup semifinalists last season, represented by Europe’s no. 30 Ovidiu IONESCU, China’s Cheng-Ting LIAO (WR 68), Kay STUMPER, and Steffen MENGEL. Their opponents include Slovakia’s STK Vyhne, Europe Cup quarterfinalists, with Adam KLAJBER, Filip SZYMANSKI, and Boguslaw KOSZYK. Patryk CHOJNOWSKI and Konstantinos ANGELAKIS in Polish club Dojlidy Białystok, which debuted in the competition last season, return alongside Lille Metropole TT, led by Tom CLOSSET, Amir Hossein HODAEI, and Roman BRARD. Austria’s SPG Felbemayr Wels, the third seeds in Stage One and seeded no. 11 overall, feature Maciej KOLODZIEJCZYK (ER 74) and Felix WETZEL (ER 197). They will face SKST Havirov of Czechia, led by Manush Utpalbhai SHAH (WR 70). Also in Group C are Belgium’s TTC Sokah Hoboken, with Gabrielius CAMARA (ER 73), and Croatia’s STK Starr. Stage One features four groups made up of four clubs each, seeded from position nine onwards. The top eight seeds are directly qualified for the Round of 16. The top two teams from each Stage One group will progress and join them. From that point, the Champions League Men will follow a knockout system, with two-legged ties in the Round of 16 and quarterfinals, before the four winners advance to the Final 4.
