On the third day of play at the European Team Championships in Zadar, the teams seeded No. 2 and No. 3 in their respective groups fought for their remaining positions in the Round of 16, which will be played on Thursday. In the opening two days, the men’s teams that had already secured their place in the Round of 16 were: Sweden, France, Germany, Romania, Croatia, and Belgium. Additionally, the teams that reached the last 16 also confirmed their qualification for the 2026 World Championships in London. England – Greece 1–3 Group D: Portugal 2–0, Greece 1–1, England 0–2 Despite a strong start, highlighted by Tom JARVIS’s win over Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS, Greece secured their spot in the knockout stage as the second-placed team in the group. Panagiotis GIONIS overcame both JARVIS and Paul DRINKHALL, while Georgios STAMATOUROS prevailed against Samuel WALKER. “Today we knew we had to win 3–0 or 3–1, because England beat Portugal. England is a very good team, even though they are here without PITCHFORD, for them that’s a big loss,” said Panagiotis GIONIS. “We played freely, we believed we could do it, and I think all the guys played perfectly. If Ioannis had been a little luckier, he could have won the first match as well, and maybe we could have taken first place in the group. But in the end, we’re very happy. We focused a lot on this game, believed in ourselves, and fought hard. We were a little luckier today, and we won.” Asked if he had any preferences for the Round of 16 draw, GIONIS smiled: “Of course, we have some preferences. If you play against Sweden, France, or Germany, it’s tougher, you have to be honest about that. But our goal was to qualify, and now we’ve done it. We’ll just play, enjoy the moment, and see what happens. For us, it’s already good to play another match, and we’re very happy with our performance. If we get a good draw, well, I’m dreaming a little (laughs), maybe if we can have Belgium, that would be a very good draw for us. But we’ll see.” The Greek Olympian added:“When you qualify from such a difficult group, you start believing in everything. We know it’s tough to beat the top teams, but in sports, you never know what can happen. Now we’ll play more freely, it’s a great experience, especially for the young players, as it’s their first time reaching the top 16 at the Europeans. All our young players are getting more experienced; they play in strong leagues. What’s most important is that we enjoy it, stay relaxed, prepare well, and stay focused. In the end, anything can happen, we’ve seen many surprises in recent years, and everyone can beat everyone if you believe in yourself. The key is to work, practice, and believe.” Finland – Poland 1–3 Group H: Belgium 2–0, Poland 1–1, Finland 0–2 Poland recovered from their opening-round defeat against Belgium and advanced to the knockout stage after a solid victory over Finland. Milosz REDZIMSKI was the backbone of the team’s success with two wins, against Benedek OLAH and Aleksi RASANEN, while Marek BADOWSKI added one more point by beating RASANEN. Alex NAUMI scored Finland’s only win, overcoming Samuel KULCZYCKI. “For me, it was really nice,” said Milosz REDZIMSKI. “I wasn’t feeling great in the morning at the beginning, but after overcoming some problems with low energy, I played quite well. I didn’t see much of Samuel’s game, but I saw it was very close. Marek played great and won quickly, so we’re very happy. We feel strong and ready to fight for a medal.” “We’ve played many times against Benedek OLAH because he competes in the Polish League, so we were very well prepared tactically. That preparation was the key, we knew we needed to beat him to win the team match, and we did it. We’re really happy.” Marek BADOWSKI added: “We fight for every game. We know our potential, and we know we can beat very good teams here. We’re prepared and ready to give everything. We had a very tough match against Belgium, and we wanted to do things right today, we prepared well for this match.” Netherlands – Slovakia 1–3 Group F: Romania 2–0, Slovakia 1–1, Netherlands 0–2 Slovakia advanced to the next stage after a 3–1 victory over the Netherlands. Gabrielius CAMARA gave the Dutch team a better start with a win over Lubomir PISTEJ, but Yang WANG was in splendid form, defeating both Kas VAN OOST and CAMARA. Alexander VALUCH added the third point with a win over Barry BERBEN. “They have a very young and competitive team, so we knew it would be a tough match. We played them last time in Malmö, we won 3–0, but all the matches were very close, so we knew it would be hard again,” explained the experienced Lubomir PISTEJ. “I didn’t start well, but my adversary played really good and deserved to win. Then WANG Yang came back with an easy victory; he’s in very good shape. At one moment he was down 1–11 and 0–4, that’s 15–1 in total, and then he came back somehow! Lucky for us, because it was really not an easy match today. We knew this was our most important match in the group, and we managed to win, so we’re very happy.” PISTEJ added:“Two points from WANG were the key, but also VALUCH, he didn’t play yesterday, and today he got the chance and took it from position three. It was good for us to lead 2–1; it helped Yang mentally as well. I was ready to step in if needed. I think we are normally the stronger team, but you always have to prove it on the table.” Serbia – Ukraine 3-2 Group C: Germany 2-0, Serbia 1-1, Ukraine 0-2. Serbia secured a hard-fought 3–2 victory over Ukraine in Group C, with Dimitrije LEVAJAC making a triumphant return to the line-up after recovering from a

The last day of the Group Stage matches at the European Team Championships in Zadar brought decisive clashes for the remaining places in the Round of 16. In the Women’s Event, after the first two days of play, the teams that had already secured their place in the knockout phase were: Germany, Romania, Portugal, Sweden, Poland, Croatia, Netherlands, Spain, and Ukraine. Additionally, the teams that reached the last 16 also secured qualification for the World Championships in London 2026. Belgium – Czechia 1–3 Group 4: Portugal 2–0, Czechia 1–1, Belgium 0–2 Czechia recovered from their earlier defeat against Portugal and, with a win over Belgium, secured a place in the Round of 16. Hana MATELOVA beat both Margo DEGRAEF and Julie VAN HAUWAERT, while Veronika POLAKOVA overcame Margo DEGRAEF. Lilou MASSART claimed Belgium’s only point, prevailing against Karin GROFOVA in a tight five-game duel. “I think Veronika started off really well, winning 3–2, and that gave me a nice sense of calm as well,” said Hana MATELOVA. “For me, it was actually quite an advantage that the Belgian team changed their lineup. I won both of my matches comfortably, so that’s great. I’m really enjoying the young energy and spirit in our team, we’re always taking photos, Snapchats, stories, but I don’t mind. It’s all part of it.” Spain – Netherlands 0–3 Group 3: Netherlands 2–0, Spain 1–1, France 0–2 Both Netherlands and Spain secured their place in the second stage by overcoming France in the previous two rounds. Today, the Dutch team confirmed their top position in the standings and a better draw position by defeating Spain in straight matches. Netherlands’ Britt EERLAND, Jie LI, and Shuohan MEN overcame Maria XIAO, Sofia-Xuan ZHANG, and Maria BERZOSA without due alarm. “I think after beating France we were, of course, a little bit more confident, but we didn’t really think ahead yet. We also watched the match between France and Spain, and we saw that Spain really pushed France hard, they wanted to win, not just play. From that match, we felt the pressure too, knowing they would come strong against us, so we had to go all in. Of course, nobody wants to lose, so we stayed super focused. Maybe not always the nicest, but very focused, and that showed in our performance. For me, for Jie, and for Shuohan at number three, she was a little nervous, but I’m happy she could finish the match for us,” said Britt EERLAND. Asked about the next goal, EERLAND continued: “It would be great to go for a medal, of course. But as I said before, we’re the type of team that just wants to win, it doesn’t matter if it’s the semifinals, final, or group stage, we just want to win. So we’ll keep fighting and try to make it as difficult as possible for everyone. Most importantly, we’ll play our own game and our best table tennis.” “You never know, any match can be the deciding one, any point can turn the momentum. So if we have a chance, even a small one, we have to take it. I’m also very happy for Shuohan that she could win her match; it’s great for her confidence going forward in the tournament. Of course, we still have to see who we’ll play next and how we can prepare, because we also have Tanja, so we’ll do everything to play our best table tennis and find the best possible tactics.” Austria – Greece 3–0 Group 5: Sweden 2–0, Austria 1–1, Greece 0–2 After Aikaterini TOLIOU defeated Yuan LIU in a long and hard-fought duel, Austria shifted into a higher gear. Sofia POLCANOVA beat both Malamatenia PAPADIMITRIOU and TOLIOU in straight games (3–0), while Karoline MISCHEK prevailed against Ioanna GERASIMATOU to complete the victory. “It was our goal to qualify for the last 16 and also to secure a place at the World Championships in London 2026, so now that we’ve done it, we are, of course, really happy,” said Sofia POLCANOVA. “Today we showed that we are one team and that we did what we had to do. I might be the number one in the team, but we’re all one unit — I’m happy when everyone can play and win. As the top player, I do feel the pressure, but I believe that if I can win two matches, the other girls can also deliver, and today, that was exactly the case.” Although Nina SKERBINZ did not play in this match, POLCANOVA spoke warmly about her young teammate’s debut. “This is our first tournament together with Nina, and I hope she can gain valuable experience here at the European Championships, not only from me, but also from the other players on the team.” England – Italy 3-2 Group 7: Croatia 2-0, England 1-1, Italy 0-2. England emerged victorious in a tense five-match duel against Italy, clinching second place in Group 7 and a spot in the Round of 16. It was Italy who started stronger, as Giorgia PICCOLIN defeated Tin-Tin HO in the opening encounter. England then responded with Tianer YU’s convincing win over Gaia MONFARDINI. The balance shifted again when Nicole ARLIA overcame Jasmin WONG, but HO and YU held their nerve to seal England’s overall 3–2 triumph. “The first match against Giorgia PICCOLIN was a tough loss for me. I had control for most of it, but unfortunately she changed a few things and I couldn’t find a way to win,” said HO. “In my second match against Gaia MONFARDINI I felt really good, she played my game, and I’m happy that I managed to win 3–0. Overall, we’re so happy that we reached the Round of 16 and showed some really good table tennis.” Overall we are so happy that we managed to get in the round of 16 and showed a good game,”said HO. Slovenia – Serbia 0–3 Group 2: Germany 2–0, Serbia 1–1, Slovenia 0–2 Serbia’s Izabela LUPULESKU, Sabina ŠURJAN, and Aneta MAKSUTI overcame Slovenia’s Sara