The ETTU 2026 CCB Europe Top 16 Cup will celebrate its 55th edition, continuing a tradition that began with an experimental tournament held in Zadar in 1971. From 5 to 8 February, the Swiss town of Montreux will once again host Europe’s elite, as the continent’s best players gather for one of the most prestigious individual events on the calendar. Invitations were issued in accordance with the European rankings, and all leading players have confirmed their participation. In both the women’s and men’s events, fourteen players qualify directly through the ETTU Rankings, while eight additional players in each category will compete for the final two available places. Germany’s Sabine WINTER heads the women’s field as the top seed. A semifinalist at the previous edition and also in 2017, WINTER returns to Montreux as one of the most decorated players of her generation. She claimed bronze in singles at the 2022 European Championships and has amassed seven European Championship gold medals, winning doubles titles in 2013 and 2016 and team titles in 2014, 2015, 2021, 2023 and 2025. She was also part of the German teams that secured bronze medals at the World Championships in Moscow and Chengdu, and her international résumé includes a silver medal in the team event at the European Games in Poland. Second seed Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria has been one of the most consistent performers in recent editions of the Europe Top 16 Cup. She finished runner-up in 2023 and 2024 and reached the semifinals in 2019, 2020 and 2022. At the 2022 European Championships, POLCANOVA captured gold medals in both singles and doubles, successfully defending her singles title in Linz in 2024. At the same Championships, she also earned silver medals in doubles and mixed doubles, while her international success extends to a silver medal in doubles at the 2025 World Championships. Romania’s Bernadette SZOCS, champion of the Europe Top 16 Cup in 2018 and finalist one year later, remains a regular presence among the top contenders. She reached the semifinals in 2021, 2022 and 2024. Her European Championship record includes team gold medals in 2017 and 2019, as well as gold in doubles in 2022, partnering POLCANOVA. In addition, SZOCS has collected five team silver medals between 2011 and 2025, along with two further silver medals in singles and doubles. At the 2023 European Games, she captured gold in both singles and team events, having previously won silver in the team and mixed doubles events in Minsk in 2019. Her most recent World Championship success came in Doha in 2025, where she secured silver in doubles. The reigning CCB Europe Top 16 Cup champion, Ying HAN, continues her return to top-level competition after overcoming a torn Achilles tendon that prevented her from defending her titles in 2024. Winner of the tournament in 2022 and 2023, the German defensive specialist made a remarkable comeback in 2025, returning to Montreux in outstanding form. HAN’s achievements include five gold medals at the European Team Championships in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2023 and 2025, as well as silver in 2017 and bronze in 2015, while she also claimed bronze in singles in 2013. At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, she was a member of the German team that won silver. Seeded fifth is France’s Jia Nan YUAN, the winner of the 2024 Europe Top 16 Cup. At the European Championships, YUAN claimed gold in mixed doubles in 2022 and bronze in the team event in 2023, while at the 2024 World Championships in Busan, she was part of the French team that won bronze. Romania’s Elizabeta SAMARA will make her 16th appearance at the Europe Top 16 Cup in Montreux. Her best result prior to last year’s final was a third-place finish in 2018. One of the most decorated players in European table tennis history, SAMARA has won eight European Championship gold medals, including singles gold in 2015, doubles titles in 2009 and 2012, mixed doubles gold in 2011 and 2012, and team titles in 2005, 2017 and 2019. She has also amassed ten silver and six bronze medals at the Championships. At the European Games, she won team gold in 2023, team silver in 2019, and bronze in singles. France’s Prithika PAVADE, seeded seventh, has already claimed four European Championship bronze medals, earning podium finishes in the team event in 2021 and 2023 and in mixed doubles in 2020 and 2024. Portugal’s Jieni SHAO achieved her best Europe Top 16 Cup result in 2023, reaching the semifinals. At the European Championships, she won team silver in 2019 and bronze medals in 2021, 2023 and 2025, while also helping Portugal to bronze at the 2023 European Games. Germany’s Nina MITTELHAM, the Europe Top 16 Cup winner in 2021, returns to Montreux as the ninth seed. Her European Championship titles include gold in doubles in 2018, mixed doubles gold in 2020, and team gold in 2021, 2023 and 2025. She also won silver in singles in 2022 and 2024, and was part of the German team that secured bronze at the 2022 World Championships. Next on the seeding list is Sweden’s Linda BERGSTRÖM, who was a member of the Swedish team that won bronze at the 2014 European Championships. Portugal’s Fu YU, runner-up at the Europe Top 16 Cup in 2021, arrives in Montreux following a bronze medal at the 2025 European Team Championships. She also claimed team bronze medals in 2021 and 2023, singles bronze in 2013 and 2015, singles silver in 2016, and team silver in 2019. At the 2019 European Games in Minsk, YU captured gold, and she added team bronze at the 2023 European Games in Poland. Spain’s Maria XIAO, seeded twelfth, celebrated her greatest success at the 2024 European Championships, where she won gold in mixed doubles and bronze in singles. She also secured bronze in doubles in 2022. Poland’s Natalia BAJOR has two European Championship medals to her name, having won team bronze in 2019 and bronze in doubles in 2024. Completing the

The ETTU 2026 CCB Europe Top 16 Cup will bring together the continent’s crème de la crème from 5 to 8 February in the picturesque Swiss town of Montreux. In both the women’s and men’s events, fourteen players qualify directly through the ETTU Rankings, while eight additional players in each category will compete for the final two available places. The seeding list is based on the December ETTU Rankings, with Sweden’s Truls MOREGARD leading the men’s field and Germany’s Sabine WINTER heading the women’s draw. Truls MOREGARD returns to Montreux as one of the standout figures of the modern era. He has already reached the final of the Europe Top 16 Cup twice, in 2022 and 2024, and advanced to the semifinals last year. His career achievements include two silver medals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in both the singles and team events. At the European Championships, MOREGARD won team gold in Malmö in 2023, claimed silver in doubles in Linz in 2024, secured bronze medals with the Swedish team in Nantes in 2019 and Cluj-Napoca in 2021, and added a bronze medal in singles at the 2024 Championships in Linz. His World Championship record features a bronze medal in singles in Doha in 2025, a silver medal in singles in Houston in 2021, and a bronze medal in the team event in Halmstad in 2018. He also captured a silver medal with the Swedish team at the 2023 European Games in Kraków–Małopolska. The reigning CCB Europe Top 16 Cup champion, Alexis LEBRUN, enters the tournament as the second seed. He also reached the semifinals in 2024 and played a key role in France’s bronze-medal finish at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In 2025, in Zadar, Alexis was part of the French team that captured the European title alongside his brother Felix LEBRUN. He is also the reigning European champion in both singles and doubles, having claimed the doubles title with Felix in 2024. The LEBRUN brothers previously stood on the podium together with bronze medals in doubles at the 2022 European Championships in Munich and in the team event at the 2023 Championships in Malmö. Alexis further strengthened his international résumé with a silver medal at the 2024 World Championships in Busan in the team event and a bronze medal in doubles at the 2025 World Championships in Doha. Felix LEBRUN, in addition to his team and doubles success, secured an Olympic bronze medal in singles at Paris 2024 and captured gold at the 2023 European Games in Poland. Slovenia’s Darko JORGIC, seeded fifth, is one of the most dominant players of the competition, having won the CCB Europe Top 16 Cup three consecutive times in 2022, 2023 and 2024, while finishing runner-up in 2020 and 2025. His major titles also include a silver medal in singles at the 2022 European Championships in Munich, as well as bronze medals with the Slovenian team at the European Championships in 2015 and 2017. Germany’s top-ranked representative, Benedikt DUDA, seeded sixth, claimed the silver medal in singles at the 2024 European Championships in Linz. He has also been an integral part of Germany’s highly successful teams, contributing to gold medals at the European Championships in Nantes in 2019 and Cluj-Napoca in 2021, a silver medal in Malmö in 2023, and a bronze medal at the 2025 Championships in Zadar. Just below him in the seeding list is compatriot Patrick FRANZISKA, the winner of the Europe Top 16 Cup in Thessaloniki in 2012. FRANZISKA reached the semifinals of the competition last year and previously in 2022. He claimed bronze in singles at the 2018 European Championships in Alicante, while enjoying remarkable team success with Germany, standing atop the podium at the European Championships four times in 2013, 2017, 2019 and 2021. With the German team, he also won silver at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and two silver medals at the World Championships in Tokyo and Halmstad. The German presence continues with Dang QIU, runner-up in Montreux in 2023. The 2022 European singles champion from Munich also owns a European Championships gold medal in mixed doubles from Warsaw in 2020. At the 2023 European Games, he reached the top step of the podium in both the mixed doubles and team events. Five-time Europe Top 16 Cup winner Dimitrij OVTCHAROV, who lifted the trophy in 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019, brings an extraordinary list of accolades to Montreux. Over the course of his illustrious career, he has collected ten European Championship gold medals since 2007, including two singles titles in 2013 and 2015 and eight team titles. OVTCHAROV is also the European Games singles champion from 2015 and a team champion at the Games in 2019 and 2023. At the Olympic Games, he won bronze medals in singles in London 2012 and Tokyo 2020, silver medals in the team event in Beijing and Tokyo, and team bronze medals in London and Rio. The second Swedish representative, Anton KALLBERG, has built much of his success in team competitions. He was a member of the Swedish team that claimed silver at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, won team gold at the European Championships in Malmö, and collected bronze medals in the team event in 2019 and 2021. In 2024, in Linz, he also finished runner-up in doubles. Denmark’s Anders LIND was part of the Danish team that secured a bronze medal at the 2021 European Championships in Cluj-Napoca. France’s Simon GAUZY, silver medalist in singles at the 2016 European Championships, was a member of the French team that captured European gold in Zadar in 2025. He also won bronze medals in the team event at the European Championships in 2015, 2017 and 2019. At the Olympic Games in Paris, GAUZY helped France to bronze, while in the same year he claimed silver at the World Championships in the team event. His European Games record includes silver in Baku in 2015 and bronze in Kraków in 2023. Another Danish representative, Jonathan GROTH, seeded twelfth,