Linz AG Froschberg secured their place in Stage 2 of the 2026/27 ETTU Champions League Women after completing Group A with three victories from three matches. The Austrian side closed the group with an 8-1 win over PGE Fibrain KU AZS Politechnika Rzeszow, while STK Dr. Časl Zagreb finished their weekend with an 8-2 victory over MIRÓ Ganxets. Pictures by Szilvi HOFFER here. Linz entered the final day as the only unbeaten team in Group A after Friday’s narrow 8-7 victory over Dr. Časl and Saturday’s 8-2 success against MIRÓ Ganxets. Against Rzeszow, Emiko TAGUCHI collected two points in the opening encounter with Ilona SZTWIERTNIA. TAGUCHI edged the first game 12-10, SZTWIERTNIA responded 11-8, before the Linz player took the third 11-7. Yurika NAMBA then gave Linz complete control with three straight games against Paula KRYSINSKA, winning 11-4, 11-2 and 11-3. Tatiana KUKULKOVA completed the job against Oliwia WATOR. She took all three games 11-3, 11-7 and 11-8 to secure the 8-1 victory and Linz’s place in Stage 2. Earlier, STK Dr. Časl Zagreb finished their Group A programme with an impressive 8-2 victory over MIRÓ Ganxets. Kotomi OMODA recovered after losing the opening game against Anastasia KOLISH 10-12, winning the next two 11-8, 11-8. Margaryta PESOTSKA followed with two points against Olga VOROBEVA, before Yun-En TSAI took all three games against Olga BLIZNET. OMODA then returned against VOROBEVA and won 11-6 to bring the contest to an early conclusion. Linz finishes Group A with a perfect three victories from three matches and progresses to Stage 2. Dr. Časl takes second place with two wins, MIRÓ Ganxets finishes with one, while Rzeszow ends the group without a victory.
Round of 16 Places on the Line on Final Day in Lille (VIDEO)
HB Ostrov z.s. and ASD TT Santa Tecla Nulvi secured the two Group A places in Stage 2 of the 2026/27 HYLO ETTU Champions League Men after an eventful final round in Lille. Ostrov completed the group with a perfect record after beating STK Starr Croatia 3-1, while Santa Tecla came through a dramatic five-match contest against STK Vyhne to win 3-2 and claim the other qualifying position. See photos by Remi GROS here Ostrov entered the final day as the only unbeaten team in the group after victories over Santa Tecla and Vyhne, and made it three wins from three despite Starr Croatia taking the opening point. Liang QIU gave the Croatian side the lead with a 3-1 victory over Tomas POLANSKY, but Ostrov quickly responded. Tomas TREGLER beat Riyan DUTTA in straight games before Pavel SIRUCEK did the same against Ante KOLAK. QIU returned to face TREGLER and came close to keeping Starr Croatia in the contest. The match went all the way to the fifth game, where TREGLER prevailed by the narrowest margin, 6-5, to complete Ostrov’s 3-1 victory and perfect Group A record. The battle between STK Vyhne and ASD TT Santa Tecla Nulvi was effectively a direct fight for the remaining place in Stage 2, and it went down to the final match. Adam KLAJBER put Vyhne ahead after a five-game battle with Jordy PICCOLIN, winning the decider 6-3. Tommaso GIOVANNETTI responded for Santa Tecla with a 3-1 victory over Dmitrij PROKOPCOV. Jakub GOLDIR restored Vyhne’s advantage by edging Tomas KOLDAS in another five-game contest, taking the decider 6-5. Once again, however, GIOVANNETTI brought Santa Tecla back. His straight-games victory over KLAJBER made it 2-2 and left everything to PROKOPCOV and PICCOLIN. PROKOPCOV twice moved ahead, including taking a dramatic third game 16-14, but PICCOLIN refused to let the opportunity slip away. He won the fourth 11-3 and then raced through the deciding game 6-3 to give Santa Tecla a 3-2 victory and a place in Stage 2. HB Ostrov finishes Group A with three victories from three matches, while Santa Tecla takes second place with two wins. STK Vyhne finishes with one victory and STK Starr Croatia without a win.
