The 2026 European Under 13 Championships will bring together some of Europe’s most promising young table tennis players in Nevşehir, Türkiye, from 11 to 15 November. The five-day competition will take place at the Hacı Bektaş Veli University Sports Centre. A total of 30 national teams will compete in the Mixed Team event, while 88 boys and 86 girls are entered in the individual singles competitions. Four titles will be contested: Mixed Teams, Boys’ Singles, Girls’ Singles and Mixed Doubles. The championships will feature several players who have already enjoyed success on the European youth circuit. Among those to watch in the Girls’ Singles is Türkiye’s Defne UZUMCU, who recently claimed the title at the 19th STIGA Masters. She will be joined in the home team’s line-up by Gizem CIGIL, winner of the U13 Girls’ Singles title at the JOOLA Europe Youth Series Serbia Open in Beočin. Italy will field a strong contingent featuring Pietro CAMPAGNA, winner of the U13 Boys’ Singles event in Beočin, alongside Luca FRANZONI and Giorgio BORGHESE. The Italian girls’ team includes Serena ROSSATI, Weilan CHEN and Maya PAVEL. Other notable entrants include Slovakia’s Adela VASKOVA, who reached the U13 Girls’ Singles final in Beočin, and Luxembourg’s Noah VALENTE, runner-up in the U13 Boys’ Singles competition at the same event. Portugal’s Lara MONTEIRO, a semifinalist at the recent STIGA Masters, is also among the Girls’ Singles entrants, along with Finland’s Kamilla KADAR. In Mixed Doubles, several partnerships will be looking to make their mark. Italy’s Luca FRANZONI and Weilan CHEN, winners at the Serbia Open, are entered together again, while Türkiye’s Emre BUCAK and Defne UZUMCU will represent the host nation. The competition will also feature pairs combining players from different national associations. The Mixed Team event will open the championships on Wednesday, 11 November, with the first group stage. Each team match consists of five contests, beginning with Mixed Doubles, followed by two Girls’ and two Boys’ Singles matches. All five contests will be played during the group stages. The 30 teams will initially be divided into eight groups, with the top two from each progressing to the second-stage A final groups. The four group winners from that stage will advance to the semifinals and compete for the medals. The individual competitions begin on Friday, 13 November, with the Boys’ and Girls’ Singles group stages. The top two players from each group will advance to the main draw, while the remaining players will enter the B final draw. The Mixed Doubles competition will be played in a direct knockout format, with pairs from different national associations also permitted to compete together. The championships will conclude on Sunday, 15 November, with the final stages of the individual competitions, bringing five days of competition in Nevşehir to a close.
Europe’s Elite Eight Set for Champions League Women Showdown
The 2026/27 ETTU Champions League Women enters second stage this week, with eight of Europe’s leading clubs beginning their battle for places in the Final Four. Defending champions and No. 1 seeds KTS Enea Siarkopol TARNOBRZEG headline the competition, alongside French contenders Metz TT and Etival ASRTT, Germany’s TTC Berlin eastside and four other ambitious challengers. Unlike the men’s competition, which moves directly into the knockout rounds, the women’s Champions League features a single group of eight teams. Each club will face every other opponent once over seven rounds, making every result important in the race for the Final Four. Six directly qualified clubs are joined by Linz AG Froschberg and SKST Plus Hodonin, who earned their places through Stage 1 in Budaörs. Both teams completed the opening stage unbeaten, recording three victories from three matches. Polish powerhouse KTS Enea Siarkopol TARNOBRZEG returns as the defending champion after lifting the trophy at last season’s inaugural Final Four. The No. 1 seeds have retained an outstanding squad, led by Germany’s Ying HAN, Portugal’s Fu YU, Monaco’s Xiaoxin YANG and China’s Zhuojia HE. TARNOBRZEG begins its campaign at home against fourth seeds Etival ASRTT on Tuesday, 10 November. The French side will provide an immediate test for the title holders. Etival’s squad features Portugal’s SHAO Jieni, Sweden’s Christina KÄLLBERG and Australia’s Liu YANGZI, giving the visitors a strong international line-up. Second seeds Metz TT are among the strongest challengers to TARNOBRZEG’s dominance. The French club boasts an impressive squad led by France’s Charlotte LUTZ, Serbia’s Izabela LUPULESKU, Egypt’s Hana GODA, Croatia’s Lea RAKOVAC and Luxembourg’s Sarah DE NUTTE. Metz opens its campaign away to third seeds TTC Berlin eastside on Wednesday, 11 November, in one of the most anticipated encounters of the opening round. Berlin’s experienced squad features Germany’s Nina MITTELHAM and SHAN Xiaona, Poland’s Natalia BAJOR and Serbia’s Sabina SURJAN. With both clubs aiming for a place among the leading contenders, their opening meeting promises an early indication of the balance of power in Stage 2. Fifth seeds UCAM Cartagena TM will also have ambitions of reaching the Final Four. The Spanish club has assembled a strong line-up featuring Spain’s Maria XIAO, Wales’ Anna HURSEY, England’s HO Tin-Tin and Chile’s Daniela ORTEGA. Cartagena begins Stage 2 away to SKST Plus Hodonin, who impressed during the opening stage in Budaörs. Sixth seeds Saint-Quentin TT will rely on Sweden’s Linda BERGSTRÖM, Slovakia’s Barbora VARADY, Canada’s ZHANG Mo and France’s Camille LUTZ. The French club hosts Linz AG Froschberg in its opening encounter on Tuesday, 10 November. Austrian side Linz AG Froschberg secured its Stage 2 place by winning Group A in Budaörs with three victories from three matches. The team demonstrated its fighting qualities with a narrow 8-7 victory over STK Dr. Časl Zagreb before defeating MIRÓ Ganxets 8-2 and PGE Fibrain KU AZS Politechnika Rzeszow 8-1. Linz’s squad includes Slovakia’s Tatiana KUKULKOVA, Belgium’s Lilou MASSART, Slovenia’s Sara TOKIC and Japanese players Emiko TAGUCHI and Yurika NAMBA, who contributed to the successful qualification campaign. SKST Plus Hodonin followed a similarly impressive route, finishing unbeaten at the top of Group B. The Czech club secured the decisive victory with an 8-4 success against ASD Quattro Mori Cagliari. Russia’s Vlada VORONINA and China’s Binyue ZHANG played important roles in that victory, while Karin GROFOVA and the other members of the squad provide additional depth for the challenges ahead. Both qualifiers now face a significant step up in competition as they join six of Europe’s strongest clubs in the battle for the Final Four. Stage 2 will feature seven rounds of matches, with all eight teams competing in a single round-robin group. The top two clubs in the final standings will qualify directly for the Final Four, scheduled for 1-2 May 2027. Teams finishing third to sixth will continue into Stage 3, where the third-placed team faces the sixth-placed side and the fourth-placed club meets the fifth-placed team. Both play-offs will be decided in a single match, hosted by the higher-ranked club. The two winners will complete the Final Four line-up, while the teams finishing seventh and eighth in Stage 2 will be eliminated. ETTU Champions League Women – Stage 2 Tuesday, 10 November Wednesday, 11 November Round 2 Saturday, 14 November Sunday, 15 November 16:00 – Linz AG Froschberg (AUT) – TTC Berlin eastside (GER)
