The Men’s Singles group stage at the 2026 European Championships in Ljubljana produced plenty of surprises, with several lower-seeded players overturning expectations and established names forced to fight for their places in the main draw. The Netherlands’ Ivan KAHN, Norway’s Martin FRØSETH and Finland’s Alex NAUMI were among those who upset the form book, while Germany’s Wim VERDONSCHOT survived one of the most dramatic encounters of the opening three days.
One of the biggest surprises came in Group 1, where KAHN, seeded 97th, defeated Luxembourg’s Luka MLADENOVIC, the 33rd seed, in a thrilling five-game contest. The Dutch player raced into a two-game lead before MLADENOVIC fought back to level, but KAHN held his nerve in the decider to win 3-2 (11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 6-11, 11-8).
KAHN followed that victory with a 3-1 success against Belgium’s Laurens DEVOS, completing an unbeaten campaign and securing an unexpected place in the main draw.
Norway’s Martin FRØSETH, seeded 95th, delivered another major upset in Group 3. Facing Spain’s Juan PEREZ, the 35th seed, the Norwegian produced an impressive straight-games victory (11-9, 11-9, 11-5).
FRØSETH then defeated Hungary’s David SZANTOSI 3-0 to finish top of the group without dropping a game.
Finland’s Alex NAUMI also made his mark, overcoming Romania’s Darius MOVILEANU in a dramatic five-game encounter. Twice behind in games, NAUMI refused to surrender, eventually prevailing 3-2.
The Finnish player followed that victory with a straight-games success over Heorhi KUNATS to secure first place in Group 9.
Another compelling contest unfolded in Group 6, where Germany’s Wim VERDONSCHOT found himself on the brink of defeat against Denmark’s Martin ANDERSEN.
VERDONSCHOT trailed 0-1 and 1-2 in games before falling 4-7 behind in the decider. However, he recovered to snatch a remarkable 3-2 victory (10-12, 11-3, 11-13, 11-9, 12-10).
“To be honest, I did not expect such a hard battle. But I knew it was going to be tough because I knew him from the Bundesliga 2, where we had some pretty close matches as well. And the conditions here are completely different from those at China Smash.
“It’s really, really tough for me to play here, but he played very well too. So, yeah, I’m happy to have a bit more time now to adapt and get a better feel for the conditions and the competition,” said VERDONSCHOT.
The German followed his hard-fought victory with a commanding straight-games win against Lithuania’s Ervinas UZIALO, finishing unbeaten in Group 6.
Austria’s Maciej KOLODZIEJCZYK also produced a notable result, defeating Portugal’s experienced Joao MONTEIRO 3-1 (11-3, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9). The Austrian backed up that performance with a convincing 3-0 victory over Cyprus’ Christos THEOFANOUS to secure first place in Group 17.
Türkiye’s Görkem ÖÇAL added another surprise by defeating Portugal’s Tiago ABIODUN in straight games (11-5, 11-7, 11-7). However, his toughest challenge came against Iceland’s Ingi RODRIGUEZ, who took the opening two games before ÖÇAL mounted a remarkable recovery to win 3-2 (5-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6).
The two victories sent the Turkish player through as winner of Group 21.
Croatia’s Filip ZELJKO also had to fight back from two games down, overcoming Serbia’s Zsolt PETO 3-2 (7-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-7). ZELJKO had already defeated Cyprus’ Sharpel ELIA in straight games and finished unbeaten at the top of Group 16.
Another Serbian player, Dimitrije LEVAJAC, enjoyed a successful campaign, winning all three matches in Group 28. His most demanding encounter came against Czechia’s Stepan BRHEL, who recovered from 0-2 to force a deciding game.
LEVAJAC eventually prevailed 3-2 (15-13, 11-5, 7-11, 8-11, 11-6), before completing his unbeaten run with victories over Austria’s Zhenlong LIU and San Marino’s Lorenzo RAGNI.
In Group 15, Spain’s Diego LILLO secured first place following a 3-1 victory over Serbia’s Uros NINKOVIC. The Serbian had previously recovered from 1-2 down to defeat Austria’s Andreas LEVENKO 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9), but LILLO proved too strong in their direct encounter.
Italy’s John OYEBODE also survived a five-game battle, defeating Greece’s Ioannis SGOUROPOULOS 3-2 (11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 11-13, 11-7). OYEBODE had established a two-game advantage before being forced into a decider, but regained control to secure the victory. He then overcame Latvia’s Arturs RUDNIKOVS 3-1 to win Group 22.
Germany’s Kay STUMPER emerged unbeaten from Group 26 after another dramatic contest. Poland’s Mateusz ZALEWSKI twice took the lead, but STUMPER fought back to win 3-2 (9-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7). The German also defeated Italy’s Francesco TREVISAN and Kosovo’s Kreshnik MAHMUTI in straight games.
Evgeny TIKHONOV produced one of the strongest comebacks in Group 27, recovering from two games down against Spain’s Daniel BERZOSA. After losing the opening games 9-11, 9-11, TIKHONOV responded with three convincing games, winning 3-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-6). Further victories over San Marino’s Federico GIARDI and North Macedonia’s Kristijan STANOJKOVSKI completed his unbeaten campaign.
Hungary’s Adam SZUDI also survived a five-game test, defeating Czechia’s Ondrej KVETON 3-2 (11-8, 5-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-7) to finish top of Group 20.
Among the more established names, England’s Liam PITCHFORD advanced without dropping a game, defeating Italy’s Danilo FASO and Finland’s Aleksi RASANEN in straight games to win Group 19.
Greece’s Panagiotis GIONIS was equally convincing, recording 3-0 victories over Luxembourg’s Mael VAN DESSEL and Israel’s Itay AVIVI to finish unbeaten in Group 14.
Austria’s Robert GARDOS also completed a flawless group campaign, defeating Finland’s Lassi LEHTOLA and Estonia’s Madis MOOS in straight games.
Portugal’s Tiago APOLONIA faced a more difficult path, needing five games to overcome Slovenia’s Peter HRIBAR. The experienced Portuguese player prevailed 3-2 (11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-4) to secure first place in Group 5.
Romania’s Ovidiu IONESCU, Slovakia’s Yang WANG and Sweden’s Elias RANEFUR all progressed unbeaten, while Norway’s Borgar HAUG completed Group 8 without conceding a game.
Hungary’s Csaba ANDRAS and England’s Connor GREEN also finished their respective groups with two victories, as did Finland’s Benedek OLAH.
Poland’s Maciej KUBIK secured three victories in Group 23, including a five-game success over Spain’s Miguel PANTOJA, while Romania’s Andrei ISTRATE completed an unbeaten campaign in Group 25.
France’s Leo DE NODREST also impressed, overcoming Poland’s Marek BADOWSKI 3-1 before defeating Ukraine’s Nazar TRETIAK and Bulgaria’s Petyo KRASTEV to finish top of Group 32.
Türkiye’s Abdullah YIGENLER won all three matches in Group 30, while the remaining completed groups continued to underline the depth of competition in Ljubljana.
With a series of unexpected results, dramatic recoveries and impressive performances from emerging players, the group stage has provided an exciting introduction to the Men’s Singles competition as attention turns to the knockout rounds.
