A Decade of the European Under 21 Championships: From Experiment to Established Success

The 2026 European Under 21 Championships in Cluj-Napoca marked a special milestone for European table tennis – the tenth edition of an event that has become a vital stepping stone between youth competition and the senior ranks.

When the championships were launched in 2017, the concept was still untested. The objective was to provide young players with an opportunity to continue their development after the youth categories while preparing them for the demands of elite senior competition.

What was first a test to see if there would be room for an event for the younger adults to reduce the distance between youth and the absolute European top level has now become a mature event in the European table tennis event system.

The inaugural edition took place in Sochi before the championships travelled to Minsk, Gondomar, Varaždin, Spa, Cluj-Napoca, Sarajevo, Skopje and Bratislava, returning to Cluj-Napoca in 2026. Over the course of ten editions, nearly 40 ETTU member associations have participated in the event.

The championships have produced winners from across the continent. Twenty-five associations have won medals, while sixteen have celebrated at least one European Under 21 champion.

The statistics collected over the first decade reveal the nations that have left the biggest mark on the competition.

“The most successful Association in these 10 years is without any doubt Romania,” said ETTU Ranking Committee Chair Igor HELLER.

The host nation of the 2026 edition added another five medals to its remarkable collection, bringing its overall tally to 40 medals: 11 gold, 12 silver and 17 bronze.

Poland occupies second place on the all-time medal table with seven gold, four silver and 12 bronze medals, while Germany ranks third with six gold, nine silver and seven bronze.

Romania’s influence is equally visible in the individual rankings.

“Among the best 10 players we find no less than six Romanian players, including the two best ones,” HELLER pointed out. “Leading the all-time medal standings is Elena ZAHARIA, who amassed three gold, three silver and two bronze medals during her Under 21 career. Close behind is Bianca MEI ROSU with three gold and two silver medals.”

Only a select group of players have managed to win three European Under 21 titles.

Alongside ZAHARIA and MEI ROSU, that exclusive club includes Poland’s Milosz REDZIMSKI and Wales’ Anna HURSEY.

HURSEY and ZAHARIA also share a unique distinction. They remain the only players in championship history to have captured titles in all three disciplines available to them – singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

Winning a European title is a major achievement. Successfully defending one is even rarer.

During the first ten editions of the championships, only three successful title defences have been recorded.

The first came from Türkiye’s Özge YILMAZ and Ece HARAÇ, who retained the Women’s Doubles title in 2021 and 2022.

REDZIMSKI followed by defending the Men’s Singles crown in consecutive years, winning the title in both 2023 and 2024.

As the European Under 21 Championships celebrate their tenth anniversary, the event stands as one of the success stories of the ETTU competition calendar. What began as an experiment has evolved into a proven pathway for Europe’s most promising talents, helping to bridge the gap between youth and senior table tennis while creating champions and memorable moments along the way.

Medals Table European U21 Championships individual
Pl	Name		Ass	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Elena	Zaharia	ROU	3	3	2	8
2	Bianca	Mei Rosu	ROU	3	2	0	5
3	Milosz	Redzimski	POL	3	0	2	5
4	Anna	Hursey	WAL	3	0	0	3
5	Darius	Movileanu	ROU	2	2	2	6
6	Adina	Diaconu	ROU	2	1	3	6
7	Rares	Sipos	ROU	2	1	2	5
7	Andre	Bertelsmeier	GER	2	1	2	5
9	Ivor	Ban	CRO	2	1	1	4
10	Christian	Pletea	ROU	2	1	0	3
11	Hana	Arapovic	CRO	2	0	4	6
12	Zuzana	Wielgos	POL	2	0	3	5
13	Mia	Griesel	GER	2	0	2	4
14	Ece	Harac	TUR	2	0	0	2
14	Ioannis	Sgouropoulos	GRE	2	0	0	2
14	Özge	Yilmaz	TUR	2	0	0	2
17	Veronika	Matiunina	UKR	1	3	2	6
18	Wim	Verdonschot	GER	1	3	0	4
19	Andrea	Dragoman	ROU	1	2	3	6
19	Maciej	Kubik	POL	1	2	3	6
19	Mariia	Tailakova	RUS	1	2	3	6
22	Csaba	Andras	HUN	1	2	1	4
23	Eduard	Ionescu	ROU	1	2	0	3
24	Samuel	Kulczycki	POL	1	1	4	6
25	Lisa	Lung	BEL	1	1	3	5
25	Iulian	Chirita	ROU	1	1	3	5
27	Prithika	Pavade	FRA	1	1	2	4
28	Luciana	Mitrofan	ROU	1	1	0	2
28	Nolwenn	Fort	FRA	1	1	0	2
28	Tomislav	Pucar	CRO	1	1	0	2
31	Andrei	Istrate	ROU	1	0	5	6
31	Anna	Brzyska	POL	1	0	5	6
33	Vladimir	Sidorenko	RUS	1	0	3	4
34	Darko	Jorgic	SLO	1	0	2	3
34	Leili	Mostafavi	FRA	1	0	2	3
36	Flavien	Coton	FRA	1	0	1	2
36	Natalia	Bajor	POL	1	0	1	2
36	Thibault	Poret	FRA	1	0	1	2
36	Tomas	Polansky	CZE	1	0	1	2
40	Abdulla	Yigenler	TUR	1	0	0	1
40	Adrien	Rassenfosse	BEL	1	0	0	1
40	Alexander	Valuch	SVK	1	0	0	1
40	Ana	Garcia	ESP	1	0	0	1
40	Anders	Lind	DEN	1	0	0	1
40	Annett	Kaufmann	GER	1	0	0	1
40	Chantal	Mantz	GER	1	0	0	1
40	Eline	Loyen	BEL	1	0	0	1
40	Hugo	Deschamps	FRA	1	0	0	1
40	Ibrahim	Gunduz	TUR	1	0	0	1
40	Karoline	Mischek	AUT	1	0	0	1
40	Olav	Kosolosky	BEL	1	0	0	1
40	Peter	Hribar	SLO	1	0	0	1
40	Solomiya	Brateyko	UKR	1	0	0	1
40	Tin-Tin	Ho	ENG	1	0	0	1
55	Sara	Tokic	SLO	0	2	2	4
56	Bastien	Rembert	FRA	0	2	0	2
56	Lillian	Bardet	FRA	0	1	0	1
56	Josephina	Neumann	GER	0	2	0	2
59	Ioana	Singeorzan	ROU	0	1	2	3
59	Vladislav	Ursu	MDA	0	1	2	3
59	Nicole	Arlia	ITA	0	1	2	3
62	Anastasiya	Dymytrenko	UKR	0	1	1	2
62	Andrei	Putuntica	MDA	0	1	1	2
62	Anna	Wegrzyn	POL	0	1	1	2
62	Franziska	Schreiner	GER	0	1	1	2
62	Katarzyna	Wegrzyn	POL	0	1	1	2
62	Maksim	Grebnev	RUS	0	1	1	2
62	Margo	Degraef	BEL	0	1	1	2
62	Sophia	Klee	GER	0	1	1	2
62	Tiago	Abiodun	POR	0	1	1	2
71	Adam	Brat	SVK	0	1	0	1
71	Bence	Majoros	HUN	0	1	0	1
71	Carlo	Rossi	ITA	0	1	0	1
71	Dang	Qiu	GER	0	1	0	1
71	Daniele		ITA	0	0	1	1
71	Gaia	Monfardini	ITA	0	1	0	1
71	Gerrit	Engemann	GER	0	1	0	1
71	Isa	Cok	FRA	0	1	0	1
71	Jiri	Martinko	CZE	0	1	0	1
71	John	Oyebode	ITA	0	1	0	1
71	Kristina	Kazantseva	RUS	0	1	0	1
71	Marek	Badowski	POL	0	1	0	1
71	Maria	Malanina	RUS	0	1	0	1
71	Patryk	Zatowka	POL	0	1	0	1
71	Sabina	Surjan	SRB	0	1	0	1
71	Tibor	Spanik	CZE	0	1	0	1
71	Tijana	Jokic	SRB	0	1	0	1
71	Veleria	Shcherbatykh	RUS	0	1	0	1
71	Wan	Yuan	GER	0	1	0	1
71	Danilo	Faso	ITA	0	1	0	1
71	Gorkem	Öcal	TUR	0	1	0	1
92	Irvin	Bertrand	FRA	0	0	5	5
93	Laurens	Devos	BEL	0	0	3	3
93	Maciej	Kolodzieczyk	AUT	0	0	3	3
93	Leana	Hochart	FRA	0	0	3	3
96	Lev	Katsman	RUS	0	0	2	2
96	Sofia	Zhang Xuan	ESP	0	0	2	2
96	Zdena	Blaskova	CZE	0	0	2	2
96	Elise	Pujol	FRA	0	0	2	2
96	Connor	Green	ENG	0	0	2	2
101	Adam	Szudi	HUN	0	0	1	1
101	Alina	Nikitchanka	BLR	0	0	1	1
101	Anastasia	Kolish	RUS	0	0	1	1
101	Andrey	Zarif	FRA	0	0	1	1
101	Anton	Kallberg	SWE	0	0	1	1
101	Antonino	Amato	ITA	0	0	1	1
101	Artur	Abusev	RUS	0	0	1	1
101	Borna	Petek	CRO	0	0	1	1
101	Camille	Lutz	FRA	0	0	1	1
101	Christina	Kallberg	SWE	0	0	1	1
101	Daniel	Berzosa	ESP	0	0	1	1
101	Deni	Kozul	SLO	0	0	1	1
101	Denis	Ivonin	RUS	0	0	1	1
101	Dennis	Klein	GER	0	0	1	1
101	Ekaterina	Guseva	RUS	0	0	1	1
101	Elisabet	Abraamian	RUS	0	0	1	1
101	Ema	Labosova	SVK	0	0	1	1
101	Florian	Cnudde	BEL	0	0	1	1
101	Hanna	Patsayeva	BLR	0	0	1	1
101	Helga	Dari	HUN	0	0	1	1
101	Hugo	Deschamps	FRA	0	0	1	1
101	Ines	Matos	POR	0	0	1	1
101	Ivan	Hencl	CRO	0	0	1	1
101	Konstantin	Chernov	RUS	0	0	1	1
101	Leo	De Nodrest	FRA	0	0	1	1
101	Leon	Benko	CRO	0	0	1	1
101	Matilde	Pinto	POR	0	0	1	1
101	Miguel	Pantoja	ESP	0	0	1	1
101	Nadezhda	Bogdanova	BLR	0	0	1	1
101	Nandor	Ecseki	HUN	0	0	1	1
101	Simon	Berglund	SWE	0	0	1	1
101	Tania	Plaian	ROU	0	0	1	1
101	Tatiana	Kukulkova	SVK	0	0	1	1
101	Alexia	Nodin	FRA	0	0	1	1
101	Stepan	Brhel	CZE	0	0	1	1
101	Tom	Closset	BEL	0	0	1	1
101	Mael	Van Dessel	LUX	0	0	1	1
101	Alexandra	Chiriakova	MDA	0	0	1	1
101	Brin	Vovk Petrovski	SLO	0	0	1	1
By Association
Pl	Association			Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Romania			11	12	17	40
2	Poland			7	4	12	23
3	Germany			6	9	7	22
4	France			4	3	13	20
5	Croatia			4	2	6	12
6	Turkiye			3	1	0	4
7	Wales			3	0	0	3
8	Russia			2	6	10	18
9	Ukraine			2	3	4	9
10	Belgium			2	1	6	9
11	Greece			2	0	0	2
12	Slovenia			1	2	5	8
13	Czechia			1	1	4	6
14	Slovakia			1	1	1	3
15	Austria			1	0	3	4
16	Denmark			1	0	0	1
17	Italy			0	3	3	6
18	Moldova			0	2	4	6
19	Hungary			0	2	3	5
20	Portugal			0	1	2	3
21	Spain			0	0	4	4
22	Belarus			0	0	2	2
22	Sweden			0	0	2	2
24	England			0	0	2	2
24	Luxembourg			0	0	1	1