Newly crowned European Team Champion is France. In the final of the men’s event at the European Team Championships 2025 in Zadar, the Olympic bronze medallists overcame Romania 3–0 to capture their first European team title in 27 years. After finishing third in Malmö 2023, France went two steps higher on the podium to reclaim continental glory. In a dazzling display of power and precision, Alexis LEBRUN, Félix LEBRUN, and Simon GAUZY defeated Iulian CHIRITA, Eduard IONESCU, and Ovidiu IONESCU in straight matches. Félix LEBRUN summarised the triumph simply: “It was just a perfect match! We enjoyed every moment of this championship, and to win the gold is the perfect ending.” His brother Alexis LEBRUN added: “It’s crazy, European Champion! It’s unbelievable. We have such a great team, and it’s an incredible feeling to share this together. I’m just so happy to be part of this amazing team. We are European Champions, it’s just amazing!” When asked about their toughest opponents, Alexis didn’t hesitate: “Germany, I think. They have a very strong team, and it was a tough match, but we managed it well. I think we played a great tournament overall, everything went perfectly.” The team’s most experienced member, Simon GAUZY, reflected on the historic moment: “After so many years, to be European champions again in a team event feels amazing. I’m just really, really happy right now. Of course, Romania did a great job reaching the final, but definitely, Germany was the toughest team to beat. Still, we played a perfect tournament from beginning to end, we can only be proud.” France’s golden triumph in Zadar marks their fourth European team title, following previous victories in 1984, 1994, and 1998. They have also finished as runners-up twice (1986, 1996) and collected six bronze medals (2002, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2023). For the first time in history, Romania’s men’s team advanced to the final, surpassing their previous best of three bronze medals (2005, 2007, 2009). Their remarkable run, highlighted by victories over Sweden and Slovenia, showcased the rise of a new generation led by Iulian CHIRITA, Eduard IONESCU, and Ovidiu IONESCU. Germany and Slovenia Share Bronze Germany secured the bronze medal after their narrow semi-final loss to eventual champions France. The team of Benedikt DUDA, Patrick FRANZISKA, Dang QIU, André BERTELSMEIER, and Ricardo WALTHER finished one step lower than their silver result in Malmö 2023. It is only the third time this century that Germany has not reached the final (previously in 2000 and 2005). Since their first European team title in 2007, Germany have been a dominant force, reaching 12 consecutive finals, an unmatched record in the competition’s history. Over the decades, Germany have earned: 9 gold medals – 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2021; 7 silver medals – 1980, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2014, 2015, 2023; 3 bronze medals – 1962, 1992, 1994. Slovenia joined Germany on the third step of the podium, celebrating their second-ever team medal, after their historic bronze in 2017. Their line-up featured Darko JORGIC, Deni KOZUL, Brin VOVK PETROVSKI, Peter HRIBAR, and Bojan TOKIC, marking another milestone in Slovenian table tennis history. Final – Men’s Team Event France – Romania 3–0

The German women’s team are European champions for the tenth time overall and for the third time in a row since 2021. At the European Team Championships in Zadar, Croatia, Sabine WINTER, Annett KAUFMANN, Nina MITTELHAM, Yuan WAN and Mia GRIESEL defeated their long-time rivals Romania 3–0, successfully defending the title they won two years ago, once again without losing a single individual match throughout the tournament. Bronze medalists were Portugal and the Netherlands. In the opening match, 19-year-old Annett KAUFMANN started with explosive energy, taking the first game 11–4 against Romania’s No. 1 Bernadette SZÖCS. That came as a surprise, as KAUFMANN had never won even a single game in their two previous international encounters, most recently losing 0–4 at last year’s European Championships in Linz. “I didn’t go into the match confident because of our head-to-head record,” KAUFMANN admitted. “But I told myself: I’ve got nothing to lose. Suddenly I was up 9–3 in the first game, and that’s when I felt the confidence, I told myself, this match is mine.” SZÖCS fought back to level the score and took the second game 12–10. KAUFMANN responded brilliantly, going up 8–1 in the third and regaining the lead 11–8. SZÖCS equalised once more, but the young German completely dominated the decider, racing to 5–0 at the change of ends and sealing the win 11–5, a massive first point for Germany. Next up, Sabine WINTER once again displayed her growing confidence and composure. Against 2015 European champion Elizabeta SAMARA, she took the first two games before the Romanian mounted a comeback, reducing the gap and leading 7–4 in the fourth. Then WINTER switched gears, winning seven points in a row to close the match 3–1. The closing match brought a sense of déjà vu from Malmö 2023, as Nina MITTELHAM faced Andreea DRAGOMAN, the same opponent she had edged out in a five-set thriller last time. Once again, the duel was tight. MITTELHAM, who rejoined the team in the knockout rounds after recovering from illness, took the first two games 14–12 and 11–8, dropped the third, and then finished strong to secure the championship 3–1. “When it really matters, when the opponents are stronger, that’s when I start to play better,” said MITTELHAM, visibly relieved after the match. “I’m glad the other two gave me a 2–0 lead; that made it a bit easier. I hadn’t played many matches since my injury break, so every match helps me get back into rhythm. I even joked before the tournament that we should keep our 3–0 streak going, and now we really did it all the way to the title!” She also praised her teammates: “Annett played unbelievably well, she had never beaten Szöcs before. And Sabine was rock solid against Samara, just as I imagined she would be.” On their way to a tenth European title, Germany did not lose a single team or individual match. Their unbeaten run stretches back to 2021, encompassing 17 consecutive team victories, including twelve consecutive straight 3–0 wins. Sabine WINTER: “I’m just super grateful for this experience and for being able to fight with this team. When you win the European Championships, it’s an incredible feeling. “When we were leading 2–0 in matches, I started to believe strongly. I had a lot of confidence in Nina, she always manages tough matches so well. After that, we could be calmer, not relaxed, but confident.” Dominant Record in Europe Germany remains one of the most successful nations in the history of the European Team Championships, boasting ten titles, 1962, 1968, 1996, 1998, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2023, and 2025. They have finished as runners-up five times (1982, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2017) and taken bronze twice (1986, 2007). With this tenth title, Germany moves ahead of Hungary on the all-time winners’ list, the Hungarians claimed nine golds between the 1960s and 2007. Romania has claimed the title five times (1992, 2002, 2005, 2017, 2019), finished runners-up seven times (1958, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2021, 2023), and taken eight bronze medals (1960, 1964, 1978, 1980, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2008). Remarkably, since 2011, Romania reached the final in every edition of the Championships except 2014. Portugal and the Netherlands Share Bronze Portugal confirmed their consistency at the European Team Championships by finishing third once again, matching their results from 2021 and 2023, after claiming silver in 2019. The team of Jieni SHAO, Fu YU, Julia LEAL, and Matilde PINTO reached the semi-finals, where their campaign was halted by defending champions Germany. The Netherlands made a triumphant return to the medal rostrum, winning bronze for the first time since 2017. With the experienced duo Britt EERLAND and Jie LI back in the lineup, they led Shuohan MEN and Tanja HELLE to another podium finish. The Netherlands boast a proud record at the European Championships, with four consecutive gold medals (2008–2011), one silver (1992), and two bronzes (1988, 2017). Final – Women’s Team Romania – Germany 0–3 Bernadette SZÖCS – Annett KAUFMANN 2–3 (4–11, 11–9, 8–11, 11–6, 5–11) Elizabeta SAMARA – Sabine WINTER 1–3 (5–11, 8–11, 11–8, 7–11) Andreea DRAGOMAN – Nina MITTELHAM 1–3 (12–14, 8–11, 11–8, 5–11)

In the final of the European Team Championships 2025 in Zadar, France will meet Romania. For the first time in history, the Romanian men’s team have advanced to the final, surpassing their previous best result of three bronze medals. On their way to the ultimate stage, Romania defeated defending European champions Sweden and then Slovenia in an impressive and emotional semi-final performance. Slovenia’s top star Darko JORGIC suffered his first defeat of the tournament at the hands of Iulian CHIRITA in a thrilling five-game opening match. That victory set the tone for the tie, which eventually ended in straight matches in favour of Romania. Iulian CHIRITA: “We still can’t really believe that we’re in the final, it’s the first time ever for the Romanian men, so it’s an amazing feeling. It was a really tough match. Darko is one of the best in Europe, maybe number one or two, and he’s a really strong player. But I know him quite well, I’ve already played him twice this year, so I managed to play very well throughout the match, and I’m really happy that I didn’t lose to him again. In the second match, Edy started to play really well, and that gave us a lot of confidence. And then Ovi, I’m really happy that he managed to win the last match against TOKIC. He’s such an interesting guy, always bringing great energy to the team. Honestly, I still don’t have words for the fact that we’re in the final. It’s unbelievable. But we’re already looking forward to giving our best and playing a really good match in the final.” On securing the opening point for Romania, CHIRITA added: “It was really important, because after beating their number one player, the whole team could relax more. We spoke with the coaches before the match about the lineup, and they told me, ‘You’re going to play against Darko,’ so I prepared specifically for that. Once you beat the top player from the other team, everything changes, the team feels more confident. Everyone played really well, and I’m very proud of them.” Looking ahead to the final, he continued: “It’s going to be really tough against France, they’re all top players. But we know Félix and Alexis quite well; we’ve played them many times. They’re very strong and very confident. Still, we have nothing to lose. We’ll fight for every point, every set, and every match. We’re ready for tomorrow, and for whatever comes after.” Ovidiu IONESCU:“Unbelievable feeling, I still can’t believe we’re in the final of the European Championships. The team event is just amazing. Congratulations to everyone who helped and supported us; we played an incredible match. Iulian beating JORGIC, a top-10 player, gave us huge confidence. The 3–0 score doesn’t show how tough it really was, it was much closer. It was an unbelievable performance from the whole team. Julian’s win and then Eddie’s victory against KOZUL helped a lot. When I played the third match, I can’t say I was relaxed, but I was definitely more confident that we could finish the job and win it in the end. We beat Sweden, and I believe that if you’re in the final, you have to believe you can win it. France are maybe the strongest team at the moment, but sport has shown many times that surprises can happen. We’ll give everything tomorrow. Before this, we had three bronze medals, and now this is the first silver in our history. We had a great generation before us, and now, with these young players, maybe it’s not the last medal in the team event. For now, we just want to enjoy the moment and prepare for tomorrow.” Slovenia – Romania 0–3

The top seeds in the Women’s Event at the European Team Championships in Zadar, Romania, lived up to their status and booked their place in the final, where they will face reigning champions Germany. In the semi-final, Romania overcame a determined Netherlands team in a commanding 3–0 victory. Since 2011, Romania have reached the final in every edition of the Championships except in 2014, underlining their enduring dominance in European women’s table tennis. Bernadette SZÖCS: “We expected the draw to look like this, so we were ready for these matchups. I knew my match against LI would be very important, because I’ve played her many times and only managed to beat her once before. This time, I felt really confident and knew that winning the first match could give our team a big boost. It looks like an easy 3–0 on paper, but it really wasn’t, especially my match. I’m very proud of my teammates; we all did a great job today. In the last game, I tried to be more patient because she wasn’t missing as much anymore. I had to keep finding solutions and change tactics during the rallies. It wasn’t easy at all, but I stayed calm and focused and found the right way to beat her. We’ve played many finals against Germany before, sometimes we won, sometimes we lost, but last time we lost, so we definitely want revenge this time. Everyone in the team is playing really well, and I believe we can bring the gold home.” Elizabeta SAMARA: “We all knew this was going to be a tough match because they are such good adversaries. We’re happy that we made it 3–0, each of us did our job, and the bench was amazing. The coaches, the teammates, the supporters, we were like a real team, like Romania used to be, like a family, we could say. I’m the oldest one on the team, but we are all very good, and in this team we can always rotate players, it doesn’t matter who plays when, everyone can deliver. Let’s say me against EERLAND, our last meeting was last year in Rajasthan, and I lost. The previous one, I also lost. I think I only beat her once during the pandemic in Doha. So I’m very happy that I could win this match now, in the semi-finals. I think experience helped me deal with the pressure. Mentally, I was strong in the key moments. I’m happy about the victory, and I just try to give my teammates confidence, we all want to keep our team spirit high.” Andreea DRAGOMAN: “We’re really happy to be in the finals. We knew from the beginning it was going to be tough, but Berni’s first match gave us a lot of energy and confidence. It was a very important win, and I’m really glad she managed to pull it off and give the team such a strong start. As for my own match, I felt confident because we were already 2–0 up, so I just tried to stay focused on my game instead of thinking about finishing the tie. I’m really happy that I managed to stay calm and control myself to win 3–0.” Romania – Netherlands 3–0

At the European Team Championships in Zadar, France took one step higher on the medal podium than in Malmö 2023 and will play in Sunday’s final for their first European team title since 1998. The Olympic bronze medallists overcame Malmö runners-up Germany in a breathtaking semi-final that kept fans of both nations on the edge of their seats from start to finish. The tie began with a repeat of the European Individual Championships final, but this time with the opposite outcome: Benedikt DUDA defeated Alexis LEBRUN in straight games. The European vice-champion and world No. 5 avenged his previous loss to the world No. 3, playing with confidence and precision throughout. However, Germany could not build on that momentum. In the second match, Félix LEBRUN, who had lost to DUDA in a controversial quarterfinal at the same event, took his revenge, holding his nerve under immense pressure to overcome Patrick FRANZISKA in five sets and level the score at 1–1. From there, the French team’s confidence grew. Simon GAUZY produced a stunning performance to beat European champion Dang QIU, giving France the lead before Félix returned to the table to face DUDA once more, this time in a spectacular decider. Coach Nathanaël MOLIN: “The first match is always very important, it often sets the tone for the entire tie. Of course, we knew that the German team is extremely strong and has so much experience in this kind of competition. You can say that for the past twenty or twenty-five years, they have dominated Europe as a team. We knew it was going to be a very tough match. If you look at the rankings, 5, 12, 18 in the world for us, against 8, 13, 14 for them, it shows how close the levels are. Nothing came easy today. It was a hard, intense match. At 2–2, everything was still open. DUDA was incredible, for the past year, he’s truly been one of the best in the world.” He broke down the key moments: “In the first match, DUDA was outstanding against Alexis. There’s nothing I can say to Alexy; his opponent was simply too strong. Then Félix played a really solid match against FRANZISKA, very close to his top level. Maybe at one or two key moments he could have managed things differently, but overall his performance and attitude were excellent. And Simon… what can I say? He played a perfect match, not ‘perfect’ in the sense of no mistakes, but perfect from a coach’s point of view. Tactically, physically, technically, everything was on point. From start to finish, he had full control. For me, that was a textbook performance.” The coach praised the final duel between DUDA and Félix: “The last match was probably the most spectacular of the entire semi-final, full of ups and downs and amazing rallies. DUDA came back several times, leading by five or six points, and then Félix responded again and turned it around. It was world-class table tennis, mentally and tactically. Players like Félix have something special: the ability to deliver at the right moment. Not always, of course, no one can do that every time, but most of the time, he’s there when it really matters. I think both players, Duda and Félix, gave their absolute maximum. There was no real loser today; both were at their peak. That’s what makes a match like this so special.” Alexis LEBRUN: “I don’t think I played badly, but Duda was really, really strong today. He played very aggressively from the start, and that surprised me a bit. In the second game, I played well, but he won it 11–9 with three beautiful points at the end, that one was hard to lose because I felt I was at my top level. After that, it was difficult to come back because he was more relaxed being 2–0 up. I’m a little disappointed because if I had taken that second game, maybe he would have started to doubt a little and it could have been 50–50. But he played really well today.” Simon GAUZY: “I felt amazing, that was by far my best match of the tournament. I’m really happy with how I performed under pressure at 1–1. This is why I practice, to play these kinds of matches against great players on big stages. I’m proud that I could bring one point for the team playing that way today.” Germany Head Coach Jörg ROSSKOPF:“It was a very good match with high-level rallies, a real contest on equal terms, exactly as both we and the French expected. We had our chances to turn it in our favour, but France played consistently well with all three players. ‘Benne’ (Benedikt DUDA) delivered an outstanding performance against Alexis at the start. ‘Franz’ (Patrick FRANZISKA) had only small opportunities against Félix, and Gauzy has been in incredible form for the past year and a half, producing excellent results. So it was clear that the French were slight favourites in every match. Of course, we had hoped to take a 2–1 lead, because it always becomes harder once you fall behind. Still, this European Championship has shown us that we can successfully put into practice what we’ve been training and planning. That’s what matters as we look ahead to the next few years and toward the Olympic Games.” Benedikt DUDA: “Congratulations to France, they were the better team today. Félix LEBRUN is an outstanding player right now, and he played two excellent matches. You can only congratulate the French and wish them good luck for the final, they’ve truly earned it. They beat us, but we also had our chances. We’ll learn from this and come back stronger in two years.” Germany – France 1-3