The 2026 European Championships got underway at Arena Stožice in Ljubljana on Sunday, with the Women’s Singles group stage producing plenty of excitement from the very first matches.
The opening round featured the second- and third-ranked players in each group, and several encounters showed just how little separates the competitors. Eight of the 23 matches went to five games, with some decided by the narrowest of margins.
The home crowd had something to celebrate early on as Slovenia’s Katarina STRAZAR made a confident start against Austria’s Elina FUCHS. STRAZAR dominated the opening game 11-2 and maintained control to complete a straight-games victory.
“I’m not surprised by my performance. Already before the match, I knew I would give it my all and fight till the end no matter what. I am, however, a little surprised by how quickly I got the feeling for the arena. I hit three shots well right at the start, though things could easily have gone the other way. That immediately boosted my confidence. After that, things started flowing, and I managed to outplay my opponent using spin,” said STRAZAR.
Her compatriot Lara OPEKA came close to adding another Slovenian win. Facing Jersey’s Hannah SILCOCK, OPEKA recovered from losing the opening game to move 2-1 ahead. However, SILCOCK fought back, taking the fourth game 12-10 before closing out the decider 11-8.
There was no shortage of drama elsewhere. Portugal’s Mariana SANTA had to dig deep against Slovakia’s Dominika WILTSCHKOVA. After five closely contested games, SANTA finally sealed victory 12-10 in the decider.
Belgium’s Lessia LEWYCKYJ also needed all five games to overcome Sweden’s Angelina BEBAWY. Twice in front and twice pegged back, LEWYCKYJ eventually found the winning touch in the deciding game, which she took 11-9.
Bulgaria’s Maria YOVKOVA followed a similar path against Ulyana MIASHCHANSKAYA (ETTU1), winning 3-2 after a hard-fought encounter. Her compatriots also enjoyed a successful start. Tsvetelina GEORGIEVA recovered from losing the opening game to defeat Serbia’s Reka BEZEG 3-1, while Viktoria PERSOVA overcame Wales’ Danielle KELLY by the same margin.
Hungary’s Rebeka NAGY was another player pushed to the limit. Against Czechia’s Jana VASENDOVA, she won the third game 12-10 but lost the fourth by the same score before pulling away in the fifth to secure victory.
Finland’s Marina DONNER also emerged victorious from a five-game contest against Hungary’s Judit NAGY, while Ukraine’s Anastasiya DYMYTRENKO started with a 3-1 win over Sweden’s Siri BENJEGÅRD.
For Czechia, Hanka KODET and Karin GROFOVA had a much smoother passage through their opening matches. KODET conceded just 11 points in her straight-games victory over England’s Ella PASHLEY, while GROFOVA was equally convincing against North Macedonia’s Amelia UCE-NIKOLOV.
England’s Tianer YU and Norway’s Martine TOFTAKER also opened with 3-0 wins, overcoming Latvia’s Sabina MUSAJEVA and Sweden’s Nomin BAASAN respectively.
The Slovenian supporters had less to cheer in the remaining home matches. Laura RAHOTIN PAVIČ lost 3-1 to Portugal’s Julia LEAL, while Tjasa NOVAK was beaten in straight games by Poland’s Anna BRZYSKA.
