Europe Top-16 Cup | 14 Dec 2023

Felix LEBRUN and Han YING lead the elite in Montreux

The most prestigious individual tournament on the Continent, the 2024 CCB Europe Top 16 Cup, will take place for the last time in Montreux on Saturday, January 20th, and Sunday, January 21st, 2024. Since 2018, the Swiss town has been the host, with the only exception in 2021 due to Covid. In the 53rd edition, the leading names are Felix LEBRUN of France and HAN Ying of Germany. The defending champions are Darko JORGIC of Slovenia and the top-seeded HAN Ying.

The world’s number 8, the younger LEBRUN brother, will play at the 2024 CCB Europe Top 16 Cup for the first time. The 17-year-old star is currently ranked at position no. 4 in Europe. The World’s number 12, Dimitrij OVTCHAROV of Germany, the no. 2 seed, has won the tournament five times, with the last time being crowned in Montreux in 2019 (after titles in 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2012). Last year, he finished third.

His compatriot QIU Dang, who played for the first time last year and reached the final, is the no. 3 seed. Champion in two previous occasions, Slovenian Darko JORGIC will have his 5th appearance in January. The list continues with Swede Anton KALLBERG and 2015 winner in Lausanne, Marcos FREITAS of Portugal, runner-up in 2022 Truls MOREGARD of Sweden, Alexis LEBRUN of France. Liam PITCHFORD of England, who finished third last year. On the entries list are also Danes Jonathan GROTH and Anders LIND, Portugal’s Joao GERALDO, Spain’s Alvaro ROBLES, Croatia’s Tomislav PUCAR, Ukraine’s Yaroslav ZHMUDENKO, and the host nation representative Loic STOLL.

The no. one seed, HAN Ying, defended her title last year by becoming the oldest winner ever at 39 years and 10 months, breaking the record Timo BOLL set in 2020 when he won his 7th title at 38 years and 11 months. Seeded at position no. 2, Bernadette SZOCS of Romania clinched the title in 2018, followed by Nina MITTELHAM of Germany, the winner from 2021. Austria’s Sofia POLCANOVA, France’s Jia Nan YUAN, Romania’s Elizabeta SAMARA, Swede Linda BERGSTROM, Prithika PAVADE of France, Natalia BAJOR of Poland, NI Xia Lian, Portugal’s SHAO Jieni and YU Fu, Slovakia’s Tatiana KUKULKOVA and Barbora BALAZOVA, Spain’s Maria XIAO, and Rachel MORET are all listed for this year’s edition.

The total prize money is 100,000 Euros. The winner will receive a check for €10,000, runners-up will get €6,000, semifinalists will receive €4,000, quarterfinalists will receive €2,500, and those in the Round of 16 will get €2,000.

The tournament originally was played as a Europe Top-12, and the first edition was held in Zadar (former Yugoslavia, Croatia) in 1971.