The wait is over as Europe’s table tennis elite take to the tables from tomorrow, 5 to 8 February, at the prestigious CCB Europe Top 16 Cup in Montreux, where the continent’s best athletes will battle for a total prize money of 125,000 euros.
Ahead of the main draws, which begin on Friday with 16 women and 16 men, a qualification tournament will be held on Thursday, where the final two places in each field will be decided. The draw for the qualification takes place tonight at 19:00, while the Round of 16 pairings will be determined on Thursday at 20:00.
The men’s event will see the return of Alexis LEBRUN, the reigning champion, who ended Darko JORGIC’s three-year reign last season. The French star arrives in Montreux full of confidence, joined by his brother Félix LEBRUN, who enters the tournament as the third seed and continues his steady rise among Europe’s elite.
They will be challenged by a powerful German squad, led by Benedikt DUDA, Patrick FRANZISKA, Dang QIU and five-time winner Dimitrij OVTCHAROV, as well as by no. one seed Truls MÖREGÅRDH of Sweden, the Olympic silver medallist.
In the women’s event, the spotlight is once again on Germany. Ying HAN, the reigning champion and three-time winner of the event, returns after her remarkable comeback season, while Sabine WINTER, seeded number one, arrives as one of the main favourites for the title. They are joined by Nina MITTELHAM, the 2021 champion, and Xiaona SHAN, bronze medallist in 2025.
Among their toughest challengers are Jia Nan YUAN, 2024 winner, Bernadette SZÖCS, European Games champion and 2018 Top 16 winer, Sofia POLCANOVA, two-time European champion, and Elizabeta SAMARA, finalist of the previous edition.
With only Europe’s best players invited and every match played in a knockout format, the CCB Europe Top 16 Cup remains one of the most demanding and prestigious individual events on the European calendar.
In addition to prize money and ranking points, the stakes are even higher, as the semi-finalists will also secure direct qualification for the World Cup in Macau, to be held from 30 March to 5 April.
