The 2025 European Under 21 Championships will take place in Bratislava, with the Slovak Table Tennis Association hosting one of the most prestigious youth events on the ETTU calendar. This year’s edition carries added historical significance as it forms part of the celebrations marking 100 years of organized table tennis in Slovakia and Czechia.
Among the returning stars is Ukraine’s Veronika MATIUNINA, the reigning Women’s Singles Champion, who will look to defend her crown. Entering the competition as the second seed, MATIUNINA aims to replicate her impressive run from the 2024 edition in Skopje, where she triumphed over Romania’s Elena ZAHARIA in a gripping final. Bronze medals in that event went to Hana ARAPOVIC (Croatia) and Anna BRZYSKA (Poland).
Top seeded ARAPOVIC previously claimed the title in 2023 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, while ZAHARIA captured gold a year earlier in Cluj Napoca, Romania. A multiple-time European youth champion, ZAHARIA remains one of the key contenders in the women’s draw.
In the men’s singles competition, Eduard IONESCU (Romania) enters as the top seed. A back-to-back European Youth Champion in 2022 and 2023, and now a regular face on the senior tour, IONESCU is considered a strong favorite for the title. Romania’s player will face tough challenge from last year’s bronze medalists Andre BERTELSMEIER (Germany), Flavien COTON (France) who clinched singles gold at EYC 2022 and silver last year in Malmo, Iulian CHIRITA (Romania) and Under 15 singles champion at 2023 EYC Tiago ABIODUN (Portugal).
The event will be held at TIPOS Arena in Slovakia. The official draw for all events will take place on Tuesday, 6 May 2025.
Doubles Events Format
All doubles events – Men’s, Women’s, and Mixed Doubles – will be played in a direct knockout format, starting from the first round.
Singles Events Format
The men’s and women’s singles competitions are structured in three stages, leading up to the final phase of direct elimination.
Stage 1 – Qualification Groups
A total of 48 players will compete in 12 groups (Groups 1–12). The top 2 players (winner and runner-up) from each group will advance to Stage 2 – totaling 24 qualifiers.
Stage 2 – Second Group Stage
24 qualifiers from Stage 1 will be joined by the 8 top-seeded players, who are directly placed into Stage 2. These 32 players will be divided into 8 groups (Groups 13–20), with 4 players in each group. The top 2 players (winner and runner-up) from each Stage 2 group will advance to the final stage.
Stage 3 – Final Knockout Stage, the 16 qualifiers (8 group winners + 8 runners-up from Stage 2) will enter a direct knockout draw.
