Tatiana KUKULKOVA of Slovakia and Natalia BAJOR of Poland claimed their first European Women’s Doubles title together at the 2026 European Championships in Ljubljana, defeating Poland’s Zuzanna WIELGOS and Anna BRZYSKA 3-0 in Saturday’s final at Arena Stožice. WIELGOS and BRZYSKA secured silver, while Germany’s Annett KAUFMANN and Nina MITTELHAM and Romania’s Bernadette SZOCS and Elizabeta SAMARA took bronze.
Pictures by Remy GROS here.
Two years after winning bronze in Linz, KUKULKOVA and BAJOR completed their journey to the top of the European podium. Their triumph was particularly significant after the disappointment of the 2024 semifinals, when they held match point but failed to reach the final.
This time, the Slovak-Polish partnership made no mistake. Despite the straight-games scoreline, the final was far more competitive than the result suggested, with WIELGOS and BRZYSKA putting the eventual champions under considerable pressure.
For BAJOR, the victory was an emotional reward for the pair’s decision to continue their partnership with future Olympic ambitions in mind.
“We are extremely happy, really very, very happy. About a month ago, we decided that we would continue playing together because doubles is now part of the Olympic programme. Our federations agreed, and we are delighted that we managed to win this title.
“At the previous European Championships, we had match point in the semifinal but lost. Now, two years later, we have won the final 3-0. It’s an amazing feeling,” said BAJOR.
KUKULKOVA pointed out that their path to gold had been far from straightforward. The pair began the tournament with victories in five and four games before finding their best rhythm in the later rounds, winning their final three matches without dropping a game.
“When I think about our tournament, we won our first match 3-2 and the second 3-1, but then we won three consecutive matches 3-0. Maybe it looked easy from the outside, but it certainly wasn’t.
“I think the final was a genuine 50-50 match. In one of the games, they were leading 9-5, but we managed to come back and win it. That was a very important moment.
“I think winning 3-0 was crucial because if the score had become 2-1, everything would have been open again. This is a European Championships final, and anything can happen,” explained KUKULKOVA.
The champions’ tactical preparation proved decisive against a Polish pair who had already eliminated several strong combinations on their way to the final.
“We were very well prepared tactically, and perhaps we also had a little luck at certain moments. But I have to say that our opponents played an unbelievable tournament. They defeated the German pair and the French pair, so I want to congratulate them on their performance.
“Of course, we are extremely happy that we managed to win,” added KUKULKOVA.
The final also carried an unusual personal dimension for BAJOR, who found herself competing for the European title against two of her Polish national teammates.
“Yes, it was very difficult because it was the first time I had played a European Championships final against my teammates. It was also a new situation with the coaching arrangements.
“We know each other very well, but today we were the better pair, and we are very happy,” said BAJOR.
For WIELGOS and BRZYSKA, silver marked a breakthrough at senior European Championships level. The Polish pair had demonstrated remarkable resilience in Friday’s semifinal, recovering twice from a game down to defeat Germany’s KAUFMANN and MITTELHAM 3-2 (8-11, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5).
KUKULKOVA and BAJOR reached the final with an impressive 3-0 (13-11, 11-6, 11-7) victory over Romania’s experienced SZOCS and SAMARA, overcoming a difficult opening game before taking control.
The triumph also marked a historic milestone for both Slovakia and Poland. For Slovakia, it was only the second European Championships title in any event, following the Women’s Doubles gold won by Barbora BALAZOVA and Hana MATELOVA in 2024.
For Poland, BAJOR’s victory delivered the country’s fifth European Championships title and its first ever in Women’s Doubles.
Poland’s previous four European titles came through Li Qian in Women’s Singles in 2018, Wang Zeng Yi alongside Croatia’s Tan Ruiwu in Men’s Doubles in 2013, Lucjan BLASZCZYK with Luxembourg’s Ni Xia LIAN in Mixed Doubles in 2002, and Andrzej GRUBBA with the Netherlands’ Bettine VRIESEKOOP in Mixed Doubles in 1982.
For WIELGOS and BRZYSKA, the silver medal was a remarkable achievement, although the narrow margins in the final left them wondering what might have been.
“Of course, we’re happy to win silver, but we’re also disappointed that we couldn’t win this match. We lost 0-3, but I think it was a close match. We lost the first game 12-14, after having two game points. In the last game, we were leading 9-5. We knew we could win, so we went out and played as we always do. For us, it was just a normal match,” said Anna BRZYSKA.
Asked whether she had imagined reaching the final before the tournament began, BRZYSKA admitted that the achievement had exceeded their expectations.
“I don’t think we would have believed it. We came here wanting to play our best, and we didn’t expect to reach the final. So we’re very happy.”
Zuzanna WIELGOS was more critical of their performance, believing that the Polish pair had failed to reproduce the level they had shown earlier in the competition.
“I think we played much better in our previous matches. We didn’t play well in the final at all. Our game was too passive, and we made things difficult for ourselves. It’s also different when you’re playing against fellow Polish players, of course, but we tried to do our best.
“The games were quite close, so we could actually have won 3-0. Still, I have to say that we played poorly and didn’t execute our tactics well,” said WIELGOS.
