Defending champion Alexis LEBRUN of France will return to the European Championships in Ljubljana with his sights set on retaining the Men’s Singles crown he won two years ago in Linz. With many of Europe’s leading players in the field and Slovenia’s Darko JORGIC preparing to compete in front of a home crowd, the battle for the title at Arena Stožice brings together familiar rivals and a strong group of challengers.
The 2026 European Individual Championships will be played from 11 to 18 October at Arena Stožice, with the Men’s Singles competition beginning with the qualification stage on Sunday. The main draw starts with the Round of 64 on Wednesday, followed by the Round of 32 on Thursday, the Round of 16 on Friday and the quarter-finals on Saturday. The semi-finals and final will bring the Championships to a close on Sunday.
Two years ago in Linz, France’s Alexis LEBRUN produced a memorable run to the title. He defeated Germany’s Dang QIU 4-1 in the quarter-final before overcoming Truls MOREGARD of Sweden 4-0 in the semi-final. In the title match, LEBRUN defeated Germany’s Benedikt DUDA 4-0 to become European champion.
DUDA had reached the final after an impressive campaign of his own. He advanced past France’s Felix LEBRUN 4-0 in the quarter-final before defeating compatriot Dimitrij OVTCHAROV 4-2 in the semi-final. MOREGARD and OVTCHAROV therefore completed the 2024 Men’s Singles podium as bronze medallists.
Many of the leading protagonists from Linz are back, and their medal records underline the depth of the field heading to Ljubljana.
France’s Felix LEBRUN, 20, already boasts an impressive senior record. His European achievements include Men’s Doubles gold in Linz in 2024 and Team gold at the 2025 European Championships in Zadar, alongside European Games Men’s Singles gold in 2023. He also won two bronze medals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Men’s Singles and the Men’s Team event, and has collected silver and bronze medals at World Championships level.
His older brother, Alexis LEBRUN, 23, arrives as the defending European Men’s Singles champion after his double gold in Singles and Doubles in Linz. He added Team gold with France in Zadar in 2025 and has won the Europe Top 16 in each of the past two editions, in 2025 and 2026. His international record also includes Olympic Team bronze from Paris 2024 and medals at three World Championships.
Sweden’s Truls MOREGARD, 24, returns after winning Men’s Singles bronze and Men’s Doubles silver in Linz. A European Team champion with Sweden in Malmö in 2023, MOREGARD has also collected three Europe Top 16 medals. Beyond Europe, he won two silver medals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Men’s Singles and the Men’s Team event, and has twice reached the World Championships podium in Singles.
For the home crowd, particular attention will be on Slovenia’s Darko JORGIC, 28. The 2022 European Men’s Singles silver medallist has also won two European Team bronze medals and enjoyed exceptional success at the Europe Top 16, winning the title three consecutive times from 2022 to 2024 and adding three silver medals.
Germany brings an extraordinary amount of experience to Ljubljana. Benedikt DUDA, 32, returns as the European Men’s Singles silver medallist after reaching the Linz final. A two-time European Team champion, he also won Team silver in 2023, Team bronze in 2025 and Europe Top 16 bronze earlier this year.
Patrick FRANZISKA, 34, has one of the deepest medal collections among the German contingent. He is a European Men’s Doubles champion and four-time European Team champion, while his individual record includes Men’s Singles bronze from Alicante in 2018. He won the Europe Top 16 in 2021 and is a three-time European Games champion. His international honours include Olympic Team silver and four World Championships medals.
Germany’s Dang QIU, 29, knows what it takes to win the individual crown, having become European Men’s Singles champion in Munich in 2022. He is also a European champion in Mixed Doubles and the Team event, a double European Games gold medallist and the 2023 Europe Top 16 silver medallist. At World level, he has Team silver from the World Championships and Mixed Team bronze from the World Cup.
Sweden’s Anton KALLBERG, 29, won European Team gold on home soil in Malmö in 2023 before taking Men’s Doubles silver in Linz a year later. His record also includes three further European Championships bronze medals and Team silver at the 2023 European Games. At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, he helped Sweden claim Team silver.
France’s Simon GAUZY, 31, is another former European Singles finalist, having taken silver in Budapest in 2016. He added European Team gold in Zadar in 2025 to a collection that also includes five European Championships bronze medals. GAUZY has also won medals at two European Games, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and three World Championships.
Few players in the field can match the medal collection of Germany’s Dimitrij OVTCHAROV, 38. The two-time European Men’s Singles champion has also won eight European Team titles and was back on the individual podium in Linz two years ago, taking bronze. He is a five-time Europe Top 12/Top 16 winner and a three-time European Games champion. His international record includes six Olympic medals, five World Championships medals and the 2017 Men’s World Cup title.
The depth continues well beyond those names. Tomislav PUCAR of Croatia, Marcos FREITAS of Portugal, Eduard IONESCU of Romania, Alvaro ROBLES of Spain, Kristian KARLSSON of Sweden, Jonathan GROTH of Denmark and Andrej GACINA of Croatia are among the experienced players directly qualified for the main draw, alongside rising talents Andre BERTELSMEIER of Germany, Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland, Iulian CHIRITA of Romania and Thibault PORET of France.
JORGIC will inevitably carry additional attention in Ljubljana. The Slovenian star reached the Round of 16 in Linz two years ago, and this time he will have the opportunity to challenge Europe’s best in front of the home crowd at Arena Stožice.
The road into the main draw will already provide three days of competition. There are 138 entries in Men’s Singles, with 32 players directly qualified for the 64-player main draw and 106 required to start in qualification. The qualification competition consists of 32 round-robin groups, with the 32 group winners progressing to the main draw. Qualification matches will be played best of five games, with the format changing to best of seven once the main draw begins.
With the LEBRUN brothers back, MOREGARD returning after his Linz bronze, DUDA seeking to go one step further than in 2024, former champion QIU among Germany’s experienced contingent and JORGIC leading Slovenia on home soil, Ljubljana is set for eight days of high-level competition in the race for the European Men’s Singles crown.
