Montenegro’s STK Novi and Croatia’s STK AQUAESTIL were crowned champions at the Europe Trophy Grand Final in Herceg Novi, triumphing in the Men’s and Women’s Events, respectively.
After an unbeaten run through the group and knockout stages, STK Novi clinched the Europe Trophy Grand Final Men’s title by defeating Slovakia’s Čadca in four matches.
Tomislav PUCAR was in dominant form, recording victories over Damian FLORO and Mykhailo LOVHA, while Enio MENDES added another point by beating Jakub GOLDIR. The sole win for the Slovak side came from LOVHA, who overcame Marko JEVTOVIC.
This marks the second Europe Trophy title for PUCAR, who previously won the event in 2022 with Olympiacos in Piraeus, when the Greek club hosted the tournament.
In the semi-finals, STK Novi edged past Železničar Niš in a tight 3-2 clash. Again, PUCAR delivered two vital points against Francisco SANCHI and Petyo KRASTEV, and veteran JEVTOVIC sealed the win in the deciding match over the Italian player. KRASTEV and Vladimir PETKOV had earlier kept Železničar in the contest with wins over Aleksandr KHANIN and MENDES.
On the other side of the draw, Čadca secured a 3-0 victory over Austria’s UTTC PANACEO STOCKERAU, thanks to wins by LOVHA, FLORO, and GOLDIR over Julian RZIHAUSCHEK, Khalid ASSAR, and David SERDAROGLU, respectively.
In the Women’s Event, STK AQUAESTIL of Croatia lifted the trophy after a confident 3-1 win over Serbia’s Josip Kolumbo in the final.
Xue HAN VUKELJA led the way with two victories over Malamatenia PAPADIMITRIOU and Maria DOLGIKH, while Sofiia SHEREDEHA overcame Olga PAVLOVIC to seal the title. The only point for Josip Kolumbo came through DOLGIKH, who defeated Amy WANG.
In the semi-finals, JOSIP KOLUMBO convincingly beat Belgium’s TTC MEERDAAL LEUVEN in straight matches. Wins came from PAPADIMITRIOU, DOLGIKH, and PAVLOVIC, who overcame Kathe DE MEYER, Kimberly T’HOOFT, and Lotte NUYTTENS, respectively.
STK AQUAESTIL needed four matches to dispatch Panathinaikos A.C. of Greece. HAN VUKELJA was once again crucial with victories over Ana TOFANT and Aikaterini TOLIOU, while SHEREDEHA beat Ioanna GERASIMATOU.
In the final rankings, SU SPARKASSE KUFSTEIN A of Austria finished fifth, followed by TalTech Sports Club in sixth, UTTC PANACEO STOCKERAU and ASVÖ TTC OLYMPIC WIEN in seventh and eighth, respectively. Malta’s MITTC placed ninth, and ASD TENNISTAVOLO SASSARI concluded the list in tenth place.
