The 2026/27 HYLO ETTU Champions League Men Stage 1 concluded in Lille on Sunday, with the eight places in Stage 2 decided after three days of competition. HB Ostrov z.s., ASD TT Santa Tecla Nulvi, SF SKK El Nino Praha, Roskilde Bordtennis BTK 61, TTC Sokah Hoboken, Lille Metropole TT, KS Dojlidy Białystok and AS Pontoise Cergy TT all secured their passage to the next stage.
HB Ostrov, El Nino Praha, Hoboken and Dojlidy completed the weekend with perfect records to finish top of their respective groups, while Santa Tecla, Roskilde, hosts Lille and Pontoise claimed the four remaining qualifying positions. The eight successful clubs will now join the eight directly qualified teams in Stage 2 of the HYLO ETTU Champions League Men.
HB Ostrov z.s. and ASD TT Santa Tecla Nulvi secured the two Group A places in Stage 2 of the 2026/27 HYLO ETTU Champions League Men after an eventful final round in Lille. Ostrov completed the group with a perfect record after beating STK Starr Croatia 3-1, while Santa Tecla came through a dramatic five-match contest against STK Vyhne to win 3-2 and claim the other qualifying position.
See photos by Remi GROS here
Ostrov entered the final day as the only unbeaten team in the group after victories over Santa Tecla and Vyhne, and made it three wins from three despite Starr Croatia taking the opening point.
Liang QIU gave the Croatian side the lead with a 3-1 victory over Tomas POLANSKY, but Ostrov quickly responded. Tomas TREGLER beat Riyan DUTTA in straight games before Pavel SIRUCEK did the same against Ante KOLAK.
QIU returned to face TREGLER and came close to keeping Starr Croatia in the contest. The match went all the way to the fifth game, where TREGLER prevailed by the narrowest margin, 6-5, to complete Ostrov’s 3-1 victory and perfect Group A record.
The battle between STK Vyhne and ASD TT Santa Tecla Nulvi was effectively a direct fight for the remaining place in Stage 2, and it went down to the final match.
Adam KLAJBER put Vyhne ahead after a five-game battle with Jordy PICCOLIN, winning the decider 6-3. Tommaso GIOVANNETTI responded for Santa Tecla with a 3-1 victory over Dmitrij PROKOPCOV.
Jakub GOLDIR restored Vyhne’s advantage by edging Tomas KOLDAS in another five-game contest, taking the decider 6-5. Once again, however, GIOVANNETTI brought Santa Tecla back. His straight-games victory over KLAJBER made it 2-2 and left everything to PROKOPCOV and PICCOLIN.
PROKOPCOV twice moved ahead, including taking a dramatic third game 16-14, but PICCOLIN refused to let the opportunity slip away. He won the fourth 11-3 and then raced through the deciding game 6-3 to give Santa Tecla a 3-2 victory and a place in Stage 2.
HB Ostrov finishes Group A with three victories from three matches, while Santa Tecla takes second place with two wins. STK Vyhne finishes with one victory and STK Starr Croatia without a win.
In Group B, SF SKK El Nino Praha and Roskilde Bordtennis BTK 61 secured the two places in Stage 2. El Nino completed the group with a perfect record after beating CSS-SZAK Odorheiu Secuiesc 3-0, while Roskilde claimed the other qualifying position with a 3-0 victory over CTT Olot.
El Nino entered the final day with two wins from two matches and completed their perfect run without dropping a match against Odorheiu Secuiesc.
Yevhen PRYSHCHEPA opened with a straight-games victory over Sebastian LOSO, before Martin SIP had to dig much deeper against Szabolcs TAMAS. TAMAS won the opening two games 11-9 and 12-10 and was within sight of putting the Romanian side on the board, but SIP fought back. He took the next two 11-9, 11-9 and then edged the decider 6-5.
Tomas KONECNY completed the victory in convincing fashion, beating Elias-Mate SIMO 3-0 to give El Nino their third win of the weekend.
The other match was a direct battle for the second qualifying place, with Roskilde and CTT Olot both entering the final round with one victory.
Anders ERIKSSON put the Danish side ahead with a straight-games win over Rafael DE LAS HERAS, closing a tight third game 12-10.
Jens LUNDQVIST followed with a 3-1 victory against Damien Rolland PROVOST. The Olot player kept the contest alive by taking the third game 12-10, but LUNDQVIST responded 11-9 in the fourth.
Miguel PANTOJA then pushed Tobias RASMUSSEN all the way in the third encounter. They traded games throughout before RASMUSSEN pulled away in the decider, winning 6-3 to complete Roskilde’s 3-0 victory and secure their place in Stage 2.
El Nino Praha finishes Group B on top with three victories from three matches, followed by Roskilde with two wins. CTT Olot finishes with one victory, while Odorheiu Secuiesc ends Stage 1 without a win.
In Group C, TTC Sokah Hoboken and Lille Metropole TT had already secured the two places in Stage 2 before their final-round meeting, having both won their opening two matches. Hoboken finished the group on top with a perfect record after beating the hosts 3-0, while SKST Havirov closed their stay in Lille with a 3-1 victory over CTT Les Borges Vall.
The meeting between the two unbeaten sides belonged to Hoboken. Benjamin BROSSIER opened with a straight-games victory over Tom BOYARD, winning 11-8, 11-5, 11-5.
Olav KOSOLOSKY followed with a 3-1 win over Fabio RAKOTOARIMANANA. The Lille player responded after losing the opening two games, but KOSOLOSKY took the fourth 11-8 to put Hoboken one point away from victory.
Quentin ROBINOT completed the 3-0 win with a commanding performance against Patrick ROUSSEL, taking the three games 11-7, 11-5, 11-3. The result gave Hoboken three victories from three matches and first place in Group C, with Lille progressing alongside them in second.
In the other final-round match, SKST Havirov beat CTT Les Borges Vall 3-1 to record their first victory of Stage 1.
Stepan BRHEL put Havirov ahead with a 3-1 victory over Francesc CARRERA before Marc DURAN responded for Les Borges Vall in a dramatic five-game contest against Mykhailo LOVHA. Four of the five games were decided by the narrowest margins, with DURAN eventually taking the decider 6-5.
Daniel KOSTAL restored Havirov’s advantage with a straight-games victory over Jair JIMENEZ, leaving LOVHA with another opportunity to close the tie.
His second five-game contest ended very differently. CARRERA twice moved ahead, but LOVHA twice came back before taking complete control of the decider, winning 6-1 to secure Havirov’s 3-1 victory.
TTC Sokah Hoboken finishes Group C with three wins from three and Lille Metropole TT takes second place with two victories, sending both clubs through to Stage 2. SKST Havirov finishes third with one win, while CTT Les Borges Vall ends the group without a victory.
In Group D, KS Dojlidy Białystok and AS Pontoise Cergy TT secured the final two places in Stage 2 of the 2026/27 HYLO ETTU Champions League Men. Dojlidy completed a perfect weekend with a 3-0 victory over SPG Felbermayr Wels, while Pontoise overcame TTC Ostrava 2016 3-2 to take second place.
KS Dojlidy Białystok entered the final round as the only unbeaten team in the group and made it three wins from three with another strong performance.
Amirezza ABBASI MONJEZI opened with a 3-1 victory over Patryk ZATOWKA. The Dojlidy player took the first two games before ZATOWKA responded in the third, but ABBASI MONJEZI closed the contest 11-6 in the fourth.
Aleksandr KHANIN then recovered from losing the opening game 5-11 against Maciej KOLODZIEJCZYK. He won the next three 11-8, 11-8 and 11-5 to put the Polish side firmly in control.
Piotr CHODORSKI followed the same route against Felix WETZEL. After dropping the first game, CHODORSKI took the next three to complete a 3-0 victory for Dojlidy and seal first place in the group.
The battle between AS Pontoise Cergy TT and TTC Ostrava 2016 was much closer, with the French club eventually prevailing 3-2.
Kai ZHOU put Pontoise ahead with a 3-1 victory over Michal BLINKA, but Ondrej KVETON responded for Ostrava by beating Mihai BOBOCICA by the same score.
Adam STALZER then gave Ostrava the lead after a five-game battle with Thomas LAROCHE. The match went to the narrowest possible finish, with STALZER taking the decider 6-5.
With Pontoise under pressure, ZHOU delivered again. He produced a convincing straight-games victory over KVETON, 11-2, 11-3, 11-7, to level the team contest at 2-2.
BOBOCICA and BLINKA were left to decide the final outcome. All three games were close, but BOBOCICA won each of them, 12-10, 11-9 and 12-10, to give Pontoise a 3-2 victory and a place in Stage 2.
KS Dojlidy Białystok finishes Group D with three victories from three matches, while AS Pontoise Cergy TT takes second place with two wins. SPG Felbermayr Wels finishes third with one victory and TTC Ostrava 2016 ends the group without a win.
