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.
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.
