Germany’s line-ups for the Team European Championships in Zadar (12–19 October) have been confirmed. For the first time, Sabine WINTER and Benedikt DUDA will lead the five-player women’s and men’s squads at the 44th edition of the continental event in Croatia. The German women will compete as defending champions, while the men’s side returns as silver medalists from the last Team Europeans two years ago in Malmö, where they finished behind hosts Sweden.
In Zadar, the women’s team will feature world no. 27 Sabine WINTER, who has recently moved up the ITTF rankings and will act as Germany’s number one for the first time. She is joined by Olympic team fourth-place finisher Yuan WAN, U19 World Champion Annett KAUFMANN, European bronze medalist Nina MITTELHAM returning after a long back injury, and Mia GRIESEL, U19 World bronze medalist who debuted at the 2024 European Championships in Linz.
On the men’s side, Benedikt DUDA now world no. 8 and runner-up at the last Europeans, leads the German squad as top player for the first time. He is joined by former European champion Dang QIU, world no. 17 Patrick FRANZISKA, Ricardo WALTHER and Andre BERTELSMEIER, who made his debut last year.
The nominations, made jointly by national coaches Jörg ROSSKOPF (men) and Tamara BOROS (women) together with DTTB sports director Richard PRAUSE, provide rest periods for two key veterans: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV, double Olympic bronze medalist, and Ying HAN, winner of the Europe Top 16.
PRAUSE underlined that the field is tougher than ever:
“Sweden, led by Truls MÖREGÅRDH, have recently won both the European Championships and Olympic team gold. France, driven by the LEBRUN brothers, earned bronze at both the World Championships and Olympics. Denmark, with Anders LIND and Jonathan GROTH, is also strong. Croatia as host and Romania will also aim for medals. Among the women, I expect a duel with Romania, our long-standing rivals, but also France and Sweden cannot be underestimated. The competition is very strong.”
The road to the trophy requires six victories for the eventual winner. After two group-stage matches, the top two of each of the eight groups will advance to the round of 16, where the knockout stage begins.
Germany’s women, drawn in Group B against Serbia and Slovenia, are clear favorites. Coach Tamara BOROS: “We will do everything to defend our title in Zadar. For Nina, especially after her long break, it’s vital to gain match practice. Of course, we also already have London 2026 in sight.”
The men’s team face Serbia and Ukraine in Group C. Coach Jörg ROSSKOPF anticipates a thrilling event: “We have a team capable of beating anyone. But France and Sweden have become extremely strong, recently more successful than us. We are one of several favorites. It might be the most exciting European Championships in many years.”
