Crowned champion of the 2026 CCB Europe Top 16 Cup is Sabine WINTER. Last year’s qualifier arrived this season as the top seed and fully justified her status. In the final hurdle, WINTER overcame Romania’s Bernadette SZOCS in commanding fashion, while Jia Nan YUAN of France and Germany’s Ying HAN were stopped in the semifinals.
Sabine WINTER – Bernadette SZOCS 3–0 (11–4, 11–4, 11–4)
Sabine WINTER delivered an almost error-free performance to defeat Bernadette SZOCS. She becomes the first player to win a European title using anti-topspin rubber since John HILTON captured the European Championships crown in 1980. While that remained HILTON’s only European title, WINTER has already collected two European women’s doubles titles and additional gold medals with the German women’s team.
This was WINTER’s fifth appearance at the Europe Top 16 Cup, having previously reached the semifinals on three occasions.
“This victory means very, very much to me. Winning the Europe Top 16 Cup is the most important international title of my career – and I will definitely celebrate it properly.”
WINTER admitted she did not feel nervous before the final, despite the weight of the occasion. Her recent head-to-head record against the Romanian had been clearly in her favour:
“Even though the last matches went clearly my way, I was prepared for a completely new contest in the final, because a final has its own rules. I didn’t put myself under pressure and just played point by point, fortunately, she still hasn’t found a way to beat me.”
Ying HAN – Sabine WINTER 0-3 (8-11, 5-11, 9-11)
In a re-run of last year’s semifinal, top seed Sabine WINTER justified her seeding and ended Han YING’s remarkable run of 14 consecutive wins, recorded across the 2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026 editions (she missed 2024 due to injury), one of the longest winning streaks in the history of the Top 12/16 Cup. It was only the second time Han YING has lost a match at the Europe Top 16 Cup. Her previous defeat came in 2018, when she was edged out by Margaryta PESOTSKA in a thrilling seven-game quarterfinal.
“The match was closer than the result suggests. Ying came up with a new tactic at the beginning, but fortunately I was able to adjust to it. I played well and with a lot of patience. I’m happy to be in the final now and, of course, I want to win the title,” said WINTER.
Bernadette SZOCS – Jia Nan YUAN 3-1 (9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5)
Among this year’s semifinalists, Bernadette SZOCS boasts the longest record at the Europe Top 16 Cup, having been ever-present since 2015 and making her 12th appearance in the competition. She lifted the title in 2018, finished runner-up in 2019 and reached the semifinals in 2021, 2022 and 2024. By defeating Jia Nan YUAN, SZOCS returned to the Europe Top 16 final for the first time since 2019. After beating Li JIE to win the 2018 title and then losing the 2019 final to Petrissa SOLJA, she needed seven attempts to reach another final, falling in the semifinals on three occasions and exiting in the quarterfinals twice.
To book her place in this year’s final, SZOCS overcame the 2024 champion Jia Nan YUAN after recovering from the loss of the opening game.
“I was very disappointed after the first game because I had started really well. I was leading 7–3 but still lost it, and at 9–9 I had my serve. I didn’t make the best decisions after my serve, and that frustrated me because normally that’s a strong part of my game. This time it simply didn’t work in the opening game,” said SZOCS. “When I went to my coach, I told him I had made poor decisions. He explained what I needed to change, and I tried to apply his advice and adjust my tactics. From that moment on, especially after it became 1–1, everything worked incredibly well. I stayed very positive, focused on every single point and tried to give my best. I know that if I make easy mistakes, I can lose, so I had to stay concentrated on every ball, even when she was in front. It’s always difficult to play against YUAN, our matches are often very close, but I’m very proud of myself for managing to win and reach the final again. As the match went on, I felt more and more confident. My tactics were working well, so I kept following the plan. I also had a couple of alternative options ready in case I needed to change something. In the end, my strategy worked perfectly, and I’m really proud of the way I handled the match.”
