The 2026 European Under 13 Championships got underway on Wednesday at the Hacı Bektaş Veli University Sports Centre in Nevşehir, Türkiye, with the opening stage of the Mixed Teams Event producing close encounters, impressive individual performances and several unexpected outcomes.
Thirty teams competed across eight groups, with the top two in each group advancing to the A Final stage and the remaining teams continuing in the B Final. With all five individual contests played in each team encounter, every point proved important in determining the final standings.
Among the biggest stories of the opening day were Türkiye’s elimination from the A Final despite defeating Germany, England finishing ahead of unbeaten Romania, and Poland progressing at Lithuania’s expense despite losing their direct encounter.
Spain dominated Group A, recording successive 5-0 victories over Georgia and Bulgaria to finish with a perfect record. Ladimir MAYOROV and Carmen GOMEZ were particularly effective, winning both their Mixed Doubles encounters and remaining unbeaten in their singles appearances.
Bulgaria secured second place with a 5-0 victory over Georgia. Yoan GEORGIEV and Damyana STOILOVA contributed in Mixed Doubles, while Meylin OSMANOVA and Adem AHMEDOV were among the singles winners.
Group B produced one of the day’s closest battles, with Czechia overcoming Portugal 3-2 to secure first place. Richard FEBER JR. and Adela BRHELOVA gave Czechia the advantage in Mixed Doubles, but Portugal responded through Lara MONTEIRO and Rodrigo LOURENCO, both recovering from two games down to win their singles encounters.
BRHELOVA levelled the team score before FEBER JR. defeated João COSTA in straight games to secure the Czech victory. Portugal, which also defeated Hungary 5-0, progressed in second place.
Italy completed an unbeaten campaign in Group C, defeating Croatia and Moldova 4-1 before overcoming Slovenia 5-0.
Pietro CAMPAGNA and Serena ROSSATI won all three Mixed Doubles encounters without dropping a game, while CAMPAGNA also remained unbeaten in singles. Luca FRANZONI contributed two particularly demanding victories, overcoming Croatia’s Petar GRDEN and Moldova’s Nicolae BUCUR in five games.
Moldova secured second place after a dramatic 3-2 victory over Croatia. Nicolae BUCUR settled the encounter by defeating Petar GRDEN 3-2 (11-6, 6-11, 2-11, 11-7, 11-7), while Alex MITIC also contributed a five-game victory.
Croatia finished third, ahead of Slovenia.
Group D delivered one of the most dramatic outcomes of the day, with Germany, France and Türkiye all finishing with two team victories and one defeat.
Germany secured first place after defeating France 4-1 and Estonia 5-0, despite suffering a 3-2 defeat against Türkiye.
The hosts produced several outstanding performances. Defne UZUMCU and Emre BUCAK won all three of their Mixed Doubles encounters, while UZUMCU remained unbeaten in singles. Zeynep DURAN also contributed an important straight-games victory over Germany’s Hannah SCHLAUCH.
However, France’s narrow 3-2 victory over Türkiye proved crucial. Hachim TISSAFI IDRISSI produced one of the day’s most remarkable comebacks, recovering from a 0-2 deficit against Emre BUCAK to win 3-2 (3-11, 5-11, 14-12, 11-5, 11-9).
Germany and France eventually claimed the two A Final positions, leaving Türkiye third despite its victory over the group winner. Estonia finished fourth.
Group E provided another example of the importance of individual contest victories in the standings.
Romania won all three team encounters, defeating Belgium and England 3-2 and Kosovo 4-1. Nevertheless, England finished first with 12 individual contest victories, compared with Romania’s 10.
England recorded convincing 5-0 victories over Kosovo and Belgium. Against Belgium, Serene RAHMANI recovered from a 1-2 deficit to defeat Lore GOETHALS in five games, while Dimitar DIMITROV completed the sweep with a 3-2 victory over Florian CAMBIER.
Romania’s success included an impressive comeback from Adriana IVAN, who recovered from two games down to defeat Belgium’s Marie CHAPODZE 3-2. Against England, IVAN, Vladimir FILIMON and Bianca TOMA secured the three singles victories that gave Romania a 3-2 team win.
England and Romania advanced to the A Final, ahead of Belgium and Kosovo.
Sweden emerged unbeaten from Group F, recording victories over Latvia 5-0, Ukraine 3-2 and Azerbaijan 4-1.
The meeting with Ukraine was particularly competitive. Mark VORONOI and Lidiia SHYIAN gave Ukraine the lead in Mixed Doubles, while SHYIAN later defeated Nikki HON in straight games.
However, Nina LAZIC and Tomas LARSSON contributed important singles victories for Sweden before Filip AROSELL overcame VORONOI 3-1 (11-5, 11-9, 12-14, 11-9) to secure the 3-2 team success.
Ukraine recovered to finish second after defeating Azerbaijan 3-2 and Latvia 4-1. Azerbaijan took third place, ahead of Latvia.
Greece completed Group G with three victories, overcoming Belarus 3-2, Slovakia 4-1 and Bosnia and Herzegovina 5-0.
Theofanis MARKOULAKIS played a decisive role against Belarus, defeating Daniil LEVANENIA in straight games in the final contest.
Against Slovakia, Argyro KOUTROUMBA overcame Adela VASKOVA in five games, while MARKOULAKIS defeated Daniel SUCHY by the same margin. Kleio MADESI and Nikolaos ALEXIDIS also contributed to the Greek team’s successful campaign.
Belarus secured second place with victories over Bosnia and Herzegovina 5-0 and Slovakia 3-2. In the latter encounter, Tsimur KOT and Boyao FANG won the Mixed Doubles, Sofiya TSIKHAMIRAVA defeated Sofia TRUSKOVA in five games and Platon KANAVALAU overcame Denis VECEREK in straight games.
Slovakia finished third despite opening with a 5-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Russia produced one of the strongest performances of the opening day in Group H, collecting 14 individual contest victories from a possible 15.
After defeating Poland 4-1, Russia recorded successive 5-0 victories over Austria and Lithuania.
Mikhail KIRILLOV, Viktoriia RYBALCHENKO, Olesia ILINA and Elisei KLOCHKO contributed to the team’s dominant campaign. Against Poland, KIRILLOV recovered from a 1-2 deficit to defeat Jakub BLASZCZYK in five games.
The battle for second place produced another unusual outcome. Lithuania defeated Poland 3-2 in their direct encounter, with Kaja TVOROGAL and Mindaugas STONYS winning the final two contests.
However, Poland collected eight individual contest victories across the group, compared with Lithuania’s seven, securing the second A Final position.
Lithuania finished third, ahead of Austria.
Following the opening stage, the 16 qualified teams will continue in the A Final groups, with the four group winners progressing to the semifinals. The remaining teams will compete in the B Final.
The post
Opening Day Drama as 16 Teams Secure Places in Stage 2 first appeared on
European table tennis union.
Continue reading...
