European Table Tennis Championships: Alexis Lebrun defends title as Ljubljana main draw starts on 14 October

The European Table Tennis Championships in Ljubljana move into their main stage this week. The men's singles round of 64 starts on Wednesday, 14 October, at Arena Stozice. The opening rounds have already brought several upsets, with several lower-ranked players beating much higher-ranked opponents in the qualifying groups. The men's singles final will be played on Sunday, 18 October. France's Alexis Lebrun is the defending champion and Darko Jorgic will have the home crowd behind him.

How the event works

The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) says there are 138 entries in men's singles. The 32 highest-ranked players go straight into the 64-player main draw. The other 106 were split into 32 round-robin groups to fight for the remaining places. Group matches are best of five games, and main-draw matches are best of seven.

The schedule is:

• Round of 64: Wednesday, 14 October
• Round of 32: Thursday, 15 October
• Round of 16: Friday, 16 October
• Quarter-finals: Saturday, 17 October
• Semi-finals and final: Sunday, 18 October

Women's singles, men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles are also being played. Ljubljana is six hours behind Malaysia, so afternoon and evening sessions in Slovenia take place in the Malaysian evening and late night.

Qualifying upsets

The ETTU reported a number of upsets in the group stage. World No. 151 Ivan Kahn of the Netherlands beat Luxembourg's Luka Mladenovic, ranked 36th, 3-2. He won the deciding game 11-8 and booked his place in the main draw. Hungary's David Szantosi, ranked 152nd, beat Spain's Juan Perez, ranked 38th, 3-1. Serbia's Uros Ninkovic, the world No. 208, beat Austria's Andreas Levenko in five games.

On the opening day, Switzerland's Loic Stoll, ranked 318th, came from 2-1 down to beat Turkey's Ibrahim Gunduz 3-2 and won the last game 11-2. Austria's Zhenlong Liu, ranked 302nd, lost the first game 11-2 to Czech player Stepan Brhel but won the next three.

Not every result went the underdog's way. Stoll later lost 3-0 to Romania's Andrei Istrate, and Liu was beaten by Serbia's Dimitrije Levajac. England's Liam Pitchford won his opening group match 3-0, as Table Tennis England reported.

The favourites

Lebrun won the men's singles title in Linz in 2024, beating Germany's Benedikt Duda 4-0 in the final. He also won the men's doubles there with his brother Felix, and the brothers come to Ljubljana as defending doubles champions.

Sweden's Truls Moregard won bronze in men's singles in 2024. He told the ETTU that the standard in European table tennis is now "scary high". Jorgic is Slovenia's best player and won singles silver at the 2022 European Championships in Munich. He will be playing in front of his home fans in Ljubljana.

In the women's event, Austria's Sofia Polcanova won the 2024 title in Linz, beating Romania's Bernadette Szocs in the final.

Why it matters in Asia

The Championships come straight after the China Smash in Beijing, where Japan's Sora Matsushima won the men's title on Sunday. Jorgic has said he believes Europe has closed the gap on Asia's leading players, especially China's. A big week in Ljubljana would give the leading Europeans confidence before the remaining WTT events of the season.

Key takeaways

• The men's singles main draw at the European Championships starts on 14 October at Arena Stozice in Ljubljana.
• The men's singles semi-finals and final are on Sunday, 18 October.
• Players ranked outside the world top 150, including Ivan Kahn and David Szantosi, beat top-40 opponents in qualifying.
• Alexis Lebrun defends his 2024 singles title, and he and Felix Lebrun are the defending doubles champions.
• Slovenia's Darko Jorgic, the 2022 silver medallist, plays at home.

FAQ

When is the men's singles final at the 2026 European Championships? It is on Sunday, 18 October, at Arena Stozice in Ljubljana, after the semi-finals the same day.

Who is the defending European men's singles champion? France's Alexis Lebrun, who beat Benedikt Duda 4-0 in the 2024 final in Linz.

How does qualifying work in Ljubljana? The top 32 men go straight into the 64-player main draw. The other 106 played round-robin groups for the remaining places.

Sources: ETTU, Table Tennis England, Olympics.com