European Table Tennis Championships: 63-year-old Ni Xia Lian and low seeds reach Ljubljana main draw

The qualifying groups at the European Table Tennis Championships in Ljubljana have finished, and the list of players heading into the singles main draws includes a 63-year-old former European champion and a string of low seeds who knocked out higher-ranked opponents. Luxembourg's Ni Xia Lian, born in July 1963, was among the group winners as the men's and women's singles main draws prepared to start at Arena Stožice on Wednesday afternoon, 14 October, local time.

This follows our preview of Alexis Lebrun's title defence and covers the qualifying results from the first days of the championships, which run from 11 to 18 October.

Ni Xia Lian still going strong

Ni won Group 8 in the women's singles, beating Jersey's Hannah Silcock 3-0 (12-10, 11-5, 12-10) on Tuesday, according to the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU). The Shanghai-born left-hander won world titles in the team event and mixed doubles for China in 1983, and later won European singles gold for Luxembourg in 1998 and 2002. She has played at five Olympic Games, most recently Paris 2024.

Bezeg's back-door route

The most unusual qualification belonged to Serbia's Reka Bezeg, seeded 114th. She lost her opening match 3-1 to Bulgaria's Tsvetelina Georgieva but then beat Wales' Charlotte Carey in straight games. When Carey beat Georgieva in five games on Tuesday, all three players finished on one win, and Bezeg topped Group 23 on the game-ratio tiebreak.

Other women's surprises included Norway's Martine Toftaker (seeded 89th) beating 37th seed Zuzanna Wielgos of Poland, and Lithuania's Kornelija Riliskyte (82nd) recovering from 2-1 down to beat 45th seed Lilou Massart of Belgium 3-2. Slovenia's home crowd had something to cheer as Sara Tokic and Ana Tofant both went through without losing a match.

Upsets in the men's groups

In the men's singles, two Scandinavians and a Dutchman did the most damage. Ivan Kahn of the Netherlands, seeded 97th, beat Luxembourg's 33rd seed Luka Mladenovic 3-2 and finished unbeaten. Norway's Martin Frøseth, seeded 95th, beat Spain's 35th seed Juan Perez 3-0 and topped his group without losing a game.

There were also several comebacks from two games down, including wins for Finland's Alex Naumi, Türkiye's Görkem Öçal and Croatia's Filip Zeljko, while Evgeny Tikhonov recovered from 0-2 to beat Spain's Daniel Berzosa. Germany's Wim Verdonschot saved a 4-7 deficit in the deciding game against Denmark's Martin Andersen and won it 12-10. England's Liam Pitchford came through Group 19 without dropping a game.

Main draw begins on Wednesday

The qualifiers now join the seeded players in the round of 64. Table Tennis England's draw details include Pitchford against Slovenia's 28th seed Deni Kozul and Tom Jarvis, the 22nd seed, against Romania's Andrei Istrate. Wednesday afternoon in Ljubljana is Wednesday evening in Malaysia, which is six hours ahead.

ETTU is streaming the championships on its YouTube channel, although coverage is geo-blocked in countries where it has television deals.

Key takeaways

• Luxembourg's Ni Xia Lian, 63, won her qualifying group and is in the women's singles main draw.
• Serbia's Reka Bezeg, seeded 114th, qualified on game ratio after losing her opening match.
• Low seeds Ivan Kahn and Martin Frøseth went through unbeaten in the men's event.
• Singles main draws start on Wednesday 14 October; the championships end on 18 October.

FAQ

Where are the 2026 European Table Tennis Championships being held? At Arena Stožice in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 11 to 18 October 2026.

How old is Ni Xia Lian? She was born on 4 July 1963, so she is 63. She won European singles titles in 1998 and 2002.

How can fans in Malaysia watch? ETTU streams the event on its YouTube channel, subject to geo-blocking in territories with broadcast agreements.

Sources: European Table Tennis Union, Table Tennis England, Wikipedia