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The high quality of the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) was clearly evident at the European Team Championships in Zadar during the medal ceremony. Three of the four teams on the podium had at least one player from the German top flight – only the new title holders France competed on the Dalmatian coast without any active “legionnaires” from a German club. Nine TTBL aces, or one-third of all players from Germany's top division competing for twelve nations, returned to their clubs from Croatia with a medal.

At least the Romanian trio of Iulian Chirita (TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen), Eduard Ionescu (1. FC Saarbrücken-TT), and Ovidiu Ionescu (Post SV Mühlhausen) can shine in silver after Romania's first appearance in the final in the history of the European Championships. The players of the German team, Andre Bertelsmeier (TSV Bad Königshofen), Benedikt Duda (TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt), Patrick Franziska (Saarbrücken), Dang Qiu (Borussia Düsseldorf), and Ricardo Walther (ASC Grünwettersbach), took home bronze medals, as did Slovenia's top player Darko Jorgic (Saarbrücken).

Thanks to Eduard Ionescu, Franziska, and Jorgic, Saarbrücken was the most frequently represented of the twelve TTBL clubs on the podium. The remaining medal winners are spread across six clubs.

As a consolation prize of sorts for their unfulfilled medal hopes, 13 other Bundesliga professionals, apart from the players from the four best teams, secured tickets to the upcoming Team World Cup in spring 2026 by reaching at least the round of 16 with their national teams. This means that “London calling” for Belgians Martin Allegro (TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau), Adrien Rassenfosse (Bergneustadt), and Cedric Nuytinck (Borussia Dortmund), Danes Jonathan Groth (TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell) and Anders Lind (Dortmund), the Croatians Ivor Ban (TTC OE Clarity Telefonie-Systeme Bad Homburg) and Filip Zeljko (Bad Königshofen), the Polish Maciej Kubik (Grenzau), the Portuguese Tiago Abiodun (Ochsenhausen) and Tiago Apolonia (Grünwettersbach), and the Swedes Mattias Falck (Werder Bremen), Anton Källberg (Düsseldorf) and Kristian Karlsson (Dortmund). The Austrians Daniel Habesohn (Bad Königshofen) and Andreas Levenko (Ochsenhausen) must hope for a world ranking quota place for London, while the Hungarians Csaba Andras (Bad Homburg) and Adam Szudi (Hungary) have only slim chances.

Following their team's relegation, neither of the two Magyars will be competing at the next European Championships in Porto in 2027, nor will England's Samuel Walker (Grenzau). However, the Briton can at least count on good chances of securing a place in the automatically qualified host team for the World Championships on home soil.

Florian Manzke

Featured image above: Benedikt Duda (Photo: Ulrich Höfer)