(by Steve Hopkins)
In 2024, Alexis Lebrun won the last European Championship – this year it was younger brother Felix baking it back to back titles for the Lebrun family. This year, the tournament was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
The final was between Felix and Sweden’s Anton Kallberg. The match went the distance, with Lebrun coming from behind to win 4-3. For Felix Lebrun, the path to the Final included wins over Patrick Franziska in the Quarters and Leo de Nodrest in the Semifinals. The path for Kallberg included a Quarterfinal win over over Borgar Haug and a Semifinal win over Dang Qiu. The other two big stories of this Championship are the two unexpected references in this paragraph. Borgar Haug is a 23 year old Norwegian who took out Truls Moregard (before falling in the Quarters to Kallberg). And the 26 year old Frenchman Nodrest managed to eliminate both Jorgic and Duda on his way to the Semifinals.
Alexis Lebrun was the second seed in the event, and he was upset by Dan Qiu. But the defending champion wasn’t shut out in Ljubljana. Alexis and Felix teamed up to win Men’s Doubles. The pair outlasted Kristian Karlsson and Anton Kallberg 3-2 to win their second consecutive doubles title. Felix leaves with a pair of gold medals, and Anton Kallberg leaves with a pair of silvers.
Despite the surprises in Men’s singles, the biggest story of the tournament was Russian qualifier Elizabet Abraamian and her run in Women’s singles. Abraamian was the first qualifier to ever win a European Singles title. The Final was Abraamian over Annett Kaufmann 4-3. The Women’s Singles event was actually full of surprises with top seed Sabine Winter losing in the Round of 16 to Pavade. The second seed, Szocs, only lasted one round further as she lost 4-1 to Mittelham in the Quarters. In the Semis, Pavade fell to Abraamian, and Mittelham fell to Kaufmann.
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