France's Alexis Lebrun defends European Top 16 title


MONTREUX, Switzerland, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- French table tennis player Alexis Lebrun successfully defended the men's singles title at the 2026 CCB Europe Top 16 Cup by beating Slovenia's Darko Jorgic 3-1 for the second straight year here on Sunday.

Germany's Sabine Winter won her first-ever women's singles title in the tournament after crushing Bernadette Szocs of Romania 3-0 in the final.

22-year-old Alexis, who beat his younger brother Felix 3-0 in the semifinals, needed just 30 minutes to beat Jorgic 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6.

"The third game was a bit more intense. Darko played better. But I managed to recover in the next game. I'm really happy," Alexis said.

Jorgic, 27, achieved a three-peat of titles between 2022 and 2024, but saw his fourth title denied by Alexis for two consecutive years.

Winter dominated the women's competition, winning the final 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 and dropping only one game throughout the tournament. The top seed defeated reigning champion Han Ying of Germany 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 in the semifinals en route to her maiden title in the tournament.

"This victory means very, very much to me. Winning the Europe Top 16 Cup is the most important international title of my career - and I will definitely celebrate it properly," she said.

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