Europe Top 16

Most recent season or competition: 2023 Europe Top 16 Cup
Formerly	Europe Top 12
Sport	Table tennis
Founded	1971[1]
Singles entrants	16 men; 16 women
Confederation	European Table Tennis Union
Most recent champion(s)	Men: Darko Jorgić Women: Jia Nan Yuan
Most titles	Men: Jan-Ove Waldner (7) Timo Boll (7) Women: Beatrix Kisházi (4) Li Jiao (4)

The Europe Top 16, also known as the Europe Top 16 Cup and previously known as the Europe Top 12, is a table tennis tournament organised annually by the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU), featuring the highest-ranked players in Europe.^[2]

The first event was held in 1971 in Zadar, Yugoslavia (now part of Croatia) as an experimental classification tournament. Twelve male players and six female players took part, with István Jónyer and Beatrix Kisházi, both from Hungary, winning the inaugural men's and women's competitions respectively. The tournament would go on to be held each year in different venues, and would become known as the Europe Top 12.^[3]

From 1971 until 1989, the tournament used a round-robin format; all players played each other once, with the champion being the player who accumulated the most wins. From 1990, there was a change of format; the twelve players were divided into two round-robin groups, with the top two players from each group progressing to semi-finals, followed by a final. At the 2001 tournament the twelve players were divided into four groups for the first time, with the group winners qualifying for the semi-finals, and from 2002 it was decided that the top two players from each group would qualify for quarter-finals, with knockout rounds to decide the winner. From 2015, the number of players qualifying for both the men's and women's events was increased to 16, and the tournament's name was changed to the Europe Top 16.^[1][3]

Sweden's Jan-Ove Waldner is the most successful player in the history of the men's event, winning the tournament seven times and finishing runner-up on a further four occasions between 1984 and 1996. Beatrix Kisházi of Hungary and Li Jiao of the Netherlands share the record for most wins in the women's event, with four wins each. Kisházi won the first three editions of the tournament from 1971 to 1973 and regained the title in 1977, while Li's four title wins came between 2007 and 2011.^[4][5]

Since 2019, the 16 participants in both the men's and the women's tournaments qualify as follows:^[6]

• The current European Champion.
• 14 additional players based on the European rankings at the time, subject to a maximum of two players from any association.
• One player from the host nation. If a player from the host nation has already qualified by right, the next eligible player in the rankings will qualify.

Since 2018, the format of the tournament has been a knockout played over two days. The semi-final losers play off for third and fourth place.^[7] The top three players in both the men's and the women's tournaments will be guaranteed a place at the Table Tennis World Cup, subject to a maximum of two players from any association.^[6]

Year	Host City	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1971	Zadar	István Jónyer	Antun Stipančić	Dragutin Šurbek
1972	Zagreb	Antun Stipančić	Stellan Bengtsson	Dragutin Šurbek
1973	Böblingen	Stellan Bengtsson	Dragutin Šurbek	Antun Stipančić
1974	Trollhättan	István Jónyer	Milan Orlowski	Stellan Bengtsson
1975	Vienna	Kjell Johansson	Antun Stipančić	István Jónyer
1976	Lübeck	Dragutin Šurbek	Kjell Johansson	Sarkis Sarkhoyan
1977	Sarajevo	Milan Orlowski	Dragutin Šurbek	Jacques Secrétin
1978	Prague	Gábor Gergely	Milan Orlowski	Stellan Bengtsson
1979	Kristianstad	Dragutin Šurbek	Desmond Douglas	Jacques Secrétin
1980	Munich	Stellan Bengtsson	Ulf Thorsell	Jacques Secrétin
1981	Miskolc	Tibor Klampár	Stellan Bengtsson	Dragutin Šurbek
1982	Nantes	Mikael Appelgren	Milan Orlowski	Desmond Douglas
1983	Cleveland	Milan Orlowski	Desmond Douglas	Mikael Appelgren
1984	Bratislava	Jan-Ove Waldner	Jindřich Panský	Mikael Appelgren
1985	Barcelona	Andrzej Grubba	Jindřich Panský	Mikael Appelgren
1986	Södertälje	Jan-Ove Waldner	Desmond Douglas	Erik Lindh
1987	Basel	Desmond Douglas	Jan-Ove Waldner	Jörgen Persson
1988	Ljubljana	Jan-Ove Waldner	Jörgen Persson	Andrzej Grubba
1989	Charleroi	Jan-Ove Waldner	Erik Lindh	Jörgen Persson
1990	Hannover	Mikael Appelgren	Jan-Ove Waldner	Andrzej Grubba
1991	's-Hertogenbosch	Erik Lindh	Jan-Ove Waldner	Jörgen Persson
1992	Vienna	Jörgen Persson	Jörg Roßkopf	Zoran Primorac
1993	Copenhagen	Jan-Ove Waldner	Peter Karlsson	Jörg Roßkopf
				Jean-Michel Saive
1994	Arezzo	Jean-Michel Saive	Jan-Ove Waldner	Peter Karlsson
				Zoran Primorac
1995	Dijon	Jan-Ove Waldner	Erik Lindh	Jean-Philippe Gatien
				Jean-Michel Saive
1996	Charleroi	Jan-Ove Waldner	Jean-Michel Saive	Jean-Philippe Gatien
				Yang Min
1997	Eindhoven	Jean-Philippe Gatien	Vladimir Samsonov	Zoran Primorac
				Jan-Ove Waldner
1998	Halmstad	Vladimir Samsonov	Peter Karlsson	Jean-Michel Saive
				Jan-Ove Waldner
1999	Split	Vladimir Samsonov	Christophe Legoût	Jean-Philippe Gatien
				Kalinikos Kreanga
2000	Alassio	Werner Schlager	Yang Min	Jean-Philippe Gatien
				Jörg Roßkopf
2001	Wels	Vladimir Samsonov	Peter Karlsson	Petr Korbel
				Jean-Michel Saive
2002	Rotterdam	Timo Boll	Vladimir Samsonov	Patrick Chila
				Damien Éloi
2003	Saarbrücken	Timo Boll	Vladimir Samsonov	Michael Maze
				Werner Schlager
2004	Frankfurt	Michael Maze	Werner Schlager	Petr Korbel
				Alexey Smirnov
2005	Rennes	Alexey Smirnov	Vladimir Samsonov	Timo Boll
				Damien Éloi
2006	Copenhagen	Timo Boll	Werner Schlager	Michael Maze
				Zoran Primorac
2007	Arezzo	Vladimir Samsonov	Kalinikos Kreanga	Zoran Primorac
				Alexey Smirnov
2008	Frankfurt	Werner Schlager	Vladimir Samsonov	Jean-Michel Saive
				Alexey Smirnov
2009	Düsseldorf	Timo Boll	Vladimir Samsonov	Kalinikos Kreanga
				Michael Maze
2010	Düsseldorf	Timo Boll	Vladimir Samsonov	Chen Weixing
				Kalinikos Kreanga
2011	Liège	Kalinikos Kreanga	Vladimir Samsonov	Werner Schlager
				Alexey Smirnov
2012	Lyon	Dimitrij Ovtcharov	Kirill Skachkov	Chen Weixing
				Vladimir Samsonov
2014	Lausanne	Marcos Freitas	Michael Maze	Dimitrij Ovtcharov
2015	Baku	Dimitrij Ovtcharov	Marcos Freitas	Panagiotis Gionis
2016	Gondomar	Dimitrij Ovtcharov	João Monteiro	Alexander Shibaev
2017	Antibes	Dimitrij Ovtcharov	Alexander Shibaev	Simon Gauzy
2018	Montreux	Timo Boll	Dimitrij Ovtcharov	Jonathan Groth
2019	Montreux	Dimitrij Ovtcharov	Vladimir Samsonov	Timo Boll
2020	Montreux	Timo Boll	Darko Jorgić	Robert Gardos
2021	Thessaloniki	Patrick Franziska	Marcos Freitas	Mattias Falck
				Emmanuel Lebesson
2022	Montreux	Darko Jorgić	Truls Möregårdh	Timo Boll
				Patrick Franziska
2023		Darko Jorgić	Dang Qiu	Dimitrij Ovtcharov
				Liam Pitchford
2024		Darko Jorgić	Truls Möregårdh	Alexis Lebrun
				Marcos Freitas

^[1]

Year	Host City	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1971	Zadar	Beatrix Kisházi	Ilona Voštová	Alice Grofová
1972	Zagreb	Beatrix Kisházi	Maria Alexandru	Zoja Rudnova
1973	Böblingen	Beatrix Kisházi	Judit Magos	Ilona Voštová
1974	Trollhättan	Zoja Rudnova	Maria Alexandru	Judit Magos
1975	Vienna	Ann-Christin Hellman	Wiebke Hendriksen	Henriette Lotaller
1976	Lübeck	Ann-Christin Hellman	Ilona Uhlíková-Voštová	Eržebet Palatinuš
1977	Sarajevo	Beatrix Kisházi	Jill Hammersley	Ilona Uhlíková-Voštová
1978	Prague	Jill Hammersley	Bettine Vriesekoop	Valentina Popova
1979	Kristianstad	Gabriella Szabó	Maria Alexandru	Eržebet Palatinuš
1980	Munich	Jill Hammersley	Bettine Vriesekoop	Gabriella Szabó
1981	Miskolc	Jill Hammersley	Bettine Vriesekoop	Valentina Popova
1982	Nantes	Bettine Vriesekoop	Jill Hammersley	Marie Hrachová
1983	Cleveland	Olga Nemeș	Fliura Bulatova	Bettine Vriesekoop
1984	Bratislava	Marie Hrachová	Bettine Vriesekoop	Valentina Popova
1985	Barcelona	Bettine Vriesekoop	Zsuzsa Oláh	Marie Hrachová
1986	Södertälje	Fliura Bulatova	Olga Nemeș	Daniela Guergeltcheva
1987	Basel	Csilla Bátorfi	Edit Urban	Fliura Bulatova
1988	Ljubljana	Fliura Bulatova	Bettine Vriesekoop	Olga Nemeș
1989	Charleroi	Olga Nemeș	Csilla Bátorfi	Daniela Guergeltcheva
1990	Hannover	Gabriella Wirth	Olga Nemeș	Xiaoming Wang-Dréchou
1991	's-Hertogenbosch	Mirjam Hooman	Gabriella Wirth	Bettine Vriesekoop
1992	Vienna	Csilla Bátorfi	Marie Svensson	Otilia Bădescu
1993	Copenhagen	Emilia Ciosu	Olga Nemeș	Otilia Bădescu
				Åsa Svensson
1994	Arezzo	Jie Schöpp	Otilia Bădescu	Mirjam Hooman
				Nicole Struse
1995	Dijon	Otilia Bădescu	Emilia Ciosu	Jie Schöpp
				Nicole Struse
1996	Charleroi	Ni Xialian	Csilla Bátorfi	Nicole Struse
				Bettine Vriesekoop
1997	Eindhoven	Ni Xialian	Jie Schöpp	Otilia Bădescu
				Olga Nemeș
1998	Halmstad	Ni Xialian	Nicole Struse	Csilla Bátorfi
				Marie Svensson
1999	Split	Qianhong Gotsch	Jing Tian-Zörner	Tamara Boroš
				Ni Xialian
2000	Alassio	Qianhong Gotsch	Mihaela Steff	Ni Xialian
				Jie Schöpp
2001	Wels	Csilla Bátorfi	Ni Xialian	Otilia Bădescu
				Tamara Boroš
2002	Rotterdam	Tamara Boroš	Nicole Struse	Ni Xialian
				Viktoria Pavlovich
2003	Saarbrücken	Jie Schöpp	Tamara Boroš	Galina Melnik
				Krisztina Tóth
2004	Frankfurt	Nicole Struse	Jie Schöpp	Tamara Boroš
				Liu Jia
2005	Rennes	Liu Jia	Krisztina Tóth	Li Jiao
				Mihaela Steff
2006	Copenhagen	Tamara Boroš	Liu Jia	Li Jiao
				Mihaela Steff
2007	Arezzo	Li Jiao	Nikoleta Stefanova	Liu Jia
				Mihaela Steff
2008	Frankfurt	Li Jiao	Li Qian	Viktoria Pavlovich
				Wu Jiaduo
2009	Düsseldorf	Li Qian	Li Jie	Liu Jia
				Wu Jiaduo
2010	Düsseldorf	Li Jiao	Li Qian	Li Jie
				Krisztina Tóth
2011	Liège	Li Jiao	Viktoria Pavlovich	Melek Hu
				Li Jie
2012	Lyon	Wu Jiaduo	Li Jie	Ni Xialian
				Viktoria Pavlovich
2014	Lausanne	Liu Jia	Viktoria Pavlovich	Li Jiao
2015	Baku	Liu Jia	Petrissa Solja	Irene Ivancan
2016	Gondomar	Shen Yanfei	Melek Hu	Liu Jia
2017	Antibes	Li Jie	Petrissa Solja	Sabine Winter
2018	Montreux	Bernadette Szőcs	Li Jie	Elizabeta Samara
2019	Montreux	Petrissa Solja	Bernadette Szőcs	Sofia Polcanova
2020	Montreux	Petrissa Solja	Britt Eerland	Sofia Polcanova
2021	Thessaloniki	Nina Mittelham	Fu Yu	Hana Matelová
				Bernadette Szőcs
2022	Montreux	Han Ying	Polina Mikhaylova	Sofia Polcanova
				Bernadette Szőcs
2023		Han Ying	Sofia Polcanova	Nina Mittelham
				Shao Jieni
2024		Jia Nan Yuan	Sofia Polcanova	Bernadette Szőcs
				Nina Mittelham

^[1]

Listed below are the players who have won the tournament on two or more occasions.^[1]

Men Player Total Years Jan-Ove Waldner 7 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996 Timo Boll 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2018, 2020 Dimitrij Ovtcharov 5 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 Vladimir Samsonov 4 1998, 1999, 2001, 2007 Darko Jorgić 3 2022, 2023, 2024 István Jónyer 2 1971, 1974 Stellan Bengtsson 1973, 1980 Dragutin Šurbek 1976, 1979 Milan Orlowski 1977, 1983 Mikael Appelgren 1982, 1990 Werner Schlager 2000, 2008

Women Player Total Years Beatrix Kisházi 4 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977 Li Jiao 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 Jill Hammersley 3 1978, 1980, 1981 Csilla Bátorfi 1987, 1992, 2001 Ni Xialian 1996, 1997, 1998 Liu Jia 2005, 2014, 2015 Ann-Christin Hellman 2 1975, 1976 Bettine Vriesekoop 1982, 1985 / Olga Nemeș 1983, 1989 Fliura Bulatova 1986, 1988 Jie Schöpp 1994, 2003 Qianhong Gotsch 1999, 2000 Tamara Boroš 2002, 2006 Petrissa Solja 2019, 2020 Han Ying 2022, 2023

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Germany (GER)	25	14	21	60
2	Sweden (SWE)	16	17	15	48
3	Hungary (HUN)	13	7	7	27
4	Netherlands (NED)	8	9	9	26
5	Austria (AUT)	5	5	12	22
6	Belarus (BLR)	4	11	4	19
7	Romania (ROU)	4	7	11	22
8	England (ENG)	4	5	2	11
9	Czechoslovakia (TCH)	3	7	5	15
10	Yugoslavia (YUG)	3	4	6	13
11	Soviet Union (URS)	3	1	6	10
12	Luxembourg (LUX)	3	1	4	8
13	Slovenia (SLO)	3	1	0	4
14	Poland (POL)	2	2	2	6
15	France (FRA)	2	1	14	17
16	Croatia (CRO)	2	1	8	11
17	Portugal (POR)	1	4	2	7
18	Russia (RUS)	1	3	6	10
19	Belgium (BEL)	1	1	5	7
20	Denmark (DEN)	1	1	4	6
	Greece (GRE)	1	1	4	6
22	Spain (ESP)	1	0	0	1
23	Italy (ITA)	0	2	1	3
24	Turkey (TUR)	0	1	1	2
25	Czech Republic (CZE)	0	0	3	3
26	Bulgaria (BUL)	0	0	2	2
Totals (26 entries)		106	106	154	366

• Asian Cup
• PanAm Cup
• European Table Tennis Championships
• International Table Tennis Federation

• European Table Tennis Union
• International Table Tennis Federation