Russia for the first time in history received gold in one discipline

Russia for the first time won the gold of the European Table Tennis Championship in singles. A historic victory for the country brought 23-year-old Elizabeth Abrahamyan, who beat the representative of Germany Annette Kaufman in the final.

The decisive meeting turned out to be tense and ended with a score of 4:3 in games. Abrahamyan lost to the opponent during the match, but was able to win in seven games.

Before that, Russian athletes did not win the European championship in singles. Among the previous achievements of Russian tennis players were the bronze medals of Irina Kotikhina in 2007 and Polina Mikhailova in 2015.

The return of Russian players to the international arena became possible after the lifting of restrictions. The European Table Tennis Union withdrew them on July 17, 2026, following the International Federation, allowing Russians and Belarusians from July 28 to compete on common terms.

Earlier, in October 2025, the Court of Arbitration for Sport granted the appeal of the Russian Table Tennis Federation. The court found the suspension of Russian athletes discriminatory.