Table tennis: Annett Kaufmann becomes Vice European Champion in Ljubljana

German table tennis hope Annett Kaufmann has lost the final in women’s singles at the European Championship in Slovenia and thus secured the silver medal. In Ljubljana, the 20-year-old Junior World Champion defeated Elizabeth Abrahamian from Russia in 3-4 sets.

It was a difficult game. She just played the better balls in the end and deserved to win, said Kaufmann, who found confident words: I know it was a good success. But I’m not used to losing in the final. With some distance she could look at the tournament “positively”. Kaufmann is among others U19 World Champion 2024 and Team European Champion 2025.

Only three German players won the singles title: Agnes Simon (1962), Nicole Struse (1996) and Petrissa Solja (2021). On the way to this final, Kaufmann had defeated her German national teammates Nina Mittelham (semi-final) and Ying Han (quarter final).

Kaufmann: Germany's table tennis hope

The great hopeful in German table tennis thus continued her rapid rise in the capital of Slovenia despite the final defeat. In 2024, she had first attracted attention as a short-term substitute player at the Olympic Games in Paris, in the same year she won the title at the Junior World Championships. The victory in Ljubljana would have been their biggest coup so far, further highlights should follow soon. In the doubles she fetched bronze at the side of Mittelham.

Her final opponent was allowed to play in this European Championship because the starting ban for Russian and Belarusian athletes at international championships no longer applies since July. Since her points are missing in the European ranking, Abrahamian had to start the competition in the qualification. Previously, the 23-year-old Russian had already won the U19 European Championship and this year also an international WTT tournament in Tunis.