Abraamyan wins Russia’s first European table tennis singles title

Elizabet Abraamyan (Элизабет Абраамян) won the European table tennis singles title in Ljubljana, defeating Germany’s Annett Kaufmann (Аннетт Кауфманн) 4-3 in the final, Russian outlets reported on October 18. RIA Novosti said Russian players had never previously won a European singles championship. TASS and RBC also highlighted the first Russian singles gold. The tournament had been taking place in Ljubljana since October 11, and Russian players competed under neutral status, according to Kommersant. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 ]

Abraamyan is 23 and ranked 39th in the world, while Kaufmann is ranked 43rd, RIA Novosti reported. The agency said Abraamyan won both the singles and doubles titles at the 2021 European under-19 championships. Kommersant described her as an 11-time Russian champion. The outlet said Russian women had previously won European bronze medals twice, in 2007 and 2015. RIA Novosti reported that Russian players had won European doubles gold in 2021. [ 2 , 6 ]

RBC described the victory as Russia’s first medal at the tournament since 2021. In later reports, TASS said Abraamyan described winning the title as incredible happiness and said she was proud to have brought victory to Russia. The reported overall score is consistent across RIA Novosti, TASS and Kommersant, but RIA Novosti’s game-by-game list contains eight scores that do not match the stated 4-3 result. The published accounts therefore do not provide a consistent detailed breakdown of the final. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]