France and Bulgaria made history on Sunday, breaking Denmark’s long-standing dominance in Europe at the 2026 European Men’s & Women’s Team Championships in Istanbul.
For both men’s team champion France and women’s team champions Bulgaria, it was their biggest team title yet. Denmark loss in the men’s final marked the first time that they had failed to take the title, having won every edition since the event’s debut in 2006.
In the women’s final, it was Kaloyana Nalbantova who led the way for Bulgaria, with the 19-year-old staging a comeback win over Line Kjaersfeldt, 8-21 22-20 21-16.
“I’m happy to bring the victory for Bulgaria and my team. It was my first match against Line, it was tough in the beginning because I couldn’t catch her speed. I was a bit sleepy at the beginning, I somehow managed to get the second game at 22-20.
“In the beginning I was not confident and she was leading. In the second game I tried to do my best and accept what is going on. Point by point I started getting back my confidence.”
Nalbantova celebrates after putting Bulgaria ahead
Denmark suffered a second blow with Mia Blichfeldt falling to Stefani Stoeva, 22-20 21-13.
“It’s not good enough that I didn’t close out the first game,” rued Blichfeldt. “Stefani didn’t make the same errors as I did. I don’t feel so good today. It’s not my best performance, but congratulations to Stefani for keeping on pushing.
“We are always favourites. Sometimes it’s good to be underdog. There’s a big generational switch in Europe. There’s been a lot of pressure on our women’s singles this week and unfortunately me and Line could not take the win today.”
Although Line Christophersen kept Denmark in the hunt by winning the third singles, Stefani returned for her women’s doubles with sister Gabriela, and the siblings were too strong for Amalie Cecile Kudsk/Amalie Schulz, wrapping up the tie 21-11 21-9.
The emotional Bulgarian team after the final
A First for France
Denmark had beaten France in two previous finals (2016 and 2024) – but the French turned the tide in Istanbul.
Christo Popov fell in a tough opening encounter to Anders Antonsen, but Alex Lanier and Toma Junior Popov put them 2-1 ahead, winning both their singles.
Alex Lanier
Denmark’s dependable men’s doubles duo Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen pulled their team level, and then it was down to the fifth match, with France fielding the scratch combination of Thom Gicquel/Toma Junior Popov against Daniel Lundgaard/Mads Vestergaard.
Stunningly, the scratch combination were all over the world No.25 Danes, as they ran away with the tie in the second game at 21-19 21-12.
“It’s unbelievable. I’m about to cry,” said Toma Junior. “When we stepped on court we wanted to give it to France and we fought like hell. I’m happy it paid off today.
“Many times we lost in the finals; but now we finally did it.”
Gicquel, who is usually seen in mixed doubles, explained how the scratch combination had worked.
“With Tommy we love to play each other, we feed each other all the time, so it was natural since the beginning,” said Gicquel. “We were quite confident to play good but we knew we had to play a great match if we wanted to win.
“It’s finally gold. We dreamed it all our lives. We’ve seen Denmark with the gold too many times, so we’re really happy to bring this home.”
Thom Gicquel and Toma Junior Popov
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