WTT Contender Panagyurishte 2026 8 - 13 September 2026

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

Oh no Miyu lost 💔

 

[astarr]

Hitomi Sato defeats Sakura Yokoi 4–1 to claim her first WTT title of the year.

Meanwhile, Hirano and Kihara win the Women’s Doubles title

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

Elias Ranefur edges out Dima to claim his first title

 

[zeio]

WTT CT Panagyuriste 2026 finals were more impactful than WTT CS Macao 2026...

WD F
Hirano/Kihara (3) 3-0 Arlia/Monfardini (11, 7, 7)
MD F
Bourrassaud/Dorr (1) 3-2 Hamada/Sakai (-3, -6, 9, 7, 9)
WS F
Sato (1) 4-1 Yokoi (3) (7, 6, 7, -9, 7)

MS F
Ranefur 4-3 Ovtcharov (-8, -10, 5, -9, 5, 9, 13)
G7 30 TO for DO, 40, 43 TO for Ranefur, 83, 84 net for DO, 86, 96, 97, 107, 1011, 1111, 1112, 1312, 1313, 1513
Ranefur didn't switch to his FH pendulum serve until 12:12 to turn the tables.

LIVE! | T1 | Day 4 | WTT Contender Panagyurishte 2026 Presented by ASAREL | Finals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kb9U9anolY

 

[Sodermalm]

Swedish wiking did it! He is going to play double with Truls in european championship….

 

[piligrim]

zeio was right. Dima washed out

 

[FIXPOINT]

WTT Contender Panagyurishte 2026 WS Final

WTT Contender Panagyurishte 2026 MS Final

WTT Contender Panagyurishte 2026 WD Final

WTT Contender Panagyurishte 2026 MD Final

WTT Contender Panagyurishte 2026 XD Final

 

[FIXPOINT]

WTT Contender Panagyurishte 2026 QER WS

WTT Contender Panagyurishte 2026 QER MS

WTT Contender Panagyurishte 2026 Groups WS

WTT Contender Panagyurishte 2026 Groups MS

​

 

[v100ev]

As I am a local and historically I've visited almost all ITTF/WTT tournaments in Panagyurishte (except for one) I can say that this year's event was one of the worst experience as a spectator there
It was great that this year it was a Contender event (it was a Feeder before (and before that it was an ITTF open and we had the opportunity to watch Ma Long, Xu Xin, Mizutani and other's.. but it's WTT now..)) - so, yeah, a Contender with a very strong line-up. Some great players there with very high level of TT.
The problem was, that because of specific requirements for the TV translations the 4 tables that were placed there were in such uncomfortable spots (4 corners of the hall) that for spectators it was either the table is almost under you, or on the other end of the hall (and the spectators are allowed to sit only on one half of the hall, so Tables 1 and 2 were super far from us - you can not use the half of the arena next to them). This is the first time they set the tables in such an uncomfortable way. From a real-life spectator perspective I can tell you that it actually ruins all experience. Especially when the matches are only on T1 and T2 that were so far from us that it was almost the same as watching on TV - you lose a lot of information cause it's super far..
So, actually, quite bad experience for the first time from years. I even skipped Saturday and Sunday cause the experience was really bad (on Friday we had 4 tables - two under us and two at the other end - very far, and on Saturday there were only the far tables, which is even worse..). On Sunday there was only one table, which was in the center of the hall - so, basically, one watchable with a table in the comfortable spot - the finals.
But in terms of matches the tournament was good. Once again - Dima is a great player to watch in terms of TT execution, but he has such a negative aura off the table (and at it sometimes too) - he's quite unique in this regard 😅 Sato was, as usual - unbelievable, and there were some great matches between the Bundesliga guys (very strong presence of players who play there).
Overall a great tournament, but I hope next year they somehow adjust the tables so it is more watchable for the "live" spectators.

 

[Janard]

Wow Sato also handled Yokoi with relative ease despite being teammates. I guess Odo is just really good at swatting the choppers away.

 

[vvk1]

Elias Ranefur edges out Dima to claim his first title

View attachment 43271

Elias does Dima's trademark serve better than Dima...

 

[NextLevel]

Elias does Dima's trademark serve better than Dima...

Haha... i get what you mean but to me they are very different serves. Dima is really doing a lefty pendulum while Elias is just taking advantage of the fact that no one knows what the eff is on the ball when it is coming at them that fast off the 6 inch toss quick short swing backhand serve.

 

[vvk1]

Haha... i get what you mean but to me they are very different serves. Dima is really doing a lefty pendulum while Elias is just taking advantage of the fact that no one knows what the eff is on the ball when it is coming at them that fast off the 6 inch toss quick short swing backhand serve.

Well, I'm sure you remember the time when Dima did that serve and very decent players randomly dumped it into the net or popped it up. And in this match, Dima clearly struggled with Elias's serves more than Elias did with Dima's.

At any rate, imo, a far more entertaining final than the previous at Macao.

 

[JustANoob]

As I am a local and historically I've visited almost all ITTF/WTT tournaments in Panagyurishte (except for one) I can say that this year's event was one of the worst experience as a spectator there
It was great that this year it was a Contender event (it was a Feeder before (and before that it was an ITTF open and we had the opportunity to watch Ma Long, Xu Xin, Mizutani and other's.. but it's WTT now..)) - so, yeah, a Contender with a very strong line-up. Some great players there with very high level of TT.
The problem was, that because of specific requirements for the TV translations the 4 tables that were placed there were in such uncomfortable spots (4 corners of the hall) that for spectators it was either the table is almost under you, or on the other end of the hall (and the spectators are allowed to sit only on one half of the hall, so Tables 1 and 2 were super far from us - you can not use the half of the arena next to them). This is the first time they set the tables in such an uncomfortable way. From a real-life spectator perspective I can tell you that it actually ruins all experience. Especially when the matches are only on T1 and T2 that were so far from us that it was almost the same as watching on TV - you lose a lot of information cause it's super far..
So, actually, quite bad experience for the first time from years. I even skipped Saturday and Sunday cause the experience was really bad (on Friday we had 4 tables - two under us and two at the other end - very far, and on Saturday there were only the far tables, which is even worse..). On Sunday there was only one table, which was in the center of the hall - so, basically, one watchable with a table in the comfortable spot - the finals.
But in terms of matches the tournament was good. Once again - Dima is a great player to watch in terms of TT execution, but he has such a negative aura off the table (and at it sometimes too) - he's quite unique in this regard 😅 Sato was, as usual - unbelievable, and there were some great matches between the Bundesliga guys (very strong presence of players who play there).
Overall a great tournament, but I hope next year they somehow adjust the tables so it is more watchable for the "live" spectators.

Rarely see anyone with info from the events themselves, thank you.

Any interesting side stuff?

 

[v100ev]

Rarely see anyone with info from the events themselves, thank you.

Any interesting side stuff?

Can't say about anything interesting.. But it's also hard to judge what is interesting, and what's not, as I've been on this event multiple times and am used to see stuff
What I can definitely say, that going to such tournament is a great experience and I would encourage everyone to try and visit one. Watching top level TT is just something else.
Also it's interesting to see the different cultural behaviors of the players. The Asian players (especially the Japanese) are usually very (the Japanese are very-very-very) polite in everything they do. The European guys/girls are usually more chill. It's a typical situation that you sit on the stands and a group of professionals come and sit somewhere near to watch their colleagues play (this time the Swedish squad sit near us to support Kristina). So you can see them in their relaxed state, and, in case you understand (not the case for me with Swedish though 😅 ) you can hear some thoughts about the game/opponents here and there.

 

[backspacer]

Can't say about anything interesting.. But it's also hard to judge what is interesting, and what's not, as I've been on this event multiple times and am used to see stuff
What I can definitely say, that going to such tournament is a great experience and I would encourage everyone to try and visit one. Watching top level TT is just something else.
Also it's interesting to see the different cultural behaviors of the players. The Asian players (especially the Japanese) are usually very (the Japanese are very-very-very) polite in everything they do. The European guys/girls are usually more chill. It's a typical situation that you sit on the stands and a group of professionals come and sit somewhere near to watch their colleagues play (this time the Swedish squad sit near us to support Kristina). So you can see them in their relaxed state, and, in case you understand (not the case for me with Swedish though 😅 ) you can hear some thoughts about the game/opponents here and there.

Was there anything for fans like autograph sessions, tables to play or merch stalls? I have only ever been to a Champions. Was wondering what a Contender is like for viewers. Oh yeah, did you have to buy tickets and were they expensive?

 

[v100ev]

Was there anything for fans like autograph sessions, tables to play or merch stalls? I have only ever been to a Champions. Was wondering what a Contender is like for viewers. Oh yeah, did you have to buy tickets and were they expensive?

No tables, no autograph sessions, no merch stalls 😅
But for the feeder last year there were a couple of autograph sessions (I'm not sure if those were not internal initiatives of the local hosts though..)
Merch stalls - some years some of our local (Bulgarian) shops would open a small shop in the venue, but this is not something that happens regularly.
Tickets: qualifications days - free entrance, elimitation days - 10 Euros for a full day ticket. And on Sunday for the finals there was a VIP option (they put some chairs directly near the playing field) - 30 Euros per day, normal ticket was 10 Euro. Last year it was almost 2 times cheaper 😅
From the moment we switched to WTT the tournament became smaller and there are no big crowds, but still - lots of people from the local (Bulgarian) TT community try to visit.