Priego wins first European trophy after dramatic five-match final
Priego turned a 3-2 opening-leg edge into its first European trophy, toppling SF SKK El Niño Praha after a final that never stopped swinging.
Real Club Cajasur Priego TM produced the biggest result in its history, beating SF SKK El Niño Praha to win its first European trophy and cap a tense ETTU Europe Cup Men final. The Spanish club took a narrow 3-2 advantage from the opening leg at home, then finished the job in Prague to lift the title, with ETTU Vice President Jaroslaw KOLODZIEJCZYK presenting the trophy.
That first leg had the feel of a final from the opening point. Robert Gardos was beaten by Yevhen Pryshchepa, Hampus Soderlund answered with a win over David Reitspies, and Carlos Machado put Priego in control by defeating Tomas Konecny. But El Niño Praha clawed back when Gardos dropped a five-set match to Reitspies, forcing the tie back to the edge. Soderlund then settled it by beating Pryshchepa, a sequence that showed exactly how little separated the sides.
Priego did not stumble into the trophy. It reached the final for the first time in its history by outlasting Lille Metropole TT in the semifinal, winning 3-0 away and 3-1 at home. Before that, the club survived a quarterfinal against HB Ostrov z.s. that went all the way to a Golden Match. By the time Priego got to Prague, it had already been tested in every possible way.
The scale of the breakthrough matters because the Europe Cup is no lightweight prize. The ETTU has run the men’s competition since the 1964-65 season, with DJK Sportbund Stuttgart as the first winner and Slavia Prague taking the first three titles from 1966 to 1968. Priego’s name now sits inside that same European lineage, which is exactly why this title lands as a landmark for Spanish club table tennis.
It also arrives during a dominant stretch at home. Priego won its 11th Superdivisión Masculina title on April 19, 2026, and its fourth straight league championship, finishing the regular season first with 35 points. With a sponsorship relationship with Cajasur stretching back to the mid-1990s, the club has built the kind of structure that can turn domestic control into continental silverware. This was not just a trophy. It was proof that Priego can now finish at the top of Europe, too.
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