The hosts won on the opening day of both ETTU Europe Cup first stages on Friday: STK STARR Croatia beat Slovakia's TJ Geolog Roznava 3-2 in the men's event in Varaždin, and TTC Novi Sad beat Spain's Girbau Vic TT 8-1 in the women's event at the SPENS Arena in Novi Sad. Sixteen clubs in four groups play in each, from 13 to 15 November.
STARR Croatia trailed 2-1 before Qiu Liang beat Andrii Grebeniuk in straight games, and Zeng Jia then beat Ingemar Peter 11-8, 11-5, 10-12, 11-6 to complete the comeback. CTT Les Borges Vall beat KS Olesno 3-2, with Francesc Carrera winning both his matches, and SPG Felbermayr Wels, SKST Havirov, Energa Manekin Torun, CTT Olot, SKST Chodov and Alicante TM all won 3-0.
In Novi Sad, Kasumi Kimura won the opening match against Honoka Kawakita. ASD Quattro Mori Cagliari beat Museo de la Almendra Francisco Morales 8-6 and CSM Constanta beat SH-ITB Budaörsi 8-5 in the closest ties, while STK Dr. Časl Zagreb, Politechnika Rzeszów and CD Indiana Games all won 8-0.
Both stages continue on Saturday and finish on Sunday.
