Situated on the Polish coastline, the city is the inaugural host for this brand-new step on the Para circuit, with Challenger making a debut in the new-look system. To mark the occasion, there is a stellar lineup of hopefuls too, including a strong selection of home favourites.
How to follow the action
Follow the action LIVE across two tables in Poland. They will be available to watch on our YouTube channel. And you can keep up-to-date with all of the results as they happen on our website. Keep an eye across our social media channels as well, where we will look to bring you the key moments, celebrations and results from Wladyslawowo.
The Challenge is Set
With 175 players confirmed to compete from across 27 associations, it once again promises to be a top-tier four days of action headlined by some of Poland’s finest at the table.
For the legendary figure of Rafal Czuper, his 2025 really takes off right here. After successive silver medals at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, the M2 athlete was finally able to reach the top of a Paralympic Games podium after overcoming Jiri Suchanek in the gold medal final. Rejuvenated and raring to return after a recent trip to Dubai, Czuper comes into a home tournament with victory on the mind.
Dorota Buclaw has already impressed on the Future circuit this year, going head-to-head once again in a fearsome rivalry with Aino Tapola in Lignano. Now Buclaw, the Paris 2024 WS1-2 bronze medallist, will aim to go one step further and take victory just over 200km away from her home city of Bydgoszcz.
But the attention is not only on the home stars though, with a pack consisting of medallists in abundance. After being recognised as a Croatian athlete of the Year, Andela Muzinic-Vincetic is back at the table almost seven months after seeing a Paralympic dream become a reality. At her fourth Games, and with bronze and silver in her rear-view mirror, the Croatian star turned Team medals into an individual gold in the WS3.
In the WS6, Tokyo 2020 champion Maryna Lytovchenko of Ukraine is confirmed, whilst Rio 2016 champion in the MS1, Rob Davies of Great Britain, is another registered for competition.
And what more could you ask for from Wladyslawowo than a legion of medallists? How about two more words: sporting legends. It’s a term often and easily overused, but when attributed to Jan Riapos and Jose Manuel Ruiz, the words carry the meaning they deserve.
The duo are absolute stalwarts of the circuit, having shone for three decades now. Both men debuted at a Paralympic Games in Atlanta 1996, and both have appeared at the pinnacle of sport a scarcely believable eight consecutive times.
Not only that, Slovakia’s Riapos achieved his FIFTH Paralympic title in Paris, a legacy that sees him as the only Para table tennis player to win gold at the Games across three separate decades. The man he won gold with in Paris, Peter Lovas, is also registered for competition in the coming days.
But while Paris may have been a few months ago, some of the lineup we can expect here have achieved already on this circuit in previous weeks. France’s Fabien Lamirault tasted success in Costa Brava with victory in the M2, along with countrymen Francois Geuljans (MS3), Alexandre Delarque (MS4-5) and Mateo Boheas (MS10) and the fearsome four return again.
Ignacio Torres of Chile (MS6), Krizander Magnussen (Norway, MS7), Maksym Chudzicki (Poland, MS8) all won in Costa Brava and aim to follow those showings up again this time around.
In the women’s competitions, Morgen Caillaud (France, WS6) and Brazilian duo Sophia Kelmer (WS8), Bruna Alexandre (WS10) all come into this one off success a couple of weekends ago too.
What are the Challenger events?
A step up on the ladder from the Future events, Challenger aims to bring a higher intensity and even more unmissable moments. This will be the first of eight Challenger events in 2025, as the series spans across the globe in the coming months.
From the debut in Wladyslawowo, the action next month takes in a trip to the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo, with Montenegrin capital Podgorica swiftly following. Over the remainder of the year Challenger will head to Lasko (Slovenia), Kaohsiung (Chinese Taipei), Astana (Kazakhstan), Al Ain (UAE) and Giza (Egypt).
