Canoe Polo European Club Championships 2026 Results: Odysseus and Duisburg Win in Milan

Published

2026-10-04T21:29:04+00:00

Author

PaddleStats

Full competition results: Paddle Europe Canoe Polo Club Championships - Milan

Odysseus win golden-goal thriller as Duisburg retain European club title

Málaga scored twice in the final 28 seconds to take the men's final into extra time, but Dylan Tough's golden goal secured a 4–3 victory and the 2026 European club title for Odysseus. Duisburg retained the women's crown with eight wins from eight matches, finishing with a 4–0 victory over Burriana at Milan's Idroscalo.

The results of the 2026 Paddle Europe Canoe Polo Club Championships also tell a story beyond the two title winners. The men's leading scorer played for the team that finished 23rd. Málaga reached the final with the lowest goal total among the top eight. Burriana took silver with three wins, while Avranches lost just once and finished seventh.

Overview

The championships ran from 2 to 4 October at the Idroscalo. Forty teams — 25 men's and 15 women's — played 168 matches on four pitches. They scored 1,304 goals: 887 in 108 men's matches (8.2 per game) and 417 in 60 women's matches (7.0 per game). Referees showed 126 green cards, 11 yellow and 5 red.

Both champions survived tight matches on their way to gold. Odysseus won all three knockout games by a single goal. Before their comfortable final victory, Duisburg recorded three successive one-goal wins: 1–0, 2–1 and 4–3 after extra time. Our preview of the finals day set out the semi-final pairings. Three of the four semi-finals were decided by one goal, and two of them needed extra time.

Two goals in 20 seconds, then Tough settles the final

Odysseus led the men's final 3–1 when Wessel Vroon scored with one minute and 34 seconds left in the second half. Málaga then scored twice: Javier Jesús Saborido Ruiz with 28 seconds left and Antonio Romero Mesa with eight seconds left. In extra time, Dylan Tough scored the golden goal for the Dutch club. Erwin Roos and Mats Pel had scored Odysseus's first-half goals, after Diego Carmona Fernández opened the scoring for Málaga.

It was the third golden goal of the men's knockout rounds. Luca Bellini sent Chiavari past Corbeil-Essonnes in the quarter-finals (3–2), and Saborido Ruiz beat Chiavari in the semi-final (2–1), after Bellini had scored Chiavari's only goal of that match. In the women's semi-final, Alaquas equalised against Duisburg at 3–3 with two seconds left, and Laura Saliou won it for Duisburg in extra time.

Odysseus scored 45 goals and conceded 14 in five group games. Their only group game without a win was a 5–5 draw with Avranches. The two teams met again in the semi-final: Mats Pel scored a hat-trick for Odysseus, Ivan Debelyi scored a hat-trick for Avranches, and Reno van den Berg's goal with two minutes and ten seconds left made it 4–3. In the knockout rounds Odysseus scored 11 and conceded 8.

Defence takes Málaga to the final

Málaga scored 31 goals in eight matches, the fewest of any men's team in the top eight. They conceded 16, compared with KSVH Berlin's 14 in nine matches. They lost a group game 1–4 to Skovshoved, who finished 12th.

Their knockout run was built on defence: 1–0 against KSVH Berlin in the quarter-final and 2–1 after extra time against Chiavari in the semi-final. They conceded one goal in those two games. Defending champions KSVH Berlin, winners in Kaniów in 2025, conceded the fewest goals in the men's competition. Yet a 1–0 quarter-final defeat ended their medal hopes, and they finished sixth.

Six Málaga players scored. Antonio Romero Mesa led with eight goals, ahead of Saborido Ruiz and Dario Emanuel Stern with seven each.

World gold offers no guarantee of a club medal

Italy won the men's title at the 2026 World Championships in Duisburg 12 days before the club championships began. Chiavari and Napoli featured four members of that winning squad: Gianmarco Emanuele for Chiavari, and Alessandro Schiano di Cola, Giuseppe Ruggiero and Fabrizio Massa for Napoli. Chiavari finished fourth after losing the bronze match 2–8. Napoli finished fifth after a 3–7 quarter-final defeat by Avranches.

Like Odysseus, Avranches had four players from the senior World Championships in Duisburg. Léo Dehainault, Baptiste Cotta, Ivan Debelyi and Pierre Battin won bronze there with France, and Nathan Lemoine won the U21 world title. Avranches scored 56 goals, as many as Odysseus, and lost only one match, the semi-final. Cotta scored five goals in the 8–2 bronze match.

Four Odysseus players — Pel, Vroon, Roos and Tough — were in the Netherlands squad that finished seventh at the World Championships. Málaga’s Romero Mesa won the U21 world title with Spain at the 2024 World Championships.

World Championship medals were no guarantee of a club podium finish in the women’s competition either. Nele Schmalenbach, a world champion with Germany in Duisburg, played for Alaquas, who finished fourth. Four players from France's world silver-medal team played for Avranches, who finished seventh.

Avranches were the only club with both teams in the top eight: the men finished third and the women seventh. Five clubs entered a men's and a women's team. The others were Zürich (14th and 6th), Thurgauer (11th and 11th), Praha (22nd and 14th) and Deventer (17th and 15th).

Ulster also lost to Odysseus by a single goal, 2–3 in the quarter-final. Their squad included six players who represented Great Britain at one of the last two World Championships. Jake Searle scored 14 goals for Ulster, who finished eighth.

Three wins bring Burriana silver; one defeat leaves Avranches seventh

Burriana won three of their eight matches, drew three and lost two, with 23 goals scored and 20 conceded. Both defeats came against Duisburg: 1–2 in the second-round group and 0–4 in the final.

Avranches lost one match out of eight, 0–5 against KRM Essen, and finished seventh. The two clubs drew 2–2 in group B. The difference came against KRM Essen: Burriana drew 3–3, Avranches lost 0–5. Burriana went into the group for places 1–6. Avranches went into the group for places 7–12 and won all four of their remaining games, including 10–0 against Ichnusa.

Raquel Calvente Reboll scored 11 of Burriana's 23 goals, almost half. She scored three in the 5–2 semi-final win over KRM Essen. Sara Calvente Reboll added one goal.

The leading scorer played for the team in 23rd

Erik Malmborg of Linköping scored 20 goals, more than anyone else in Milan. His team finished 23rd. Ten of his goals came in two classification matches against Setúbal and Branik, the teams that finished 25th and 24th. He scored five in each.

Shani Benkatti scored 17 for Corbeil-Essonnes, who finished seventh, including six against one opponent — the most by any player in a single match. Mats Pel was the champions' top scorer with 16. Five players scored 16 or more. Only Pel played for a medal-winning club.

In the women's tournament, the two top scorers played for Pont-d'Ouilly, who finished eighth. Camille Mayer and Lise Guymarc'h scored 14 goals each.

Duisburg's goals were shared out. Seven players scored, led by Laura Saliou with 11 and Katharin Grünevald with nine. Grünevald scored a hat-trick in the final. Duisburg kept three clean sheets: 7–0 against Zürich, 1–0 against Rovigo and 4–0 in the final.

A marked difference in cards per match

Referees showed 123 cards in 108 men's matches and 19 in 60 women's matches. That is 1.14 cards per men’s match and 0.32 per women’s match: roughly 3.6 times as many cards per game in the men’s competition. All five red cards were shown in men's matches. The most common offence written on the match sheets was illegal use of the paddle, with 67 of the 142 cards. Napoli received 11 cards, more than any other team.

Polish clubs: Powiśle 19th, Team Poznań 16th

KS Powiśle Warszawa finished fourth at the 2025 championships. In Milan they finished 19th. Our tournament preview covered both Polish entries. Powiśle started with a 5–4 win over Ulster, who later reached the quarter-finals, and drew 7–7 with Gent. Then they lost four of their next five matches. In the semi-final for places 17–20 they lost 6–11 to Deventer in the highest-scoring match of the tournament. They finished with a 5–4 win over Dispersus.

Jan, Juliusz and Stanisław Bulira accounted for 19 of Powiśle's 39 goals, scoring nine, eight and two respectively. Powiśle received nine cards, joint second-most in the men's tournament.

Team Poznań finished 16th. They beat Skovshoved 4–3, Praha 6–4 and Kilkenny 6–1, and drew 2–2 with KGV Essen. Jakub Maslak scored 11 of the team's 27 goals. They lost the semi-final for places 13–16 2–3 to Zürich and the 15th-place match 4–5 to KGV Essen.

Polish players also appeared for other clubs. Dominika Sojka, who played for Poland at the World Championships in Duisburg, scored 13 goals for Praha's women, the joint third-highest total in the women's tournament. Poland's women finished fourth in Duisburg, as described in our World Championships report. Łukasz Pilarz, a Poland men's international, played for Branik.

Full results and match reports

Full scores, group tables and match reports, including goals and cards, are available on the PaddleStats event page. The official Paddle Europe event listing confirms the dates and venue.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won the 2026 Canoe Polo European Club Championships?

Odysseus (Netherlands) won the men's title, beating Málaga 4–3 after extra time. Duisburg (Germany) won the women's title, beating Burriana 4–0.

What was the score in the men's final?

Málaga began their comeback from 3–1 down with 28 seconds left in normal time. Málaga scored twice to make it 3–3, and Dylan Tough scored the golden goal for Odysseus in extra time.

Who was the top scorer in Milan?

Erik Malmborg of Linköping scored 20 goals in the men's tournament. In the women's tournament, Camille Mayer and Lise Guymarc'h of Pont-d'Ouilly scored 14 each.

Who won bronze?

Avranches beat Chiavari 8–2 in the men's bronze match. KRM Essen beat Alaquas 5–2 in the women's bronze match.

How did the clubs featuring Italy’s world champions fare?

Four players from Italy's 2026 world champion team played for Chiavari and Napoli, who finished fourth and fifth. Odysseus won with four players from the Netherlands team that was seventh at the World Championships.

How did Burriana reach the women's final with only three wins?

Burriana won three of eight matches and lost only two, both against Duisburg. Avranches lost only once and finished seventh, because they lost 0–5 to KRM Essen in the group, while Burriana drew 3–3 with them.

Where did defending champions KSVH Berlin finish?

They finished sixth after winning in 2025. But they conceded the fewest goals in the men's tournament (14 in nine matches) and went out in the quarter-final 0–1 to Málaga, who went on to reach the final.

How did the Polish clubs do?

KS Powiśle Warszawa finished 19th after finishing fourth in 2025. Team Poznań finished 16th.

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