Radio România Internațional

Tag: final

  • Sports roundup

    Sports roundup

    Romania’s national rugby team has qualified to the 2027 edition of the World Cup, to be held in Australia. According to the rankings of Rugby Europe Championship 2025’s Group B, Romania has booked one of the first two positions having two wins on its record sheet. In an away match on Saturday, Romania defeated Belgium, 31 – 14.

    The Romanian National squad has previously trounced Germany in Bucharest, 48 to 10. This coming Saturday in Botosani, Romania takes on Portugal, in Group B’s last fixture.

    This past Sunday in Cluj-Napoca, the WTA 250 Transylvania Open women’s tennis tournament drew to a close. The event had 275,000 USD in prize money all told. The winner was Russia’s Anastasia Potapova, who defeated Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti in the final, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Best-placed Romania tennis player was Jaqueline Cristian. In the women’s doubles, pairing up with Angelica Moratelli, Cristian reached as far as the final, where they were defeated, 6-3, 6-1, by the Belgian-Czech pair made of Magali Kempen and Ana Siskova.

    In women’s handball, this past weekend saw matches being played, counting towards the European competitions. In the Champions League’s Group A, Gloria Bistriţa-Năsăud in Slovenia on Saturday lost to Krim Ljubljana, 25 to. 28. On Sunday, CSM Bucharest grabbed a 31-30 home win against Croatian side Podravka Koprivnica For CSM, Cristina Neagu scored 8 goals, thus having a record of 1,200 goals in the Champions League.

    CSM Bucharest are 3rd placed, while Gloria, 7th. In Group B, Romanian vice-champions Rapid Bucharest sustained a 24-30 away defeat in Germany’s Ludwigsburg and are 7th-placed according to the group ranking. The first two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals. The 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th-placed teams engage in the playoffs to secure a place in the quarterfinals.

    In the EHF European League, Group A, Dunărea Brăila sustained a 28-38 away defeat by German team Thüringer. After four rounds, Dunarea Braila and Thuringer are at the top of the table in their group, with an equal number of points. In Group B, CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea grabbed a 38-34 away win against Sola of Norway. CSM Ramnicu Valcea are still at the top of the table, followed by Danish side Ikast.

    In news from football, Florinel Coman scored a goal in his Serie A debut match. On Sunday, Coman scored for Cagliari, in the game they won against Parma, 2-1. Florinel Coman scored only two minutes after he was sent to the pitch, halfway through the second half of the game. This week, midfielder Coman was given on loan to Cagliari from Al-Gharafa, until the end of Serie A’s ongoing season.

    In the Romanian Super League, FCSB are as of late at the top of the table. In the 26th round on Sunday, defending champions FCSB grabbed a 3-nil home win against Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe. FCSB have right now 46 points on their record sheet. We recall Universitatea Craiova, Universitatea Cluj and Dinamo Bucharest have 45. On Friday, FC Botoşani and Dinamo drew, 1-all, on the former team’s turf.

    . On Saturday, Universitatea Craiova grabbed a 1-nil win against Clinceni, in Slobozia. In Galati, the local side Oţelul and Rapid Bucharest drew, 1-all. On Sunday, in Sibiu, Hermanstadt FC and Petrolul Ploiesti drew, 1-all. On home turf, Universitatea Cluj’s home game against Poli Iasi ended in a 2-all draw.

  • Sports weekend

    Sports weekend

    The international women’s handball inter-club competition season will be resumed at the weekend. Three Romanian teams compete in the Champions League. In Group B, Rapid Bucharest on Sunday play French opponents Brest Bretagne, away. Rapid are not the favorites for the group-winner position, given that Brest Bretagne stand real chances to be at the top of the table or second-placed in Group B, thus booking their ticket for a straight participation to the quarterfinals.

    Brest Bretagne are now 4th-placed in the Group, with 10 points in five wins. With three points, Rapid are 7th-placed, the last-but-one position in Group B. Rapid’s record is made of one win, one draw and six defeats, according to the fixtures they’ve played so far. We recall in October in Bucharest Brest Bretagne won, 34 to 31.

    In Group A, the first team to resume participation in the League is Gloria Bistriţa-Năsăud. Head-coached by Florentin Pera, who is also the head-coach of the national team, Gloria take on Norway’s Storhamar on home turf, this coming Saturday. Gloria and Storhamar are placed in Group A’s lower echelon. With a mere four points in eight games, Gloria are 7th-placed, the last-but-one position in the group. Storhamar are 6th-placed, having one point more than Gloria.

    The direct match pitting Gloria against Storhamar in Norway, in October, 2024, made the difference since Storhamar won, 25-23. We recall that in May 2024 Gloria Bistrita and Storhamar played the EHF European League final. Back then Storhamar won, 29 to 27.
    CSM Bucharest is the other Romanian team playing in the Champions League’s Group A. This coming Sunday, CSM play an away game against top-of-the-table team Metz Handball of France. In Bucharest, Metz won by the narrowest of margins, 31 to 30. Metz are the only team with a win-all record in the League’s ongoing season. CSM had a rather bumpy run this past fall.

    With four wins and four defeats and 8 points, CSM are 4th-placed, on a par with 3rd-placed team, Krim Ljubljana. We recall that after 14 rounds of the group phase, the first two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals. 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th-placed teams will engage in playoff matches in a bid to secure a place in the quarterfinals, while 7th and 8th-placed teams will be eliminated.

    The EHF European League group fixtures are also scheduled at the weekend. On Saturday, in Group A, Dunărea Brăila play a home game against Spanish opponents Elche. The other Group A teams are Germany’s Thüringer and Norwegian squad Larvik. The other Romanian team, SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea, on Sunday play an away Group B game against Germany’s Borussia Dortmund. Also part of the League’s Group B are Ikast of Denmark and Sola of Norway.

  • Sports weekend

    Sports weekend

    Romanian Cup in football’s group phase has drawn to a close. We already know the eight teams that have advanced to the quarterfinals. None of the first three teams of the Superleague is among them, namely Universitatea Cluj, Dinamo and FCSB. For the quarterfinals scheme to be complete, we need to know who the winners are in the two playoff fixtures, crucial for designating the winner of Group D and the second team that has got through, of Group C.

    Then in April we shall have the confrontation for a place in the Cup’s semi-finals, when CFR Cluj are pitted against Universitatea Craiova and Farul Constanţa face the losing team of the match pitting CSM Resita against Unirea Alba Iulia. Also, Metalul Buzau play Rapid Bucharest. The semifinal fight scheme includes one final confrontation: the winner of the match pitting Resita against Alba Iulia plays the winner of the playoff fixture, where Poli Iasi face FC Hermanstadt.

    Matches counting towards the 21st round as part of Romanian Football Superleague are scheduled at the weekend. It is the last round in 2024. On Friday, Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe play Universitatea Cluj. On Saturday in Sibiu, FC Hermannstadt face Farul Constanţa. Farul are fresh from a precious Romanian Cup 5-1 away win against UTA Arad, thus booking their ticket to the quarterfinals.

    FC Hermannstandt have won their last four fixtures in the Superleague and fare better, being 9th-placed, that is two notches up as compared to Farul Constanta. Also on Saturday, Gloria Buzău play Universitatea Craiova. Universitatea’s run has been quite good as of late: this past Wednesday they grabbed a 2-nil away win against FCSB, in Bucharest.

    Gloria Buzau are at the bottom of the table in the Superleague, On Sunday, Petrolul Ploiesti play a home match against Unirea Slobozia. Petrolul are 8th-placed and they have not won a single game in the last five rounds; however, they keep their hopes alive they can win the fixture against 13th-placed team, Gloria.
    21st round’s derby will be hosted by the National Arena in Bucharest, with Dinamo playing Rapid, in a confrontation that has been going on for nearly eight decades now.

    On Monday, UTA Arad play FC Botosani and Poli Iasi take on FCSB. Universitatea Cluj are the leaders in the as-it-stands table, with 36 points. Dinamo and FCSB follow suit, with 35 and 34 points, respectively.

  • Sports flash

    Sports flash

    In women’s volleyball, on Wednesday CSO Voluntari sustained a 1-3 defeat by German side Allianz Stuttgart, in a a Group E Champions League fixture. In the group’s other game, Italian side Savino Del Bene Scandicci defeated Polish opponents Bielsko-Biala, 3-nil. Scandicci are at the top of the table, with 9 points. With three points each, the other teams in the group follow suit. CSO Voluntari’s next scheduled fixture is the game against Bielsko-Biala on December 11, away.

    In the first leg as part of the Challenge Cup’s round of 16, CSM Târgovişte a grabbed a 3-2 away with against Slovenia’s Nova Gorica.The secon-leg match is scheduled on December 11 in Targoviste. Also in the Challenge Cup, this past Tuesday Lugoj Municipal Sports Club sustained a nil-3 defeat by Greek opponents Olympiakos Piraeus, also in the round of 16’s first leg. The return leg of the tie is scheduled on December 11 in Lugoj.

    In EuroCup Women, women’s basketball competition, CSM CSU Constanţa this past Wednesday wasted the opportunity to advance to the round of 32. In Group F’s last round CSM CSU Constanta were defeated by Belgian opponents Castors Braine, 74-78, and now depend on the other results in the competition.

    Advancing to the round of 32 are the first two teams in each group and the best 3rd-placed four teams, but also the four teams that have been 4th-placed in the women’s Euro league.

    In the National ice hockey Championship, Sport Club Miercurea Ciuc and ACSH Gheorgheni have both won their home confrontations. Sport Club secured a 4-3 win against Fenestela 68, while ACSH Gheorgheni secured their win against defending champions Corona Braşov, also 4-3. For Corona, it was their first defeat in the domestic championship’s ongoing edition.

  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club

    Matches counting towards the final round as part of this year’s edition of the Champions League in women’s handball were played late last week. On Saturday and Sunday, all three Romanian teams sustained defeats in their Champions league fixtures. In Group A in Denmark, Gloria Bistriţa-Năsăud were defeated by Nykøbing Falster, 24 to 32, while CSM Bucharest lost to Ferencváros Budapest, 28 – 31.

    According to Group A rankings, CSM are 4th-placed, while Gloria, 7th. In Group B, Rapid played a home match against Hungarian side Győr, sustaining a 25-28 defeat and retaining its 7th-place in the group.
    Matches counting towards the League’s 9th round will be played in January 2025. On Saturday, January 11, Gloria take on Norway’s Storhamar, at home, while Rapid Bucharest face Brest Bretagne, away.

    In FCSM Bucharest Rapid are pitted against Group A leader, Metz Handball. After 14 rounds as part of the League’s group phase the first two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals. 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th-placed teams will engage in play-off confrontations for a place in the quarterfinals. 7th- and 8th-placed teams will no longer participate in the League.

    EHF European League’s group phase also starts in January. Two Romanian teams take part in the competition. Dunărea Brăila have been distributed in this phase of the competition by default, while SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea went past the preliminary rounds. SCM this past Sunday grabbed a decisive win against Hungary’s Debrecen, 31-28, away. The fixture counted towards the third preliminary round’s second leg. We recall SCM also won the first leg a week ago on home turf, 33-31.

    Jointly hosted by Hungary, Austria and Switzerland, the European Championship throws off in late November, so the inter-club competitions go into recess. Alongside Montenegro, Serbia and the Czech Republic, Romania has been included in Group b and will play its matches in Debrecen. Romania will first play The Czech Republic on Friday, November 29. On December 1st, Romania take on Montenegro, while on December 3rd our national squad face Serbia.

    Taking part in the final tournament are 14 teams, distributed in six groups. The first two teams in each group play in the main phase, where they will be distributed in two groups of six teams each. The first two teams in the two main groups advance to the semi-finals.

    Until then, Romania’s national squad will prove its mettle in the Golden League friendly tournament, to be hosted by the Danish town of Viborg. The national team will play three test matches. On Thursday, they will take on The Netherlands, on Saturday the Romanians play Denmark, while on Sunday, the Romanian national team go against Norway. The national team will then return to Romania for a centralized training stage in Oradea.

  • Olympic profile 2024

    Olympic profile 2024

    Rowing was, at the Paris Olympics, Romania delegation’s strongest point. Of the 9 medals won by the Romanian athletes, 5 were won by the rowers. Of the 13 athletes that stepped onto a step of the podium in the rowing events, four rowers won two medals each, one gold and one silver.

    Two of the rowers are Ioana Vrânceanu and Roxana Anghel, who came in second in the women’s pair event. The other two are Simona Radiş and Ancuţa Bodnar, silver medalists in the double sculls event. Vranceanu, Anghel, Radis and Bodnar are also members of the coxed eight crew, winner of the Olympic title.

    This week we shall focus on Ioana Vrânceanu and Roxana Anghel.

    Ahead of their excellent run in Paris, Vranceanu and Anghel won the European title in women’s double sculls event in Szeged, in 2024. At the World Championship in Belgrade, in 2023, Vranceanu and Anghel won the bronze medal. As part of the of the Paris Olympics they had no problem going past the heats and then securing a laid-back qualification to the semifinals.

    Vranceanu and Anghel then came in second in the first semifinals and reached as far as the finals. Winning a medal was a hard-fought undertaking. The Romanians had a sluggish start, being 5th-placed after the first 500 meters. Then they advanced with one position after the other in each intermediate point. Halfway through the race they were fourth placed and in 1,500 meters came in third.

    Vranceanu and Anghel completed the race on the second position, having outclassed Lithuania and Australia. Gold went to defending world champions, the Dutch Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester. The Australian crew stepped onto the second step of the podium.

    In the coxed eight event, the Romanian crew succeeded a laid-back win arriving five seconds earlier than Great Britain’s boat that carried the runner-up crew. Joining Vrânceanu, Anghel, Bodnar and Radiş in the coxed eight boat were Maria Magdalena Rusu, Maria Lehaci, Adriana Adam, Amalia Bereş and Victoria Ştefania Petreanu as coxswain.

    Ioana Vrânceanu was born on March 7, 1994 in Târgu Mureş, central Transylvania. Ioana’s first great performance occurred in 2017, when she was a member of Romania’s coxed eight crew, a gold medalist at the World Rowing Championships in Sarasota, Florida, the USA.

    Roxana Anghel hails from Câmpulung Moldovenesc, in the north. She was born on January 1st, 1998. She got a taste for major wins in 2019, as a member of the coxed eight crew that emerged as winner of the European title in Lucerne.

  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club

    Romanian Cup in football’s group phase kick-started on Tuesday. As part of the 2024-2025 edition, Romania’s best teams will thus prove their mettle in the Cup’s group phase. These teams in the previous season competed in the Superleague’s Group 2.

    On Tuesday, Petrolul Ploieşti grabbed a 3-nil away win against third-tier team Agricola Borcea, in Group B’s debut match. In Group C in Iasi, the local side Poli drew against UTA Arad, 1-all. Second-tier team FC Arges in Mioveni drew against CFR Cluj, also 1-all. The other matches of the first round as part of the group phase will be played on Wednesday and Thursday.

    Romanian Cup’s groups system has been implemented fairly recently, starting with the Cup’s 2022 edition. Until then, it was a direct eliminatory competition in all its phases. At the moment, the competition begins with the county phase, where taking the start can be all clubs and sports associations registered with the Romanian Federation and all football associations, irrespective of the echelons they are part of.

    The regional phase follows, with 42 teams that emerged as winners at county level and with 7 teams being eliminated. They advance to the first round, alongside the 69 teams that in the previous year competed in the 3rd League. Along the way, the group phase included, entering the competition will also be teams of the upper leagues.

    Romanian Cup in football has been taking place since 1933. The first team to have won the cup was Ripensia Timisoara. We recall that in the 1933-1934 season final, Ripensia defeated Universitatea Cluj. The match was hosted by Bucharest’s ONEF stadium, an arena that after 1948 was known as the Republic Stadium. It was later dismantled to make room for the People’s House, today’s Parliament Palace.

    Most editions of Romania’s Cups have been won by FCSB, former Steaua. FCSB have no less than 24 trophies on the record. FCSB also played 8 finals, where they were defeated. Two other Bucharest teams, Dinamo and Rapid, have each won the Cup 13 times.

  • Sports weekend

    Sports weekend

    Attention-grabbing this coming weekend is the football match pitting Romania against Cyprus. The game will be played in Larnaca and counts towards the third round of the Nations league’ third tier, Group C2. Media in Bucharest has mentioned that roughly 4,000 Romanian supporters are expected to go the stadium, given that the arena playing host to the game has a seating capacity of 8,000 seats.

    The Romania national squad is fresh from two winning confrontations in the Nations League’s first two rounds in September. We recall Romania won the game against Kosovo, 3-nil away, also winning the match against Lithuania at home, 3-1. In the first round, Cyprus defeated Lithuania away from home, 1-nil, then sustained a nil-4 home defeat by Kosovo. The history of the direct confrontations between Cyprus and Romania includes 9 wins for Romania, 3 draws and a win for Cyprus. Head-coach Mircea Lucescu’s trainees’ set target is to obtain six points in two games

    Matches counting towards the Champions League in women’s handball are scheduled at the weekend. In Group A on Saturday, Gloria Bistriţa-Năsăud play a home game against Croatia’s Podravka Koprivnica. According to the as-it-stands table, Gloria are 5th-placed, with two points. With zero points on their record sheet, Podravka and Denmark’s Nykøbing Falster are at the bottom of the table. CSM Bucharest play an away game in Ljubljana, against Krim. Holders CSM are 4th-placed with three wins and one defeat so far. Krim are 2nd-placed, after four consecutive wins.

    In Group B, Rapid Bucharest on Sunday play an away game against Danish team Odense. Rapid have won their first match in the group, against Buducnost Podgorica, at home, and drew against Vipers Kristiansand, away. Then Rapid went no less than eight goals down in the home game against Ludwigsburg, then away from home, Denmark’s Team Esbjerg were seven goals clear in the match against Rapid Bucharest.

    Notwithstanding, Rapid are highly likely to get back into shape: we recall that in the domestic championship this past Wednesday, Romania’s vice-champions trounced SCM Universitatea Craiova, 26 to 17. Also on Sunday, in Europe’s second tier league the EHF European League, in a match counting towards the second preliminary round, Sport Club Municipal Râmnicu Vâlcea play the second leg against Slovak team Dunajská Streda. In the first leg, the Romanian team, won, 28-26.

  • Romanian men’s handball teams, back into the game

    Romanian men’s handball teams, back into the game

    Romanian handball in recent years has been better represented in international competition by women’s teams rather than men’s teams. CSM Bucharest and Rapid Bucharest women’s handball clubs have constantly been among Europe’s top-flight teams. In 2024, joining the two teams in their Champions league participation has been a third team, Gloria Bistriţa-Năsăud.

    In men’s handball, Dinamo Bucharest has been the only Romanian team to have taken part in the Champions League, in recent years. Dinamo Bucharest has clearly dominated the domestic championship, so much so that in the ongoing season Dinamo have a win-all record. Furthermore, in European competitions, in 2024, Dinamo have had a flawless trail.

    We recall that in the previous season Dinamo proved their mettle in Europe’; second-tier competition, the EHF European League, reaching as far as the semi-finals. In 2024, Dinamo Bucharest have received a wild card for the Champions League, Dinamo have been distributed to Group A, rubbing shoulders with top-notch teams, among which Paris Saint-Germain, Füchse Berlin or Hungarian team Veszprém. After three rounds in the League, only Dinamo and Sporting Lisbon have a win-all record so far.

    Dinamo Bucharest from the very first round impressed everybody when on September 12 they grabbed a 37 to 28 home win against Danish opponents Fredericia. Then on September 18, Dinamo grabbed a hard-fought 28-26 away win against Poland’s Wisla Plock. On September 26, Dinamo thrashed North Macedonia’s Pelister Bitolia, 34-25 on home turf.

    On Thursday, Dinamo play an away match against one of Europe’s best teams, Veszprem. Hungarian title holders Veszprem’s head coach is Dinamo’s former coach, the Spaniard Xavier Pascual, which is a plus for Vezprem. In the League’s ongoing season, Veszprém have so far won two matches and lost one. In the first round, away from home, Veszprem won the match against Füchse Berlin, by the narrowest of margins, 32 to 31. Then on home turf, Veszprem thrashed PSG, 41 to 28. However, In Lisbon, Veszprem suffered a severe defeat by Sporting Lisbon, 39 to 30, so in this coming Thursday’s fixture, Veszprem will have to prove the defeat in Portugal was a mere accident.
    —–

  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week

    The third edition of the Ţiriac Foundation Trophy tennis tournament has recently come to end in Bucharest. Hosted by the National tennis center in Bucharest, in 2024 the WTA 125 tournament had 115, 000 USD up for grabs. All the 8 seeded tennis player of the tournament were some of world’s top 200 players. Among them, great names of Romanian tennis, such as veteran tennis player Irina Begu and the surprise of the 2024 edition, Anca Todoni.

    However, the winner was a player who, before her remarkable feat in Bucharest, was not one of the 200 players according to world rankings. Miriam Bulgaru is WTA 202nd tennis player. Her win in Bucharest is her career-peak so far. Reason enough for Radio Romania International to designate Miriam Bulgaru the Athlete of the week.

    As part of the Ţiriac Foundation Trophy, in the first round Miriam Bulgaru outclassed Italy’s Nicole Fossa Huergo, cu 6-1, 6-3. In the second round, Miriam Bulgaru defeated Serbia’s Dejana Radanovic, 6-4, 6-4. In the quarterfinals Miriam defeated Alevtina Ibraghimova of Russia, 6-2 , 6-2. It was not until the semi-final confrontation that she lost the first set, when Bulgaru played Georgia’s Ekaterine Gorgodze, eventually winning the match, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

    In the final, Bulgaru went against Liechtenstein’s Kathinka von Deichmann, who, in the quarterfinals, outclassed the top-seed tennis player, Argentina’s Marie Lourdes Carle. Miriam Bulgaru won the first set, 6-3. von Deichmann won the second set, 6-1. However, the decisive set was won by the Romanian, 6-4. The winner was rewarded with 15,000 USD, also skipping 24 places according to world rankings. So far Miriam has reached her career peak, the 178th-position.

    Miriam Bulgaru was born on October 8, 1988 in the central Romania town of Alba Iulia. Miriam made her debut in the WTA circuit in 2018, at the Bucharest Open, where she was granted a wild card. However, in the first round she lost to China’s Wang Yafan. So far Miriam has won three ITF tournaments. Her net income so far amounts to more than 300,000 USD.

  • Olympic update

    Olympic update

    Weightlifter Mihaela Cambei on Wednesday walked away with silver in the 49-kilogram category. Combined, Cambei succeeded a deadlift of 205 kilograms. In the final attempt in the competition, Cambei was outperformed by defending Olympic champion, China’s Zhihui Hou, whose reported combined deadlift stood at 206 kilograms.

    In the snatch style, Cambei had a deadlift of 93 de kilograms succeeding 112 kilograms combined. Winner Zhihui Hou’s 117-kilogram clean-and-jerk deadlift was a new Olympic record. With a combined deadlift of 200 kilograms, Thailand’s Surodchana Khambao walked home with bronze. In the 71-kilogram category, Loredana Toma will prove her mettle on Friday. Romania last won an Olympic weightlifting medal in Atlanta, in 1996, when Nicu Vlad won bronze.

    Cătălin Chirilă on Wednesday advanced to the C1 men’s 1000m final, Chirila won the third heat of the qualifiers, clocking 3 minutes, 44 seconds and 75 hundredths of a second and set a new Olympic record. A world champion in 2022 and a vice-world champion in 2023, Chirila broke a 20-year-old record set by Spain’s David Cal at the Athens Olympics. The semi-finals and the finals are scheduled on Friday.

    In the Olympic discus throw final hosted by Stade de France on Wednesday, the Romanian athlete Alin Alexandru Firfirica came in 11th. His best throw measured 64 meters and 45 centimeters. The winner was Jamaican athlete Roje Stone, with a throw of 70 meters, thus setting a new Olympic record.

    Also in news from athletics, Andrea Miklos wasted the opportunity to advance to the 400m final. In the semifinal she competed in, Miklos ranked 15th, clocking 50 seconds and 78 hundredths of a second, eventually coming in 5th. Romania last won an athletics Olympic medal in athletics in 2008, when Constantina Dita won gold in the marathon.

  • Olympic Update

    Olympic Update

    The women’s gymnastics contest as part of the ongoing Paris Olympics drew to a close on Monday, August 5, with the last apparatus pieces finals in the beam and floor events. Romanian gymnasts took the start in both events.

    Competing in the beam event was Sabrina Maneca Voinea, who had advanced to the finals with the 5th mark in the qualifiers, 14. 000 points. However, in the final, Voinea fell off the beam and was eventually 8th-placed, the bottom-of-the-table position, with 11. 733 points.

    The winner was Italy’s Alice D’Amato, with 14. 366 points. The floor final followed, with two Romanian gymnasts competing, Ana Bărbosu and yet again Sabrina Maneca Voinea. Ana got the 8th mark in the qualifiers, 13.600, while Sabrina Voinea got the 4th mark, 13.800. With a flawless exercise in the final, Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade won, with 14. 166 points.

    Stepping onto the second step of the podium was US gymnast Simone Biles. The American got a surprisingly high mark, 14.133 points, having stepped off of the mat several times. At the end of her exercise, third-placed was Ana Bărbosu, who initially got 13. 700 points. Also 13.700 points got Sabrina Voinea who came in 4th because of a flaw in her exercise. Fifth-placed was US gymnast Jordan Chiles who filed an appeal to which the referees agreed.

    With a raised number of points, 13.766, Chiles won bronze. Therefore, the Romanians were denied the opportunity of stepping onto a step of the podium. Sabrina Voinea filed an appeal targeting the starting mark of her exercise but her appeal was unsuccessful.

    Romania last won an Olympic medal in gymnastics at the London Olympics in 2012. We recall back then Sandra Izbaşa won gold in the vault event, Cătălina Ponor walked away with silver in the floor event. While Romania stepped onto the third step of the podium in the nations’ competition.
    Twelve years on, as part of the Paris Olympics, Romania came in 7th in the nations’ competition.

  • Olympic Update

    Olympic Update

    Three Romanian rowing crews on Tuesday qualified to the finals of the Olympic Games in Paris. In lightweight women’s pair defending Olympic champions Ancuţa Bodnar and Simona Radiş won the second semi-finals and secured a nail-biting position in the finals.

    After three quarters of the race Bodnar and Radis were fourth placed, but their finish was extraordinary. Andrei Cornea and Marian Enache qualified to the men’s pair final, having come in 3rd in the first semi-final. The men’s quadruple sculls crew made of Ştefan Berariu, Sergiu Bejan, Andrei Mândrilă and Ciprian Tudosă secured their position in the finals, having come in 2nd in the repechage.

    Also qualifying to the final were women’s coxless quadruple sculls and the coxed eight crews.

    Romania’s women’s gymnastics team came in 7th in the nations’ competition final held on Tuesday. The winner was the team of the United States, followed by Italy and Brazil. For the Romanians, it was the first Olympic final since 2012 when, at the London Olympics, the team stepped onto the third step of the podium. Stepping out of the line in the Romanian team was Ana Barbosu who got 13.933 points in the vault event. Also, Sabrina Voinea got 13.900 points in the floor event and 13.800 points in the beam event.

    Romania’s national water polo team has also lost its second game as part of the Olympics, On Tuesday Romania sustained a 8-14 defeat by the United States. Romania’s scorers were Vlad Georgescu and Silvian Colodrovschi, with three goals each, and Andrei Neamţu and Matei Luţescu. Bogdan Rath’s trainees had a bracing start, leading in the first half, 1-nil, 2-1 and 3-2. Yet the US were quick to level the score. Then a dismal period followed, with Romania receiving seven goals in a row and the scoreboard displaying a 9-3 advantage for the United States, from a meagre 3-2 advantage for Romania. The Americans succeeded to maintain their six-goal advantage to the end, although the game became more balanced. We recall Romania previously sustained a 7-14 defeat by vice-Olympic champions Greece.

  • Radio Romania International Sports Club

    Radio Romania International Sports Club

    The 2024 edition of Europe’s second-tier rugby competition, second only to Six Nations and known as Rugby Europe Championship, will soon be drawing to a close. Taking the start for the 2024 edition of the event were eight teams, distributed according to two groups. Included in Group A have been Georgia, Spain, The Low Countries and Germany. Group B teams were Portugal, Romania, Belgium and Poland. With 14 points, Georgia emerged as the winner of Group A. It was followed by Spain, with 9 points,The Low Countries, with 6 and Germany, with zero points on their record sheet. Portugal was at the top of the table in Group B, with 11 points. Romanian was the runner-up team, with 9 points. Third and fourth placed were Belgium and Poland, with 9 and zero points, respectively.

     

    The only surprise was provided by Belgium winning the game against Portugal in Group B, 10-6. Advancing to the competition’s semi-finals were Georgia, Spain, Portugal and Romania, while competing for the 5th to 8th-places were the other four teams. In the semifinals, Georgia took on Romania, while Portugal played Spain.

     

    In the Georgian capital Tbilisi, Georgia trounced Romania, 43-5, 10-nil at half time. Scoring for Romania was center Fonivai Tangimana, through a successful try. In the Portuguese capital Lisbon, Portugal defeated Spain, 33-30, 13-20 at half time. In the play-out fixtures, The Low Countries thrashed Spain, 54-7, while Germany outclassed Belgium, 21-11.

     

    All four final confrontations are scheduled on March 17 and will be hosted by the Jean-Bouin stadium in Paris. Competing for the 7th and 8th positions are Poland and Belgium, while The Low Countries will play Germany for the 5th and the 6th positions. Fighting for the bronze medal will be Romania and Spain, while Georgia will play Portugal in the final. The 3rd-place final and the great final are re-enactments of the confrontations as part of Rugby Europe Championship’s 2023 edition.

     

  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week

    The most important tennis tournament organized in
    Romania annually is the Transylvania Open, held in Cluj-Napoca last week. The
    tournament is part of the WTA 250 circuit. In 2024, up for grabs were 267
    thousand dollars. The matches we played on hard court and were hosted by the BT
    Arena, Romania’s largest sports hall with a seating capacity of 10,000.


    The main draw included seeded competitors that
    were placed among the world’s top 100 tennis players, best -placed of them
    being WTA 43rd tennis player, the Dutch Arantxa Rus and 44th-placed,
    Germany’s Tatjana Maria. Quite surprisingly, the winner of the Transylvania
    Open wasn’t one of the seeded players, but WTA 78th-placed tennis
    player Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. Former WTA number 1
    player, in Cluj-Napoca, Pliskova won her first WTA tournament after a four-year
    gap, or thereabouts. In the final, Pliskova outclassed Ana Bogdan, 6-4, 6-3.


    Of the Romanian tennis players representing
    Romanian in the Transylvania Open, Ana Bogdan had the most satisfactory run.


    Reason enough for Radio Romania International to
    designate Ana Bogdan the Athlete of the week.


    Ana was that close to her first win in an
    upper-echelon WTA tournament, after a very good run. Ana Bogdan first defeated Alicija
    Parks, of the United States, then she overpowered Russia’s Erika Andreeva, who came
    straight from the qualifiers. Ana also defeated top-seeded opponent, Arantxa
    Rus, while in the semifinals she outclassed Jaqueline Cristian. However, after
    two exhausting confrontations, in the quarterfinals and in the semifinals, Ana
    Bogdan was defeated by Karolina Pliskova.


    Ana Bogdan was born on November 25, 1992, in Sinaia. She turned pro in
    2007. In 2009, she was 2nd-placed according to juniors’ world
    rankings. According to
    the WTA rankings, until 2018, Ana Bogdan climbed slowly but constantly. She then
    remained close to the 100th position, yet she succeeded to climb up, in 2022
    and 2023. The final she played in Cluj-Napoca secured Ana Bogdan 11 notches up,
    from the 65th to the 54th place. She is the second
    Romanian occupying a position according to the world rankings, after Sorana
    Cirstea, who is 22nd-placed.