Radio România Internațional

Tag: rowing

Sports flash

U-BT Cluj-Napoca Romanian basketball team has advanced
to the second round of Champions League’s group stage. This past Wednesday, U-BT Cluj-Napoca grabbed a nail-biting 103-101 away win against Turkish
challengers Daruşşafaka Istanbul. The win booked the Romanians the top position
in Group G. With an 88-70 lead, on 32 minutes the host team was 18 points clear
of their Romanian opponents. However, U-BT Cluj-Napoca managed a stunning
comeback for the final part of the game. Two minutes from time Darussafaka had
the lead, 101-94, but U-BT Cluj-Napoca scored nine points in a row, and won.
First-timers in the Champions League, U-BT Cluj-Napoca had a group-stage record
of five wins and one defeat. In Group G’s other fixture, Israeli team Hapoel
Holon outperformed Italian opponents Happy Casa Brindisi, 84-80. If they want to make headway into the competition, Hapoel and Darușșafaka
will have to compete in the playoffs.

In news from rowing, Ancuta Bodnar has been
designated the Best Athlete of the Year 2021 by her club Dinamo Bucharest. We recall
that jointly with Simona Radis, Ancuta Bodnar won gold in the women’s double
sculls race in the Tokyo Olympics. Simona Radis had previously been designated
the best Athlete in 2021 by her club, Steaua Bucharest.

The Romanian Volleyball federation this past Wednesday
held a ceremony to mark 90 years since the Romanian Volleyball Federation has
been set up. As part of the ceremony, awards went to the Romanian men’s line-up
who in the 1980 won domestic volleyball’s only medal, bronze, at the Olympic
Games in Moscow. Six former volleyball players attended the ceremony, of the
line-up who won the medals 41 years ago. They are Constantin Stere, Nicu Stoian,
Dan Gîrleanu, Marius Căta-Chiţiga, Gunther Enescu and Sorin Macavei.

In news from domestic football, Flavius Stoican is the
new Dinamo head-coach. We recall Stoican is a former Dinamo footballer of the early
2000’s. Stoican had two previous stints as a Dinamo head-coach seven years ago.
Flavious Stoican is in for Mircea Rednic, who took over on October 1st.
Rednic’s record as a Dynamo head-coach was dismally unconvincing. With Mircea Rednic
at the helm, Dinamo managed only one winning fixture, two draws and was
defeated in seven games. One of the iconic footballers of Dinamo in the 1980s
and the 1990s, Mircea Rednic’s most remarkable feat is the winning of the
domestic title 14 years ago, in 2007. At present Dinamo is 15th-placed
according to the domestic rankings, the last-but-one position in the as-it-stands
table.

(Translation by Eugen Nasta)

23 December 2021
RRI Sports Club

2021 was a difficult
year for sports, with athletes having to train and take part in competitions under
pandemic conditions. Athletes and coaches often had to self-isolate so as not to
expose themselves and others to the risk of infection. The Tokyo Olympic Games
were held without spectators, but this didn’t mean we didn’t see truly exceptional
performances, with new recors being broked and new stars being born.

Speaking about
Romanian sports, it must be said that the Tokyo Games confirmed the value of the
Romanian school of rowing. Three of the country’s four Olympic medals came from
rowing: one gold, in women’s double sculls, thanks to Ancuţa Bodnar and Simona
Radiş, and two silver, in men’s pair and men’s four. Romania’s fourth medal came
from fencer Ana-Maria Popescu, who won the silver in the women’s epee individual
event. In total, Romanian rowers won 30 medals at major competitions in 2021. To
the medals won at the Olympic Games, they added six medals at European championships,
including two gold and four silver. In youth and junior rowing competitions,
Romania won 16 medals, of which 10 gold and 6 silver. Five other medals, of which
three gold and two bronze, came from the youth and junior world championships. This
was one of the best years of the Romanian Rowing Federation judging by
international results. The merit belongs to the rowers themselves, as well as
to the Federation management, who provided the necessary resources to foster achievement.

As for
future plans, Olympic champion and current president of the Romanian Rowing
Federation Elisabeta Lipă recently wrote on Facebook: The Paris Olympic Games
are 34 months away, and after almost three months of well-deserved holiday,
rowers must begin training again. They must benefit from constant support, and
we demonstrated that we can get results through sustained work! We all want
medals from the Paris Games, but decision-makers must do their best to ensure
that rowers can continue to train in the coming period. (CM)

13 October 2021
RRI Sports Club

2021 was a difficult
year for sports, with athletes having to train and take part in competitions under
pandemic conditions. Athletes and coaches often had to self-isolate so as not to
expose themselves and others to the risk of infection. The Tokyo Olympic Games
were held without spectators, but this didn’t mean we didn’t see truly exceptional
performances, with new recors being broked and new stars being born.

Speaking about
Romanian sports, it must be said that the Tokyo Games confirmed the value of the
Romanian school of rowing. Three of the country’s four Olympic medals came from
rowing: one gold, in women’s double sculls, thanks to Ancuţa Bodnar and Simona
Radiş, and two silver, in men’s pair and men’s four. Romania’s fourth medal came
from fencer Ana-Maria Popescu, who won the silver in the women’s epee individual
event. In total, Romanian rowers won 30 medals at major competitions in 2021. To
the medals won at the Olympic Games, they added six medals at European championships,
including two gold and four silver. In youth and junior rowing competitions,
Romania won 16 medals, of which 10 gold and 6 silver. Five other medals, of which
three gold and two bronze, came from the youth and junior world championships. This
was one of the best years of the Romanian Rowing Federation judging by
international results. The merit belongs to the rowers themselves, as well as
to the Federation management, who provided the necessary resources to foster achievement.

As for
future plans, Olympic champion and current president of the Romanian Rowing
Federation Elisabeta Lipă recently wrote on Facebook: The Paris Olympic Games
are 34 months away, and after almost three months of well-deserved holiday,
rowers must begin training again. They must benefit from constant support, and
we demonstrated that we can get results through sustained work! We all want
medals from the Paris Games, but decision-makers must do their best to ensure
that rowers can continue to train in the coming period. (CM)

13 October 2021
August 16, 2021 UPDATE

Covid Romania – The Romanian authorities on Monday reported over 280 new COVID cases out of 18,700 tests. Most of the cases were registered in Bucharest. Five deaths were also reported. The number of hospitalized patients continues to grow – there are now over 940 people in hospital, of whom 120 are in serious condition in Intensive Care. On the other hand, interest in vaccination remains low, despite repeated calls from the authorities. On Monday, reports showed that only around 12 thousand vaccine doses had been administered in the past 24 hours. All in all, about 5 million Romanians have been fully vaccinated.

Kabul — The Taliban control Afghanistan, and the British and NATO forces will not return to fight the insurgents, the British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Monday as quoted by Reuters. According to a US official, most Western diplomats have left the Taliban-controlled capital, Kabul. At the same time, at least five people died on Monday at the Kabul airport, while hundreds of people were trying to force their way into the planes leaving the capital. It is unclear whether the victims were killed by gunfire or died in the stampede. The U.S. troops are in command of the airport, helping to evacuate the U.S. embassy staff and other civilians. To calm things down, the American forces fired shots into the air. A joint statement, backed by more than 60 countries, asks for the Afghans and foreign nationals wishing to leave Afghanistan to be allowed to leave and for the airports and border crossing points to remain open, Reuters reports, quoting the US Department of State. The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also called on the Taliban and all the other groups on the Afghan political scene to show maximum restraint. He called on the Security Council to make use of all instruments available to eliminate the world terrorist threat in Afghanistan and to guarantee the observance the fundamental human rights in that country.

Afghanistan – The Romanian PM Florin Cîţu said on Monday that the 35 Romanians who are still in Afghanistan will be repatriated with an aircraft. Subsequently, President Klaus Iohannis ordered the urgent involvement of the Air Forces in the evacuation of the Romanian citizens. The Romanian Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that it had reassessed and raised the alert level for Afghanistan and urged the Romanian citizens to urgently leave the territory of that state and to avoid any travel to Afghanistan. The activity of the Romanian Embassy in Kabul was suspended in 2019, following an attack that severely damaged the mission’s headquarters, MAE reports. We remind you that the Romanian military returned home after almost two decades of uninterrupted presence in Afghanistan. 27 of them lost their lives in missions or attacks by Taliban terrorists, and more than 200 were injured. All in all, more than 32,000 soldiers have taken part in missions in Afghanistan. The total costs of Romania’s participation in Afghanistan amounted to over 3 billion lei (the equivalent of about 600 million Euros).

Baccalaureate – The autumn session of the national Baccalaureate exam started on Monday in Romania with the Romanian Language and Literature test. The compulsory specialization tests will take place on Tuesday, and Wednesday will see the tests for the optional subject matters. Almost 39,000 candidates registered for the current Baccalaureate session, of whom 60% are from among this years high-school graduates, the Education Ministry announced. The final results will be announced on September 3. The pass rate, after the first session held in June-July, stood at 70%, which is almost 5 percent higher as compared to the same session last year.

Rowing – Romania obtained excellent results at the World Junior Rowing Championships in Plovdiv (Bulgaria), held between August 11-15: two gold medals and one bronze, which placed it third in the overall medal standings, the president of the Romanian Rowing Federation, Elisabeta Lipă, said. According to her, for juniors, it was the first major competition this year, still dominated by the pandemic and numerous restrictions. Romania participated in the Championships with 11 crews and 43 athletes. It was outranked by the US and Germany, but finished ahead of Switzerland, Italy, France and Spain.

Fires — The more than 100 Romanian firefighters who were involved in putting out the fires in Greece, as part of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, returned to the country on Monday. The authorities in Bucharest congratulated them during a ceremony and have given them a promotion. The Romanian firefighters were also praised by the Greek press, by the locals, as well as by their Greek colleagues for their intervention manner and courage. On Friday, the team of firefighters who participated in the firefighting operations in Northern Macedonia, during a mission that lasted almost a week, also returned to Romania.(LS)

16 August 2021
July 28, 2021 UPDATE

HEAT WAVE Meteorologists have issued a code orange alert against extreme heat and thermal discomfort in seven counties in the south and the capital Bucharest, in place until Saturday. Maximum temperatures are expected to reach 40 degrees Centigrade locally. A code yellow alert against extreme heat is in place until Saturday for all other regions, with highs ranging from 34 to 39 degrees. Passenger and freight trains will travel at reduced speeds during this period. Road traffic authorities have also warned some
restrictions will be introduced due to the extreme heat, on Thursday, Friday
and Saturday, between noon and 8 pm in most of the country.

COVID-19 The number of COVID-19 infections in Romania remains low, although it has gone up in recent days. The authorities announced 159 new cases on Wednesday, one new COVID-related casualty and 47 patients in intensive care. According to the head of the vaccination campaign, medical doctor Valeriu Gheorghiţă, nearly 90% of the people currently diagnosed with COVID-19 are not vaccinated, while over 91% of related fatalities were people who hadn’t taken the anti-COVID jab. At present, some 30% of Romania’s total population is immunised. Starting August 2, young people aged 12-17 can also receive the Moderna vaccine, Valeriu Gheorghiţă said. The Romanian official went on to say that, by mid-September, Romania might start administering the third dose of the vaccine for at-risk categories, such as health workers, chronically ill and people over 65 years of age. So far, 4.8 million people have been fully vaccinated in Romania.

GOVERNMENT The Government Wednesday approved plans to further ease COVID-related restrictions starting August 1. PM Florin Cîţu mentioned, among others, that outdoors cultural and entertainment events may be attended by a maximum of 75,000 people, in places where the COVID-19 infection rate is under 2 per thousand, on condition that participants are vaccinated, recovered from the disease or have tested negative for it. For indoor and outdoor sports events, crowd attendance is limited to 75% of the venue’s full capacity, provided a physical distance of at least 1 m between viewers is ensured. In areas with an infection rate below 2 per thousand, bars, nightclubs, restaurants and gambling venues will also be open between 5 am and 2 am.

IMF The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday maintained its 6% economic growth estimate for the world economy this year and upgraded its outlook on the United States and other developed economies, while downgrading its forecast for a number of developing countries affected by the fallout of COVID-19. In the case of Romania, in October last year the IMF estimated a growth rate of 4.6% this year. The new outlook expects Romanias economic growth rate to reach 6% this year. Additionally, the IMF has upgraded its forecast for 2022, from 3.9% as originally estimated, to 4.8%. According to the new report, Romania’s economic growth rates for 2021 and 2022 will stand above the European average.

INFRINGEMENT The European Commission decided to start infringement procedures against 12 Member States, including Romania, for failure to transpose EU rules banning unfair trade practices in the agricultural and food supply chain. The deadline for transposing the regulations into national law was May 1, 2021. The Commission sent letters of formal notice to Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Spain, requesting them to adopt and notify relevant measures. The Member States have now two months to reply.

BEAR CENSUS A bear census worth 11 million euro was launched on Wednesday in Romania. The Minister for Investments and European Projects Cristian Ghinea explained the project is funded under the Large Infrastructure Operational Programme. There will be two lines of investment, one focusing on the bear census itself, while the other will help implement state-of-the-art technologies aimed at limiting the interaction of bears with humans. Last week the Government had passed an order regulating human intervention in situations involving bears, under which bears can be driven away in low-risk cases, and tranquilized and relocated or even shot if they attack people or livestock.

OLYMPICS Romania won two medals in Wednesday’s rowing finals at the Tokyo Olympics: Ancuţa Bodnar and Simona Radiş won gold in the women’s double scull event, while Romania’s four crew, made up of Mihăiţă Ţigănescu, Mugurel Semciuc, Ştefan Berariu and Cosmin Pascari scooped the silver. Adding to the two medals is Ana-Maria Popescu’s silver medal in the women’s epee event. Romanian fighter Maria Claudia Nechita Wednesday failed to qualify into the 57 kg boxing semi-finals, after losing to Japans Sena Irie, 3-2. A victory would have secured her an Olympic medal. Also on Wednesday, Romanias under-23 football team drew with New Zealand, in its last Group B match, and failed to move forward into the quarter-finals. The Romanians came out 3rd in the group, after South Korea and New Zealand and ahead of Honduras.

FESTIVAL The 2021 edition of the largest cinema event in Romania, the Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF) continues in Cluj-Napoca (north-west), until Sunday. Over 170 films are screened in this years festival. Concerts and meetings with film industry representatives are also organised as part of the event. TIFF aims to promote cinema by presenting some of the most important contemporary works which reflect the originality of their authors, less common forms of cinematic expression and new cultural trends. This years special guest in the festival is international star Sergei Polunin, regarded as the most talented ballet dancer of his generation. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

28 July 2021
Romania at the Olympic Games – Romania’s biggest hopes at Tokyo

Romania’s delegation at the Tokyo
Olympics will comprise 100 athletes. Of these, 56 will for the first time
compete in an Olympic event. At the opposite pole are the veterans of our
delegation, fencer Ana-Maria Popescu and gymnast Marian Drăgulescu, who are taking
part in their fifth Olympic event and on whom many Romanians have pinned their
hopes of a medal. Drăgulescu will be competing in the men’s vault event, where
he is several-time world and European champion. Drăgulescu’s record sheet
already includes three Olympic medals, obtained 17 years ago in Athens: silver
in the floor event, and bronze in the vault and team events.

Another Olympic event where Romania will
be represented by a champion is fencing. Ana-Maria Popescu last took part in
the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004, where many believed our fencers will grab
medals. Ana-Maria ranked 16, however. She picked up her game in 2008 in Beijing,
where she grabbed silver, Romania’s best performance in the Olympic Games that
year. At the Rio Olympics of 2016, Ana-Maria Popescu wasn’t part of the team
that won the gold medal in the team event.

Much is also expected in rowing. Our
women’s 8+1 and coxless pair crews are the defending European champions.
Moreover, in the recent European championships, hosted by Varese in Italy,
Romania ranked 4th in the medal standings, scooping two gold medals
and four silver. Rowing is also one of the most successful Romanian sports at
the Olympic Games, our double-skull and 8+1 crews scooping five and three Olympic
gold medals, respectively.

Romania’s delegation also includes
two very promising young athletes. Robert Glinţă is the first Romanian swimmer to
win a gold medal in the European Championships and the first athlete to secure
qualification at the Tokyo Olympics. He was also the only Romanian swimmer to reach
the finals at the Rio Olympics of 2016, ranking 8th in the 100-meter
backstroke event. David Popovici last week won three gold medals in the 50-m
freestyle, 100-m freestyle and 200-m freestyle events at the Under-21 European
Championships, setting world records in the last two events. David Popovici
also won silver in the 4×100-m freestyle relay. (VP)

13 July 2021
Sports weekend

Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea ont
Thursday got through to the third round at Wimbledon. In the second round, she pulled off a 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 win against Viktoria Azarenka. It was Sorana Cirstea’s first win against the 12th-seeded Belarusian, who played the semis at Wimbledon in 2011 and 2012. In the
match against Cirstea, Viktoria Azarenka broke at 5-all in the first set, but she then lost her serve while serving for the match, with Cirstea winning the set at tiebreak, 7-5. Azarenka reigned supreme in the second set, taking an
early 3-nil lead and then winning the set, 6-3. In the third set, Azarenka also had a
2-nil and a 3-nil advantage, respectively, but Cirstea won four games in a row,
leading 5-3. Cirstea wasted two match points, also wasting a
point when it was her turn to serve. At 5-4 for the Romanian, Azarenka was getting closer to levelling the score.
However, Cirstea secured the win of the three-set tussle against Viktoria
Azarenka with a break.

In the third round, Sorana Cirstea goes up against the
British player born to a Romanian father Emma Raducanu, who provided a great surprise with
her straight-set win against her Czech opponent Marketa Vondrousova, 6-2, 6-4.

Rower Mădălina Bers and swimmer Robert Glinta will be
the Romanian delegation’s flag bearers at the Tokyo Olympics, according to the
Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee. Six-time European champion Madalina
Beres is a bronze medallist at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and a world champion
with Romania’s coxed eight crew. Robert Glinta is the first Romanian swimmer to
have been able to win a gold medal in the European championships. Robert was also
the first Romanian athlete to have secured his participation in the Tokyo
Olympics.

In news from rugby, on Saturday Romania is
pitted against Argentina in a test match. We recall that the two teams last
met in Bucharest, in 1992, when Argentina were the winners, 21-18. Argentina is
9th-placed according to the as-it-stands world rankings, while Romania is 18th-placed.
We recall that in 2003 and 2011, Argentina won both confrontations against
Romania. The Romanian Rugby Federation made public the fact that Romania’s test
match against Scotland, scheduled for July 10, 2021, was cancelled because of COVID-19 cases among the Scottish side.

(Translation by Eugen Nasta)

2 July 2021
Sports weekend

Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea ont
Thursday got through to the third round at Wimbledon. In the second round, she pulled off a 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 win against Viktoria Azarenka. It was Sorana Cirstea’s first win against the 12th-seeded Belarusian, who played the semis at Wimbledon in 2011 and 2012. In the
match against Cirstea, Viktoria Azarenka broke at 5-all in the first set, but she then lost her serve while serving for the match, with Cirstea winning the set at tiebreak, 7-5. Azarenka reigned supreme in the second set, taking an
early 3-nil lead and then winning the set, 6-3. In the third set, Azarenka also had a
2-nil and a 3-nil advantage, respectively, but Cirstea won four games in a row,
leading 5-3. Cirstea wasted two match points, also wasting a
point when it was her turn to serve. At 5-4 for the Romanian, Azarenka was getting closer to levelling the score.
However, Cirstea secured the win of the three-set tussle against Viktoria
Azarenka with a break.

In the third round, Sorana Cirstea goes up against the
British player born to a Romanian father Emma Raducanu, who provided a great surprise with
her straight-set win against her Czech opponent Marketa Vondrousova, 6-2, 6-4.

Rower Mădălina Bers and swimmer Robert Glinta will be
the Romanian delegation’s flag bearers at the Tokyo Olympics, according to the
Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee. Six-time European champion Madalina
Beres is a bronze medallist at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and a world champion
with Romania’s coxed eight crew. Robert Glinta is the first Romanian swimmer to
have been able to win a gold medal in the European championships. Robert was also
the first Romanian athlete to have secured his participation in the Tokyo
Olympics.

In news from rugby, on Saturday Romania is
pitted against Argentina in a test match. We recall that the two teams last
met in Bucharest, in 1992, when Argentina were the winners, 21-18. Argentina is
9th-placed according to the as-it-stands world rankings, while Romania is 18th-placed.
We recall that in 2003 and 2011, Argentina won both confrontations against
Romania. The Romanian Rugby Federation made public the fact that Romania’s test
match against Scotland, scheduled for July 10, 2021, was cancelled because of COVID-19 cases among the Scottish side.

(Translation by Eugen Nasta)

2 July 2021
May 23, 2021 UPDATE

COVID-19 The PM of Romania Florin Cîţu said the vaccine rollout must be stepped up so that the relaxation measures planned for the forthcoming period may be implemented as soon as possible. Several vaccination marathons are held this weekend in various towns in the country, and drive-thru centres are operational. Since the end of December, over 7.3 million vaccine doses have been administered in Romania, with nearly 3.2 million people receiving the booster dose as well. Meanwhile, the number of new Covid-19 cases in Romania continues to drop, with 307 new cases reported on Sunday out of nearly 18,500 tests. This is the lowest number in nearly 11 months. In hospitals, the number of coronavirus patients in intensive care is 590. Also, 56 COVID-related deaths were reported for the past 24 hours.

COUNCIL The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis takes part on Monday and Tuesday in a special European Council meeting to be held in Brussels. According to the presidency, the head of state will plead for quick and consistent implementation of the digital green certificates at European level, but will reiterate that these must not affect citizens freedom of movement. Iohannis will also call for a European mechanism to be put in place as soon as possible to ensure vaccine donations to non-EU countries. the main topics on the agenda of the European Council are the EU-wide coordination of COVID-19 measures, fighting climate change, and the Unions relations with Russia and the UK.

MIGRANTS Romanian border police in Borş Sunday found 30 Syrian and Iraqi nationals trying to cross the border illegally into Hungary. According to the police, the migrants, aged between 3 and 34, were hiding in a truck registered in Turkey, with a Turkish driver, heading for France.

EUROVISION The lead singer of the Italian band Maneskin, winner of the 65th edition of the Eurovision song contest, will take a drug test upon their return to Italy, following drug use speculations, announced the European Broadcasting Union, which organized the competition. The allegations were sparked by competition footage showing Damiano David leaning over and touching a table with his nose. The band firmly denies the accusations. The Italian band won this years Eurovision contest with the rock song that had previously won them the San Remo competition as well. Romania failed to qualify into this years Eurovision final. Over the years, Romanias best performances in this competition were two 3rd places (in 2005 and 2010) and a 4th place in 2006.

ARREST Belarus forced a Ryanair aircraft to land in Minsk, so as to arrest a dissident journalist on board. Roman Protasevich played a key role in the protests against the re-election of Aleksandr Lukashenko. According to independent media, the Athens-Vilnius flight was diverted over an alleged bomb scare. Roman Protasevich, the founder of the Nexta online news channel, which covered the police brutality during the protests against Aleksandr Lukashenkos election, was arrested at the airport and faces capital punishment.

ROWING Romania won 6 medals on Sunday (one gold, one silver and 4 bronze) at the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland. In the country ranking Romania came 7th, after the UK, China, the Netherlands, Italy, Ireland and Germany. Romanian athletes won the gold in the womens double sculls and silver in the lightweight womens double sculls. The 4 bronze medals were in the womens pair, mens pair, mens four and womens four races. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

23 May 2021
Sports roundup

The delegation to represent Romania at the Olympic Games in
Tokyo grew up to 84 athletes on Sunday. 18 athletes making up the Romanian
men’s and women’s eights have secured their qualification during the
pre-Olympic regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland.

The two boats have come second in the races, getting the
plane tickets for Tokyo. In the women’s competition Romania’s boat came second
to China and before Germany while our male rowers came after New Zealand with
Italy in the third position.

In the single scull, Mihai Chiruţă has failed to qualify for
Tokyo and so has the Romanian four. So, Romania will send to Tokyo 36 athletes
and nine teams who will be competing in the men’s and women’s four oar races,
women’s pair oar and double sculls, the men’s pair and the men’s and women’s
eight races.

Last weekend saw the matches of the eighth leg of the
Romania’s first football league. On Friday in Clinceni, southern Romania, local
side Academica secured a 4-3 win against FC Botosani. On Saturday, CFR Cluj
clinched a 3-1 away win against Universitatea Craiova whereas the game pitching
Sepsi against FCSB ended in a 2-all draw.

Viitorul Constanta outperformed Chindia Targoviste 2-0 on
Friday while Hermannstadt obtained 1-0 win against Poli Iasi. FC Voluntari
defeated Astra Giurgiu 3-0 while UTA Arad secured a 1-0 win against Gaz Metan
Medias. Dinamo Bucharest outperformed FC Arges 2-1 in Pitesti, southern
Romania. Poli Iasi and Hermannstadt are on the last two places in the ranking
and will demote to the second football league. Astra Giurgiu and FC Voluntari are to play tie
matches to keep their position in the first league.

(bill)

17 May 2021
Sports roundup

The delegation to represent Romania at the Olympic Games in
Tokyo grew up to 84 athletes on Sunday. 18 athletes making up the Romanian
men’s and women’s eights have secured their qualification during the
pre-Olympic regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland.

The two boats have come second in the races, getting the
plane tickets for Tokyo. In the women’s competition Romania’s boat came second
to China and before Germany while our male rowers came after New Zealand with
Italy in the third position.

In the single scull, Mihai Chiruţă has failed to qualify for
Tokyo and so has the Romanian four. So, Romania will send to Tokyo 36 athletes
and nine teams who will be competing in the men’s and women’s four oar races,
women’s pair oar and double sculls, the men’s pair and the men’s and women’s
eight races.

Last weekend saw the matches of the eighth leg of the
Romania’s first football league. On Friday in Clinceni, southern Romania, local
side Academica secured a 4-3 win against FC Botosani. On Saturday, CFR Cluj
clinched a 3-1 away win against Universitatea Craiova whereas the game pitching
Sepsi against FCSB ended in a 2-all draw.

Viitorul Constanta outperformed Chindia Targoviste 2-0 on
Friday while Hermannstadt obtained 1-0 win against Poli Iasi. FC Voluntari
defeated Astra Giurgiu 3-0 while UTA Arad secured a 1-0 win against Gaz Metan
Medias. Dinamo Bucharest outperformed FC Arges 2-1 in Pitesti, southern
Romania. Poli Iasi and Hermannstadt are on the last two places in the ranking
and will demote to the second football league. Astra Giurgiu and FC Voluntari are to play tie
matches to keep their position in the first league.

(bill)

17 May 2021
Medals at the European Rowing Championship

46
athletes represented Romania at the European Rowing Championship held in the
Italian city of Varese. The Romanians competed in 13 disciplines and eventually
walked away with six medals, two gold and four silver. The Romanian women’s
pair boat and double scull and the Romanian women’s eight stepped onto the
podium’s first step. The Romanian women’s pair and the light women’s double
scull, the Romanian men’s four and eight became silver medalists.

Romania
has ended the competition on the fourth position in the medal ranking after
Britain, Italy and the Netherlands. The competition in Varese was somehow
atypical as many of the teams attending were in full training campaign for the
upcoming Olympics in Tokyo, so their objective wasn’t actually winning a medal
but obtaining the best contest formula. For other teams, the competition in
Varese was the final rehearsal before the Lucerne regatta in mid-May, which
will decide the last boats qualified for the Olympics. Many Romanian teams are
in this situation, trying to obtain a better ranking in Lucerne. Fans have
pinned their hopes on the Romanian women’s eight, which put up a good show in
Varese and stands good chances in Lucerne as well.

We’ll
wait and see which are the new changes operated by the Romanians’ opponents in
Lucerne and how these changes are going to influence the results of the
upcoming competition. The Romanian federation can also operate some changes but
it is more expected to try to increase the performances of our athletes.
Qualification for the Olympics is a must for the Romanian rowing tradition as
our athletes have been participated in these competitions since 1952 and they
missed only the 1956 edition in Melbourne.

After gymnastics, rowing boasts the
best Romanian participation in the Olympic Games with 19 gold medals, 10 silver
and 9 bronze. And the Romanian women’s eight has been on the Olympic podium
since 1996 with the exception of London edition in 2012. With three Olympic
golds, three silver and three bronze, the Romanian women’s eight boasts the
best performances of a rowing team in Romania.

(bill)

12 April 2021
Athletes of the week on Radio Romania International

The
European Rowing Championships held in Poland’s Poznan this past weekend saw the
Romanian delegation regaining its place among Europe’s elite. The Romanian
delegation came in 3rd in the nations’ competition, with a record of
six medals, of which four were gold, one silver and one bronze. The gold medals
went to the women’s double sculls and men’s double sculls crews, who were joined
by women’s coxless pair and women’s coxed octuple sculls crews. Romania’s men’s
coxed octuple scull crew walked away with silver, while the bronze medal went
to women’s coxless pair crew, the lightweight version.

Of these feats, the most outstanding was that of the women’s double
sculls crew. In the final, Nicoleta-Ancuţa Bodnar and Simona Geanina Radiş took
the lead from the very start of the race, also managing to have a constant
distance from their contenders, all along the race. The Romanian clocked 6 mins, 56 secs and 860
thousandths. Following suit was the Dutch crew made of Roos de Jong and Lisa
Scheenaard, who finished the race more than six seconds later than the
Romanians. Stepping onto the third step of the podium were Helene Lefebvre and Elodie
Ravera-Scaramozzino. For their win, Ancuta Petru-Bodnar and Simona Radis have
been designated the Athletes of the Week on Radio Romania International.

Nicoleta-Ancuța
Bodnar was born on September 25, 1998 in Suceava County’s Vatra Moldoviței, in
the north. Simona Geanina Radiș also hails from a northern Romanian county,
Botosani, where she was born on April 5, 1999. The two have paired up as
competitors since 2019, when they succeeded to go through to the Tokyo Olympics
since they became vice-world champions in the double sculls event, a noteworthy
feat, for which the Romanian Rowing Federation designated them the Athletes of
the Year in 2019. Ancuta Petru-Bodnar and Simona Radis have confirmed, when, in
2020, they won the U-23 European title at the European Championships held in
Germany’s Duisburg in September. The two have yet again confirmed their
standing with their most recent win in Poznan.

(translation by Eugen Nasta)

13 October 2020
Sports Roundup

Tennis. Romania’s Andreea
Mitu and Belarus’ Lidziya Marozava won the women’s doubles title at the Prague
WTA tournament as they defeated the Italian-Argentinian pair Giulia Gatto-Monticone and Nadia
Podoroska in the final in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. At the US Open, Sorana Cîrstea
lost in the third round to the Czech player Karolina Muchova in three sets.
This was the third time Cîrstea, who is now 30 years old, reached the third
round at the US Open, after 2009 and 2019. Also at the US Open, the
Romanian-Dutch pair Horia Tecău and Jean-Julien Rojer reached the quarterfinals
in the men’s doubles after they defeated the first seeds Juan-Sebastian Cabal and
Robert Farah of Colombia in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Handball. The Romanian
men’s side Potaissa Turda defeated the Croatian side HRK Gorica to reach the EHF
Cup second preliminary round. Potaissa won the second leg away 32-27 to advance
to the next stage after losing the first leg at home 26-24.

Rugby. CSM Știința Baia
Mare and SCM Timișoara will be facing each other in the Romanian rugby super-league
final. In the semifinals, Știința Baia Mare defeated Dinamo Bucharest at home 76-19,
while SCM Timișoara pulled off a narrow win against Steaua Bucharest, 21-20. Playing
for the 5th place, Tomitanii Constanța defeated Universitatea Cluj 29-23.

Football. Romania’s national
side drew 1-all against Northern Ireland at home in a Nations League Group 1
match. They will next be playing Austria, who defeated Norway 2-1 in the same
group. The match will take place in Klagenfurt. Iceland, which Romania will be
playing in a 2020 EURO qualifying match, lost to England 1-nil at home, in
Group A.

Rowing. Romania won 10
medals, namely 5 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze, at the European Rowing Under-23 Championships
in Duisburg, in Germany, thus finishing first in the nations ranking.

7 September 2020
Sports Roundup

Tennis. Romania’s Andreea
Mitu and Belarus’ Lidziya Marozava won the women’s doubles title at the Prague
WTA tournament as they defeated the Italian-Argentinian pair Giulia Gatto-Monticone and Nadia
Podoroska in the final in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. At the US Open, Sorana Cîrstea
lost in the third round to the Czech player Karolina Muchova in three sets.
This was the third time Cîrstea, who is now 30 years old, reached the third
round at the US Open, after 2009 and 2019. Also at the US Open, the
Romanian-Dutch pair Horia Tecău and Jean-Julien Rojer reached the quarterfinals
in the men’s doubles after they defeated the first seeds Juan-Sebastian Cabal and
Robert Farah of Colombia in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Handball. The Romanian
men’s side Potaissa Turda defeated the Croatian side HRK Gorica to reach the EHF
Cup second preliminary round. Potaissa won the second leg away 32-27 to advance
to the next stage after losing the first leg at home 26-24.

Rugby. CSM Știința Baia
Mare and SCM Timișoara will be facing each other in the Romanian rugby super-league
final. In the semifinals, Știința Baia Mare defeated Dinamo Bucharest at home 76-19,
while SCM Timișoara pulled off a narrow win against Steaua Bucharest, 21-20. Playing
for the 5th place, Tomitanii Constanța defeated Universitatea Cluj 29-23.

Football. Romania’s national
side drew 1-all against Northern Ireland at home in a Nations League Group 1
match. They will next be playing Austria, who defeated Norway 2-1 in the same
group. The match will take place in Klagenfurt. Iceland, which Romania will be
playing in a 2020 EURO qualifying match, lost to England 1-nil at home, in
Group A.

Rowing. Romania won 10
medals, namely 5 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze, at the European Rowing Under-23 Championships
in Duisburg, in Germany, thus finishing first in the nations ranking.

7 September 2020