Radio România Internațional

Tag: Shenzhen tournament

  • Athlete of the Week on RRI – Tennis Player Monica Niculescu

    Athlete of the Week on RRI – Tennis Player Monica Niculescu

    The Shenzhen tournament in China came
    to a close last week, offering total prizes of some 775 thousand dollars. In
    the women’s singles, Romania’s representatives were knocked out relatively
    quick into the competition, ever since the first round. Sorana Cirstea lost to
    China’s Xiyu Wang, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, while Irina Begu lost to Kristyna Pliskova of
    the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-3. In the women’s doubles, however, Monica Niculescu
    reached the semi-finals, together with Misaki Doi of Japan. For her
    achievement, we have designated Monica Niculescu Athlete of the Week on RRI.


    In Shenzhen, in the first round,
    Niculescu and Doi knocked out Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia and Oksana
    Kalashnikova of Georgia, 6-2, 6-2. In the second round they were pitted against
    the number one seeds, Elise Mertens of Belgium and Arina Sabalenka of Belarus.
    Monica and Misaki won in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. In the semi-finals however,
    the two lost to the all-Chinese pair Ying-Ying Duan and Saisai Zheng, 3-6, 6-3,
    10-4. Monica has previously won two doubles titles in Shenzhen, in 2014
    alongside Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic, and in 2016 with Vania King of
    the United States.


    Monica Niculescu was born in
    Slatina on September 25, 1987. She has been living in Bucharest since the age
    of 4. She started playing tennis at the age of 5 and turned pro in 2002. She
    won three WTA tournaments in the women’s singles and 9 in the women’s doubles.
    Her career-long winnings amount to over 6 million dollars. Her highest ranking
    in the women’s singles was 28th in 2012, and 11th in the women’s
    doubles in 2018. She is now ranked 128th in the singles and 46th
    in the doubles.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • January 4, 2018

    January 4, 2018

    PRESIDENCY – Romania’s big objectives in 2019 are EU integration,
    consolidating NATO membership and strengthening NATO’s presence on its eastern
    flank, consolidating the rule of law and carrying on the fight against
    corruption, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis said. The President said he
    won’t accept the nominations of Lia Olguta Vasilescu for the position of
    Development Minister and Mihai Draghici for the position of Transport Minister
    saying they are both untimely and unlawful, adding he will present his
    motivation next week. We recall in late November last year Klaus Iohannis
    accepted six nominations as part of a reshuffle of the Dancila Cabinet for the
    portfolios of Defense, Labor, Economy, Culture, Communications and Youth and
    Sports, refusing the nominations for Transport and Regional Development. On
    Thursday Iohannis signed the decrees acknowledging the vacation of the two
    positions.




    ROMANIA-MOLDOVA – Romania’s Presidency of the EU Council creates a
    unique opportunity to boost Moldova’s relations with the European Union,
    Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Iurie Leanca, has
    said. He expressed hope that EU-Moldova dialogue would intensify, offering his
    country a clear accession perspective. Iurie Leanca went on to say that he is
    relying on support for the reform process and boosting the implementation of
    projects aimed at interconnecting the energy and infrastructure grids of
    Moldova and Romania.




    TOURISM – Some 12 million tourists visited Romania in the first 11
    months of 2018, up by 6.4% as compared to the same period of 2017, the National
    Statistics Institute reports. Of the total number of arrivals, Romanian
    tourists accounted for 78% of bookings in accommodation units, while foreign
    tourist booking stood at 22%. As regards the number of foreign tourist
    arrivals, Europe was the most visited continent, with 74.6% of bookings, while 85.7%
    of these tourists visited EU Member States. Most tourists who booked a holiday
    last year came from Germany, Israel, Italy, France and the United States. The
    counties with the largest number of tourist arrivals last year in Romania were
    Constanta, Brasov, Cluj and the capital city Bucharest.




    LAW ENFORCEMENT – The total number of law
    enforcement officers in 2016 stood at 1.6 million at EU level, accounting for
    318 police officers per 100,000 inhabitants, a Eurostat report shows. There are
    major differences however between member states, considering Hungary had 90
    police officers per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015, followed by Finland with 137.
    Romania had 242 police officers per 100,000 inhabitants. At the opposite pole
    are Cyprus with 573, Malta with 505 and Greece with 492.




    BORDERS – Some 188 thousand people, both Romanian and foreign
    nationals, have crossed the country’s borders in the last 24 hours, most of
    them leaving the country, the Romanian Border Police has announced. By
    accessing the online app available at www.politiadefrontiera.ro/traficonline, people can see the
    real-time waiting times and traffic for every border crossing point. The Border
    Police has also signaled 27 irregularities and denied access to 13 foreign
    nationals who failed to fulfill legal requirements for entry into the country.
    Additionally the Police has prevented 15 Romanian citizens to leave the country
    for various offences.




    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea was
    knocked out on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Shenzhen tournament in China,
    totalling 750,000 dollars in prize money. She lost 7-5, 6-1 to Alison Riske of
    the US. This was the third consecutive defeat for Cirstea (84 WTA) in direct
    encoutners with Riske (62 WTA). Also on Friday, another Romanian, Monica
    Niculescu (99 WTA), was ousted by Yafan Wang of China (70 WTA), 6-2, 6-7, 1-6.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • January 4, 2018

    January 4, 2018

    PRESIDENCY – Romania’s big objectives in 2019 are EU integration,
    consolidating NATO membership and strengthening NATO’s presence on its eastern
    flank, consolidating the rule of law and carrying on the fight against
    corruption, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis said. The President said he
    won’t accept the nominations of Lia Olguta Vasilescu for the position of
    Development Minister and Mihai Draghici for the position of Transport Minister
    saying they are both untimely and unlawful, adding he will present his
    motivation next week. We recall in late November last year Klaus Iohannis
    accepted six nominations as part of a reshuffle of the Dancila Cabinet for the
    portfolios of Defense, Labor, Economy, Culture, Communications and Youth and
    Sports, refusing the nominations for Transport and Regional Development. On
    Thursday Iohannis signed the decrees acknowledging the vacation of the two
    positions.




    ROMANIA-MOLDOVA – Romania’s Presidency of the EU Council creates a
    unique opportunity to boost Moldova’s relations with the European Union,
    Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Iurie Leanca, has
    said. He expressed hope that EU-Moldova dialogue would intensify, offering his
    country a clear accession perspective. Iurie Leanca went on to say that he is
    relying on support for the reform process and boosting the implementation of
    projects aimed at interconnecting the energy and infrastructure grids of
    Moldova and Romania.




    TOURISM – Some 12 million tourists visited Romania in the first 11
    months of 2018, up by 6.4% as compared to the same period of 2017, the National
    Statistics Institute reports. Of the total number of arrivals, Romanian
    tourists accounted for 78% of bookings in accommodation units, while foreign
    tourist booking stood at 22%. As regards the number of foreign tourist
    arrivals, Europe was the most visited continent, with 74.6% of bookings, while 85.7%
    of these tourists visited EU Member States. Most tourists who booked a holiday
    last year came from Germany, Israel, Italy, France and the United States. The
    counties with the largest number of tourist arrivals last year in Romania were
    Constanta, Brasov, Cluj and the capital city Bucharest.




    LAW ENFORCEMENT – The total number of law
    enforcement officers in 2016 stood at 1.6 million at EU level, accounting for
    318 police officers per 100,000 inhabitants, a Eurostat report shows. There are
    major differences however between member states, considering Hungary had 90
    police officers per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015, followed by Finland with 137.
    Romania had 242 police officers per 100,000 inhabitants. At the opposite pole
    are Cyprus with 573, Malta with 505 and Greece with 492.




    BORDERS – Some 188 thousand people, both Romanian and foreign
    nationals, have crossed the country’s borders in the last 24 hours, most of
    them leaving the country, the Romanian Border Police has announced. By
    accessing the online app available at www.politiadefrontiera.ro/traficonline, people can see the
    real-time waiting times and traffic for every border crossing point. The Border
    Police has also signaled 27 irregularities and denied access to 13 foreign
    nationals who failed to fulfill legal requirements for entry into the country.
    Additionally the Police has prevented 15 Romanian citizens to leave the country
    for various offences.




    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea was
    knocked out on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Shenzhen tournament in China,
    totalling 750,000 dollars in prize money. She lost 7-5, 6-1 to Alison Riske of
    the US. This was the third consecutive defeat for Cirstea (84 WTA) in direct
    encoutners with Riske (62 WTA). Also on Friday, another Romanian, Monica
    Niculescu (99 WTA), was ousted by Yafan Wang of China (70 WTA), 6-2, 6-7, 1-6.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • January 1, 2017 UPDATE

    January 1, 2017 UPDATE

    TENNIS The world’s best tennis player, Simona Halep, on Monday qualified for the round of sixteen of the WTA tournament in Shenzhen, China, which has more than 630 thousand dollars in prize money. The Romanian secured a two-set win, 6-4, 6-1 against US challenger Nicole Gibbs. In the second game of the day, Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania conceded defeat to Maria Sharapova of Russia, while Ana Bogdan also from Romania lost to Camila Giorgi of Italy. On Sunday, Irina Begu outperformed Chinese Fangzhou Liu and qualified for the round of sixteen, whereas Monica Niculescu was eliminated by Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. Irina Begu and Simona Halep have qualified for the tournament’s quarterfinals where they will be playing their compatriots Irina Bara and Mihaela Buzarnescu.



    FORECAST Romania’s National Forecast Committee estimates a 5.5% economic growth for 2018 and a GDP per capita of 10 thousand euros. According to this forecast, household consumption will be 6.2% higher than the value registered in 2017, while the real salary growth will be around 7.7%. International financial institutions have also forecast a significant growth rate of 4.2% for Romania in 2018.



    FISCAL MEASURES As of January 1st 2018, minimum wages in Romania will rise from 300 to 410 euros, the minimum pension will stay at 135 euros and the income tax will go down to 10%. Also spaced-out VAT payment becomes mandatory for companies with overdue debts or in insolvency. At the same time the social insurance contributions will be transferred from employers to employees, which implies the renegotiation of some labour contracts in which some incomes might be diminished. According to the government, suchlike measures will have a positive impact over the GDP, boosting the creation of fresh jobs, raising the employees’ purchasing power at the same time curbing illegal working. However, pundits believe the impact of the aforementioned measures both on the people and business environment cannot be properly assessed at present.



    EU On January 1st Bulgaria took over for the first time in history the EU rotating presidency. The block’s poorest member often criticised for its ineffective crackdown on endemic corruption, Sofia counts on the move to improve its image, France Press reports. Bulgaria, a country that joined the EU in 2007, tries to convince that it is ready to join the Schengen and the Euro zone as well. The Bulgarian presidency unfolds under the motto, ‘unity makes power’ and will be focusing on consensus, competitiveness and cohesion. Its number 1 priority is ‘the young people and Europe’s future’, next comes ‘European prospects and regional cooperation of the countries in Western Balkans’. The third priority is ‘security and stability within a strong and united Europe’ with emphasis on fighting illegal migration while the fourth priority is ‘digital economy and competitiveness’. A very difficult task for Sofia is to broker the Brexit talks. Another objective of the centre-right government headed by Boiko Borisov is to get the Control and Verification Mechanism, which still applies to Romania and Bulgaria, removed.

  • January 1, 2017 UPDATE

    January 1, 2017 UPDATE

    TENNIS The world’s best tennis player, Simona Halep, on Monday qualified for the round of sixteen of the WTA tournament in Shenzhen, China, which has more than 630 thousand dollars in prize money. The Romanian secured a two-set win, 6-4, 6-1 against US challenger Nicole Gibbs. In the second game of the day, Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania conceded defeat to Maria Sharapova of Russia, while Ana Bogdan also from Romania lost to Camila Giorgi of Italy. On Sunday, Irina Begu outperformed Chinese Fangzhou Liu and qualified for the round of sixteen, whereas Monica Niculescu was eliminated by Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. Irina Begu and Simona Halep have qualified for the tournament’s quarterfinals where they will be playing their compatriots Irina Bara and Mihaela Buzarnescu.



    FORECAST Romania’s National Forecast Committee estimates a 5.5% economic growth for 2018 and a GDP per capita of 10 thousand euros. According to this forecast, household consumption will be 6.2% higher than the value registered in 2017, while the real salary growth will be around 7.7%. International financial institutions have also forecast a significant growth rate of 4.2% for Romania in 2018.



    FISCAL MEASURES As of January 1st 2018, minimum wages in Romania will rise from 300 to 410 euros, the minimum pension will stay at 135 euros and the income tax will go down to 10%. Also spaced-out VAT payment becomes mandatory for companies with overdue debts or in insolvency. At the same time the social insurance contributions will be transferred from employers to employees, which implies the renegotiation of some labour contracts in which some incomes might be diminished. According to the government, suchlike measures will have a positive impact over the GDP, boosting the creation of fresh jobs, raising the employees’ purchasing power at the same time curbing illegal working. However, pundits believe the impact of the aforementioned measures both on the people and business environment cannot be properly assessed at present.



    EU On January 1st Bulgaria took over for the first time in history the EU rotating presidency. The block’s poorest member often criticised for its ineffective crackdown on endemic corruption, Sofia counts on the move to improve its image, France Press reports. Bulgaria, a country that joined the EU in 2007, tries to convince that it is ready to join the Schengen and the Euro zone as well. The Bulgarian presidency unfolds under the motto, ‘unity makes power’ and will be focusing on consensus, competitiveness and cohesion. Its number 1 priority is ‘the young people and Europe’s future’, next comes ‘European prospects and regional cooperation of the countries in Western Balkans’. The third priority is ‘security and stability within a strong and united Europe’ with emphasis on fighting illegal migration while the fourth priority is ‘digital economy and competitiveness’. A very difficult task for Sofia is to broker the Brexit talks. Another objective of the centre-right government headed by Boiko Borisov is to get the Control and Verification Mechanism, which still applies to Romania and Bulgaria, removed.