Radio România Internațional

Tag: super-league

Sports Weekend

The Bucharest-based football team FCSB drew 0-0 in their Europa League away game played on Thursday night against the German side Hoffenheim. The Romanian champions, now in the main phase of the competition, have 11 points after 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat. They are in 10^th place, with the stated goal of finishing among the top 8 teams at the end of this stage and going straight to the round of 16.

The atmosphere at the stadium in the small town of Sinsheim, where Hoffenheim plays its home games, was dominated by the Romanian fans. Romania’s champions played fast-paced European football, very different from its performances in the domestic championship. The Bundesliga team dominated, but did not manage to score. FCSB’s defence was good, with dangerous counterattacks and several great opportunities to score missed. The final result was fair and pleased the Romania players.

There is now a break in European competitions, after which FCSB will play the last two matches of the main stage in Europa League. On January 23, they will take on the Azerbaijani team Qarabag, away from home, and then, on the 30^th, they will face Manchester United in Bucharest.

The top eight teams qualify directly for the round of 16, and the teams ranked between 9 and 24 will have to go through play-off matches. Teams that finish between 25 and 36, as well as those that lose the play-off, will be eliminated from the competition.

This weekend, matches are scheduled counting for the Romanian Football Super League, round number 20. On Friday, two games: Botoşani vs Hermannstadt and Dinamo Bucharest vs Poli Iaşi. On Saturday, Oţelul hosts the Arad team UTA in Galaţi, while in Craiova, Universitatea faces Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe. The evening ends with the game in Cluj, pitting Universitatea against Petrolul Ploieşti. On Sunday, in Clinceni, Unirea Slobozia play CFR Cluj, while in Ovidiu, Farul Constanţa meet FCSB. The last match in this round, Rapid Bucharest vs Gloria Buzău, is scheduled for Monday. Universitatea Cluj and FCSB lead the standings, tied on points. (AMP)

13 December 2024
Sports Roundup

All the Romanian players taking part in the Australian Open have left the competition. Victor Cornea, the last of the Romanians to be outplayed, lost the second round of the mens doubles, in which he partnered with Indias Nsriram Balaji. They were defeated on Saturday 6-3, 6-3 by Marcelo Arevalo (El Salvador) and Mate Pavic (Croatia), seeded no 10. On Friday, the last Romanian in the womens doubles had also been left behind: Ana Bogdan (Romania) and Rebeka Masarova (Spain) lost to seed no 6 Desirae Krawczyk (USA) / Ena Shibahara (Japan), 6-3, 6-1, in the second round. The other Romanian players in the womens doubles, Sorana Cîrstea and Monica Niculescu, had lost in the first round.

In the womens handball Champions League, Group A, CSM Bucharest Sunday defeated the Swedish side Sävehof, 35 to 26. The Romanian champions are placed 3rd in the group and are due to play away from home against group leader Györ, in two weeks time. In Group B, Rapid lost away from home to the Danish team Ikast, 29 to 30. Three rounds before the end of the group stage, the Bucharest-based team is ranked 7th, and their next game is at home against Hungarys Ferencváros. The top 2 teams in the group go straight into the quarter-finals, while the teams ranking 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th in each group move into the playoff stage.

In the EHF European Leagues Group C on Saturday, Gloria Bistriţa drew 19-all at home against Nantes. The French side tops the group ranking with 5 points, on a par with second-ranked Gloria, but with a better goal average. Also on Saturday, in Group D, CSM Târgu Jiu took on Sola (Norway). The Scandinavian team won 40 to 29, with CSMs third defeat in a row sending them to the bottom of the group ranking. On Sunday in the competitions Group B, Dunărea Brăila defeated Lokomotiva Zagreb in Croatia, 30 to 29, and stays second in the group ranking, 2 points behind the group leader Thüringer (Germany).

This past weekend saw matches counting towards the 22nd round of the Romanian football Super League. On Friday in Sfântu Gheorghe, Sepsi beat Politehnica Iaşi 6-0, and in Bucharest Rapid outplayed FC U Craiova 4-3. On Saturday, Universitatea Cluj won at home against Hermannstadt 2-1, and Petrolul defeated Dinamo Bucharest 1-0. On Sunday, bottom-ranking FC Botoşani managed a surprising 1-0 win against second-placed CFR Cluj. It was the Botoşani clubs second victory this championship, and the match cost the CFR Cluj coach Andrea Mandorlini his post. Also on Sunday, Farul Constanţa defeated Universitatea Craiova 2-1 away from home. The rounds last 2 matches take place on Monday: FC Voluntari vs Oțelul Galați and FCSB vs UTA Arad.

Bucharests FCSB tops the current standings with 44 points, 8 points ahead of the runner-up CFR Cluj. (AMP)

22 January 2024
RRI Sports Club

A new edition of the Romanian football championships, known as the Super-league, begins on Friday with the best 16 elevens vying for the title. The competition will have two parts, the first consists of the football season per se when all the sides will play each other.

The first half of the season, which kicks off this weekend, has 15 legs and is due to end in November, the second half, with the same number of legs will end in March next year. The first six sides at the end of the first season will met in the play-offs for the title of Champions and for a place in the European Cups. They will play against each other during the first five legs, then they will meet again for the return matches. The champion side will go into the preliminaries of the Champions League and the runner up into the Conference League preliminaries. The third side in the ranking will be playing the best side in the play-out for a place in the Conference League.

What is known in Romania as the play-out competition will bring together the sides on the 7th to the 16th positions at the end of the football season. They will be playing each other in 9 legs. The first two sides will play a tie match and the winner will be taking on the third side in the play-offs for a place in the Conference Leagues preliminaries. The sides on the 9th and 10th positions in the play-out will demote to the second Romanian football league, while those on the 7th and 8th positions will play a tie match against those on 3rd and 4th positions in an attempt to remain in the Super-league.

The Super-leagues latest champion is Farul Constanţa, which will first take on Hermannstadt in Sibiu, central Romania. The newly-promoted Oţelul Galaţi will be playing UTA from Arad, while Poli Iaşi will be up against CFR Cluj on the latters home turf. Dinamo Bucharest, on their own turf will be playing Universitatea Craiova.

In the end we remind you that you can revisit this report on the Internet at rri.ro as well as on Radio Romania Internationals Facebook profile.

(bill)

12 July 2023
Sports Roundup

The Romanian athlete Laura Ilie won the bronze in the 10m air rifle women event of the ISSF World Championship on Saturday in Jakarta, Indonesia. The former European champion got a very good score in the qualifiers, ranking 2nd with 631.4 points, but in the final she came out 3rd, with 260. The gold went to Eszter Meszaros (Hungary), and the silver to Polands Aneta Stankiewicz.

The Australian Open came to a close on Sunday. The winner of the mens competition was Novak Djokovic, and Arina Sabalenka won the womens competition. Of the Romanian participants, the best performance was Elena-Gabriela Ruses. She reached the semi-finals of the womens doubles, together with Marta Kostiuk of Ukraine. They were defeated in the semis by Barbora Krejcikova / Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) seed no 1 and winners of this years final as well. But for Ruse and Kostiuk, this was the best performance in a Grand Slam.

In the Erste Liga, a local ice hockey competition, Sport Club Miercurea Ciuc Sunday defeated the Hungarian side Fehérvár Hockey Académia, 7-3. The Hungarian side also played on Friday, against Corona Braşov, and lost 3-5. Top of the ranking are ACSH Gheorgheni, with 75 points out of 34 matches, followed by Budapest Hockey Académia, with 73 points in 33 matches.

This weekend also saw football games counting towards the 23rd leg of the Romanian Super League. On Friday, Universitatea Cluj drew at home, 0 – 0, against Rapid Bucharest. On Saturday, CS Mioveni defeated UTA Arad, 2-1, while Chindia Târgovişte managed the same score away from home against Petrolul Ploieşti, and Universitatea Craiova beat FC Hermannstadt, 2-0.

On Sunday, FC Botoşani outplayed FC Argeş 2-0 and Farul Constanţa won against FCSB, 3-2 after overtime. The game pitting Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe against FC U Craiova was suspended on 26 minutes by the referee Andrei Chivulete, because of anti-Hungarian slogans chanted by the Craiova fans. It was for the first time that a national football championship match was suspended over extremist slogans. Farul Constanta are top of the tables with 48 points, followed by CFR, with 47. (AMP)

30 January 2023
Sports Roundup

The Romanian athlete Laura Ilie won the bronze in the 10m air rifle women event of the ISSF World Championship on Saturday in Jakarta, Indonesia. The former European champion got a very good score in the qualifiers, ranking 2nd with 631.4 points, but in the final she came out 3rd, with 260. The gold went to Eszter Meszaros (Hungary), and the silver to Polands Aneta Stankiewicz.

The Australian Open came to a close on Sunday. The winner of the mens competition was Novak Djokovic, and Arina Sabalenka won the womens competition. Of the Romanian participants, the best performance was Elena-Gabriela Ruses. She reached the semi-finals of the womens doubles, together with Marta Kostiuk of Ukraine. They were defeated in the semis by Barbora Krejcikova / Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) seed no 1 and winners of this years final as well. But for Ruse and Kostiuk, this was the best performance in a Grand Slam.

In the Erste Liga, a local ice hockey competition, Sport Club Miercurea Ciuc Sunday defeated the Hungarian side Fehérvár Hockey Académia, 7-3. The Hungarian side also played on Friday, against Corona Braşov, and lost 3-5. Top of the ranking are ACSH Gheorgheni, with 75 points out of 34 matches, followed by Budapest Hockey Académia, with 73 points in 33 matches.

This weekend also saw football games counting towards the 23rd leg of the Romanian Super League. On Friday, Universitatea Cluj drew at home, 0 – 0, against Rapid Bucharest. On Saturday, CS Mioveni defeated UTA Arad, 2-1, while Chindia Târgovişte managed the same score away from home against Petrolul Ploieşti, and Universitatea Craiova beat FC Hermannstadt, 2-0.

On Sunday, FC Botoşani outplayed FC Argeş 2-0 and Farul Constanţa won against FCSB, 3-2 after overtime. The game pitting Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe against FC U Craiova was suspended on 26 minutes by the referee Andrei Chivulete, because of anti-Hungarian slogans chanted by the Craiova fans. It was for the first time that a national football championship match was suspended over extremist slogans. Farul Constanta are top of the tables with 48 points, followed by CFR, with 47. (AMP)

30 January 2023
Sports Roundup

The Romanian water polo teams CSM Oradea and
Steaua Bucharest have moved up to the second qualification round of the
Champions League. CSM Oradea won all their matches in the League’s qualifier
Group B, held in Oradea: 10-7 against the Italian side Savona, 12-3 against ASA
Tel Aviv and 12-8 against Galatasaray Istanbul, finishing 1st in
their group. In the Netherlands, in qualifier Group A, Steaua defeated the host
team, Het Ravijn, 15-9, and then beat the Bosnian side Invictum Sarajevo, 29-2.
Two defeats followed: 3-10 against Vasas Budapest, of Hungary, and 11-14 against
Primorac Kotor, of Montenegro. The Romanian champions qualified into the second
round after they came out 3rd in their group.

Romania’s national team won the Carpathians
Trophy in women’s handball, held last week in the town of Bistriţa. Romania
started out with a draw against Austria, 32-all, a match in which they avoided
a defeat by scoring 2 goals in the last minute. Next came a 26-20 win against Serbia,
and in their last match manager Florentin Pera’s team defeated Spain, 25-23 and
finished top of the standings. Romania is training for the EURO 2022, a competition
scheduled to take place between 4 – 20 November in Slovenia, North Macedonia and
Montenegro. Romania is part of Group C, alongside France, the Netherlands and
North Macedonia.

This weekend saw matches counting towards
the 12th round of the Romanian football Super League. On Friday,
Universitatea Craiova drew against FC Voluntari, 1-all, while on Saturday the
other team based in Craiova, FC U, drew away from home against CS Mioveni, 2-all.
Also on Saturday, CFR Cluj won 1-0 against Petrolul Ploieşti. On Sunday,
Hermannstadt had their first defeat this season, 1-2 against Sepsi Sfântu
Gheorghe, Farul Constanţa beat UTA Arad 2-0, and in Bucharest FCSB struggled to
defeat FC Argeş, 3-2. The last 2 matches in this round were scheduled for
Monday: FC Botoşani vs Universitatea Cluj and Chindia Târgovişte vs Rapid
Bucharest. The current leaders in the ranking are Farul, with 27 points,
followed by Rapid, with 24, and Hermannstadt, with 22 points. (AMP)

3 October 2022
Sports Roundup

The Romanian water polo teams CSM Oradea and
Steaua Bucharest have moved up to the second qualification round of the
Champions League. CSM Oradea won all their matches in the League’s qualifier
Group B, held in Oradea: 10-7 against the Italian side Savona, 12-3 against ASA
Tel Aviv and 12-8 against Galatasaray Istanbul, finishing 1st in
their group. In the Netherlands, in qualifier Group A, Steaua defeated the host
team, Het Ravijn, 15-9, and then beat the Bosnian side Invictum Sarajevo, 29-2.
Two defeats followed: 3-10 against Vasas Budapest, of Hungary, and 11-14 against
Primorac Kotor, of Montenegro. The Romanian champions qualified into the second
round after they came out 3rd in their group.

Romania’s national team won the Carpathians
Trophy in women’s handball, held last week in the town of Bistriţa. Romania
started out with a draw against Austria, 32-all, a match in which they avoided
a defeat by scoring 2 goals in the last minute. Next came a 26-20 win against Serbia,
and in their last match manager Florentin Pera’s team defeated Spain, 25-23 and
finished top of the standings. Romania is training for the EURO 2022, a competition
scheduled to take place between 4 – 20 November in Slovenia, North Macedonia and
Montenegro. Romania is part of Group C, alongside France, the Netherlands and
North Macedonia.

This weekend saw matches counting towards
the 12th round of the Romanian football Super League. On Friday,
Universitatea Craiova drew against FC Voluntari, 1-all, while on Saturday the
other team based in Craiova, FC U, drew away from home against CS Mioveni, 2-all.
Also on Saturday, CFR Cluj won 1-0 against Petrolul Ploieşti. On Sunday,
Hermannstadt had their first defeat this season, 1-2 against Sepsi Sfântu
Gheorghe, Farul Constanţa beat UTA Arad 2-0, and in Bucharest FCSB struggled to
defeat FC Argeş, 3-2. The last 2 matches in this round were scheduled for
Monday: FC Botoşani vs Universitatea Cluj and Chindia Târgovişte vs Rapid
Bucharest. The current leaders in the ranking are Farul, with 27 points,
followed by Rapid, with 24, and Hermannstadt, with 22 points. (AMP)

3 October 2022
Sports Flash

Romanian David Popovici on
Wednesday walked away with gold from the 200 meter freestyle race of the World
Junior Swimming Championships in Lima, Peru. Popovici ended the race in 46
seconds and 18 hundredths, a new record for the aforementioned competition. It
was a great summer for the Romanian swimmer who reaped four gold medals in the
200 meter freestyle races of the European and world championships for juniors
and senior swimmers. The medal he won on
Wednesday was the second for David in Lima, after that in the 4×100 meter
freestyle race.

Farul Constanţa and Rapid
Bucureşti are putting more distance between them and the rest of the teams in
the Romanian Football Super-league. After the eighth leg this week, the gap
between the two sides and the rest of the group rose up to four points. Let’s now
have a look at the leg’s main results. On Tuesday, CS Mioveni versus UTA Arad ended
in a one-all draw. Then in Târgu Jiu, southern Romania, FC U Craiova secured a
1-0 win against Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe. In the day’s third game, Rapid obtained
a 1-0 home win against Universitatea Cluj.

On Wednesday in Ploieşti, local
side Petrolul defeated Chindia Târgovişte 3-2, while in Cluj, western Romania,
the local team CFR obtained 4-0 win against FC Voluntari. In Ovidiu on the
Romanian Black Sea coast, Farul Constanţa won their game against FCSB, 3-1. In
the Superleague’s ranking, after Farul and Rapid, each with 18 points, next
comes FC Argeş with 14. Friday will see the first two matches, in the in the
Superleague’s ninth leg, when in Sfantu Gheorghe local side Sepsi pays FC
Mioveni and then Universitatea Cluj on their own turf will be taking on FC U
Craiova.

(bill)

1 September 2022
Sports Flash

Romanian David Popovici on
Wednesday walked away with gold from the 200 meter freestyle race of the World
Junior Swimming Championships in Lima, Peru. Popovici ended the race in 46
seconds and 18 hundredths, a new record for the aforementioned competition. It
was a great summer for the Romanian swimmer who reaped four gold medals in the
200 meter freestyle races of the European and world championships for juniors
and senior swimmers. The medal he won on
Wednesday was the second for David in Lima, after that in the 4×100 meter
freestyle race.

Farul Constanţa and Rapid
Bucureşti are putting more distance between them and the rest of the teams in
the Romanian Football Super-league. After the eighth leg this week, the gap
between the two sides and the rest of the group rose up to four points. Let’s now
have a look at the leg’s main results. On Tuesday, CS Mioveni versus UTA Arad ended
in a one-all draw. Then in Târgu Jiu, southern Romania, FC U Craiova secured a
1-0 win against Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe. In the day’s third game, Rapid obtained
a 1-0 home win against Universitatea Cluj.

On Wednesday in Ploieşti, local
side Petrolul defeated Chindia Târgovişte 3-2, while in Cluj, western Romania,
the local team CFR obtained 4-0 win against FC Voluntari. In Ovidiu on the
Romanian Black Sea coast, Farul Constanţa won their game against FCSB, 3-1. In
the Superleague’s ranking, after Farul and Rapid, each with 18 points, next
comes FC Argeş with 14. Friday will see the first two matches, in the in the
Superleague’s ninth leg, when in Sfantu Gheorghe local side Sepsi pays FC
Mioveni and then Universitatea Cluj on their own turf will be taking on FC U
Craiova.

(bill)

1 September 2022
Sports Weekend

The Romanian men’s handball team Dinamo Bucharest saw
its 3rd defeat in the current Champions’ League season. The Romanian
side lost away from home to Barcelona, 36 – 32, in the 4th leg of
the League’s Group B. Although they never had the lead throughout the game, the
Bucharest team performed rather well against the defending European champions.

In
the other matches in the group, on Wednesday, Kielce defeated Flensburg-Handewitt
37-29, on Thursday FC Porto lost at home to Veszprem 30-23, while Paris
Saint-Germain won against Motor Zaporoje 40-32.

Also on
Thursday, in the National League, Dobrogea Sud Constanța outplayed Steaua Bucharest
at home, 23-18 in a 4th leg match. Thanks to this result, Dobrogea
Sud moved up to 3rd place in the national championship, with Steaua
on 2nd place. Both teams have 15 points out of 6 matches. First
comes Dinamo, with 21 points in 7 matches.

On Saturday
the Romanian Rugby Super-League will see its final standings. In Bucharest, the
Arch of Triumph Arena hosts the 3rd place playoff pitting Dinamo Bucharest
against SCM Timişoara, and in the final
Steaua Bucharest will take on the defending champions, Ştiinţa Baia
Mare. Because of the high COVID 19 infection rate in Bucharest, the Romanian
Rugby Federation decided that the matches will be played without fans in the stadiums.

This
weekend also sees matches in the 12th leg of the Romanian top football
league. One match is scheduled for Friday, Gaz Metan Mediaș vs Dinamo Bucharest,
followed on Saturday by games pitting Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe against FC
Voluntari, and FCSB against CS Mioveni. Three games will take place on Sunday:
FC Argeș vs Farul Constanța in Pitești, UTA vs FC U Craiova 1948 in Arad, and
Rapid Bucharest vs CFR Cluj, in Mioveni. The last 2 games in this leg will be
played on Monday: FC Botoșani vs Chindia Târgoviște and Universitatea Craiova vs
Academica Clinceni.

Cluj are at the top of the current ranking, with 30 points,
followed by FC Botoșani, with 22. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

15 October 2021
Sports Weekend

The Romanian men’s handball team Dinamo Bucharest saw
its 3rd defeat in the current Champions’ League season. The Romanian
side lost away from home to Barcelona, 36 – 32, in the 4th leg of
the League’s Group B. Although they never had the lead throughout the game, the
Bucharest team performed rather well against the defending European champions.

In
the other matches in the group, on Wednesday, Kielce defeated Flensburg-Handewitt
37-29, on Thursday FC Porto lost at home to Veszprem 30-23, while Paris
Saint-Germain won against Motor Zaporoje 40-32.

Also on
Thursday, in the National League, Dobrogea Sud Constanța outplayed Steaua Bucharest
at home, 23-18 in a 4th leg match. Thanks to this result, Dobrogea
Sud moved up to 3rd place in the national championship, with Steaua
on 2nd place. Both teams have 15 points out of 6 matches. First
comes Dinamo, with 21 points in 7 matches.

On Saturday
the Romanian Rugby Super-League will see its final standings. In Bucharest, the
Arch of Triumph Arena hosts the 3rd place playoff pitting Dinamo Bucharest
against SCM Timişoara, and in the final
Steaua Bucharest will take on the defending champions, Ştiinţa Baia
Mare. Because of the high COVID 19 infection rate in Bucharest, the Romanian
Rugby Federation decided that the matches will be played without fans in the stadiums.

This
weekend also sees matches in the 12th leg of the Romanian top football
league. One match is scheduled for Friday, Gaz Metan Mediaș vs Dinamo Bucharest,
followed on Saturday by games pitting Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe against FC
Voluntari, and FCSB against CS Mioveni. Three games will take place on Sunday:
FC Argeș vs Farul Constanța in Pitești, UTA vs FC U Craiova 1948 in Arad, and
Rapid Bucharest vs CFR Cluj, in Mioveni. The last 2 games in this leg will be
played on Monday: FC Botoșani vs Chindia Târgoviște and Universitatea Craiova vs
Academica Clinceni.

Cluj are at the top of the current ranking, with 30 points,
followed by FC Botoșani, with 22. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

15 October 2021