Radio România Internațional

Tag: swimming

Sports Weekend

The Romanian table tennis player Elizabeta Samara won, together with the Polish team Tarnobrzeg, the Champions League, after defeating the French team Metz with the score 3-0, at home, in the second leg of the final. The Polish team also won the first leg, also with the score 3-0. Another member of the Romanian national team, Adina Diaconu, was part of the French team.

Irina Begu stopped in the round of 16 of the WTA 500 tennis tournament in Charleston, the US, which has prizes up for grabs worth almost 800 thousand dollars. Seed no. 15, the Romanian tennis player was defeated in three sets by the main favorite of the contest, the American player Jessica Pegula, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. The match was extremely spectacular. In the second set, Begu came back from 4-0 for Pegula, and in the decisive one, it was the American players turn to come back from the score 0 to 4. The match lasted two and a half hours.

After two days of competition at the National Swimming Championships of Romania in Otopeni, the winner of most medals is the multiple world champion David Popovici. After winning the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke events on Wednesday, he also won a gold medal on Thursday, in the 50-meter butterfly, with a time of 23 seconds and 74 hundredths, which is a new national record. The competition ends on Sunday, and until then, Popovici will compete in the 50-meter backstroke, 100-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle and in several relay events.

On Thursday the names of the last two semifinalists of the Romanian Football Cup became known: Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe and CFR Cluj. In the quarter-finals, Sepsi defeated Mioveni 4-1 at home, and CFR won the match against FC Argeş 1-0 in Cluj. On Wednesday, UTA defeated FC U Craiova 1-0 in Arad, and Universitatea Cluj won the match against Hermannstadt 2-1 in Sibiu. In the semifinals, on April 26, Universitatea Cluj will meet UTA, and Sepsi will face CFR.

The matches of the third stage of the play-off / play-out phase of the Romanian Football Superliga will take place at the weekend. The derby match of the stage takes place on Sunday, in Cluj, between CFR and FCSB. Also in the play-off, on Saturday, Farul Constanţa plays, in Ovidiu, against Universitatea Craiova, and on Monday, Sepsi faces Rapid, in Sfântu Gheorghe. In the ranking, Farul leads, with 36 points, two more than CFR. In the play-out, on Saturday, FC Voluntari will be up against UTA and Universitatea Cluj will take on FC U Craiova. On Sunday, in Ploiesti, Chindia Târgovişte play against Hermannstadt, and FC Botoşani faces FC Argeş at home. The last match of the stage, on Monday, will pit Petrolul Ploiesti against Mioveni. (LS)

7 April 2023
Sports Weekend

The Romanian table tennis player Elizabeta Samara won, together with the Polish team Tarnobrzeg, the Champions League, after defeating the French team Metz with the score 3-0, at home, in the second leg of the final. The Polish team also won the first leg, also with the score 3-0. Another member of the Romanian national team, Adina Diaconu, was part of the French team.

Irina Begu stopped in the round of 16 of the WTA 500 tennis tournament in Charleston, the US, which has prizes up for grabs worth almost 800 thousand dollars. Seed no. 15, the Romanian tennis player was defeated in three sets by the main favorite of the contest, the American player Jessica Pegula, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. The match was extremely spectacular. In the second set, Begu came back from 4-0 for Pegula, and in the decisive one, it was the American players turn to come back from the score 0 to 4. The match lasted two and a half hours.

After two days of competition at the National Swimming Championships of Romania in Otopeni, the winner of most medals is the multiple world champion David Popovici. After winning the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke events on Wednesday, he also won a gold medal on Thursday, in the 50-meter butterfly, with a time of 23 seconds and 74 hundredths, which is a new national record. The competition ends on Sunday, and until then, Popovici will compete in the 50-meter backstroke, 100-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle and in several relay events.

On Thursday the names of the last two semifinalists of the Romanian Football Cup became known: Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe and CFR Cluj. In the quarter-finals, Sepsi defeated Mioveni 4-1 at home, and CFR won the match against FC Argeş 1-0 in Cluj. On Wednesday, UTA defeated FC U Craiova 1-0 in Arad, and Universitatea Cluj won the match against Hermannstadt 2-1 in Sibiu. In the semifinals, on April 26, Universitatea Cluj will meet UTA, and Sepsi will face CFR.

The matches of the third stage of the play-off / play-out phase of the Romanian Football Superliga will take place at the weekend. The derby match of the stage takes place on Sunday, in Cluj, between CFR and FCSB. Also in the play-off, on Saturday, Farul Constanţa plays, in Ovidiu, against Universitatea Craiova, and on Monday, Sepsi faces Rapid, in Sfântu Gheorghe. In the ranking, Farul leads, with 36 points, two more than CFR. In the play-out, on Saturday, FC Voluntari will be up against UTA and Universitatea Cluj will take on FC U Craiova. On Sunday, in Ploiesti, Chindia Târgovişte play against Hermannstadt, and FC Botoşani faces FC Argeş at home. The last match of the stage, on Monday, will pit Petrolul Ploiesti against Mioveni. (LS)

7 April 2023
Sports flash

We begin with news from womens volleyball. In the first leg as part of the CEV womens volleyball cup final this past Wednesday in Targu Mures, Volei Alba Blaj sustained a 1-3 defeat by Italian opponents Scandicci. The return leg is scheduled this coming Wednesday in Florence. For Voli Alba Blaj, the fixture is the fourth European final they have played in the last six years. CSM has played the final confrontation in all European interclub competitions: in the Champions league, in 2018, in the CEV Cup, in 2019 and in the Challenge Cup, in 2021

Romanian tennis player Irina Begu has advanced to the round of 18 of the IWTA 500 tournament in Charleston, the USA, an event with 780, 637 USD in prize money. In the tournaments round of 32, this past Wednesday Begu defeated US challenger Sofia Kenin, 6-1, 6-4. Begu will be given a cheque worth 9,340 USD and will be granted 55 WTA points. In the round of 18, Irina Begu takes on the tournaments top-seeded tennis player, Jessica Pegula, also from the US.

In the debut day of the World Swimming Championships held in Otopnei, the many-time world champion David Popovici on Wednesday won gold in the 50m freestyle event and thin the 100m backstroke event, The competition draws to a close on Sunday. The worlds best swimmer at the moment, Popovici, will also compete in the 50m backstroke event, the 50m butterfly event and in the 100m freestyle event. David Popovici will also compete in the 400m freestyle event and in some of relay events.

Romanian Cup in footballs quarterfinal fixtures are played this week. On Tuesday, UTA Arad grabbed a 1-nil home win against FC U Craiova. On Wednesday, Universitatea Cluj secured a 2 – 1 away win against FC Hermannstadt of Sibiu. The two winning sides will play each other in the semi-finals, on April 26. The last two quarterfinal fixtures are scheduled on Thursday: Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe take on Mioveni, while CFR Cluj play FC Argeş.

6 April 2023
Sports flash

We begin with news from womens volleyball. In the first leg as part of the CEV womens volleyball cup final this past Wednesday in Targu Mures, Volei Alba Blaj sustained a 1-3 defeat by Italian opponents Scandicci. The return leg is scheduled this coming Wednesday in Florence. For Voli Alba Blaj, the fixture is the fourth European final they have played in the last six years. CSM has played the final confrontation in all European interclub competitions: in the Champions league, in 2018, in the CEV Cup, in 2019 and in the Challenge Cup, in 2021

Romanian tennis player Irina Begu has advanced to the round of 18 of the IWTA 500 tournament in Charleston, the USA, an event with 780, 637 USD in prize money. In the tournaments round of 32, this past Wednesday Begu defeated US challenger Sofia Kenin, 6-1, 6-4. Begu will be given a cheque worth 9,340 USD and will be granted 55 WTA points. In the round of 18, Irina Begu takes on the tournaments top-seeded tennis player, Jessica Pegula, also from the US.

In the debut day of the World Swimming Championships held in Otopnei, the many-time world champion David Popovici on Wednesday won gold in the 50m freestyle event and thin the 100m backstroke event, The competition draws to a close on Sunday. The worlds best swimmer at the moment, Popovici, will also compete in the 50m backstroke event, the 50m butterfly event and in the 100m freestyle event. David Popovici will also compete in the 400m freestyle event and in some of relay events.

Romanian Cup in footballs quarterfinal fixtures are played this week. On Tuesday, UTA Arad grabbed a 1-nil home win against FC U Craiova. On Wednesday, Universitatea Cluj secured a 2 – 1 away win against FC Hermannstadt of Sibiu. The two winning sides will play each other in the semi-finals, on April 26. The last two quarterfinal fixtures are scheduled on Thursday: Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe take on Mioveni, while CFR Cluj play FC Argeş.

6 April 2023
January 2, 2023

SWIMMING The Romanian athlete David Popovici was awarded the best
swimmer of the year 2022 title by the well-known website Swimswam.com. The
peak of Popovici’s year came at the 2022 European Championships. There, he
first took down Cesar Cielo’s super-suited world record time of 46.91 in the
100 free, going 46.86. Then, he swam a 1:42.97 in the 200 free, becoming the
third male to break 1:43 behind Paul Biedermann and Michael Phelps and the first
to do so in a textile suit, the website says. David Popovici won the 100 and
200 free at every major long course international meet that he competed at: the
World Championships, the European Championships, the World Junior Championships,
and the European Championships.

RECYCLING
All traders in Romania that sell bottled water, soft drinks or alcoholic drinks
in plastic, glass or metal containers between 100 ml and 3 l are bound to
register within 2 months on the platform of a guarantee-return system (SGR). Otherwise,
they risk fines between EUR 4,000 and EUR 8,000. The authorities want the
system to become operational at the end of November 2023. Shops will also have
to arrange packaging return centres. The prices of drinks will include the
roughly EUR 0.10 packaging guarantee, which consumers will collect when
returning the bottles. Romania will thus have the second-largest return system in
Europe, after Germany, the environment minister Tanczos Barna said recently.

NATO
Western countries must be prepared to provide long-term support to Ukraine as
Russia shows no signs of relenting, NATO’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said.
In an interview to the BBC, Stoltenberg saidmilitary
support would ensure the survival of Ukraine as a sovereign country and force
Russia to sit down and negotiate an end to the war. According to Jens Stoltenberg,
Russia’s partial mobilisation programme, ordered in September, indicated that
Moscow had no desire to end the war, and NATO must make sure that Ukraine stays
in a strong position in the event of negotiation talks between the two sides.

UKRAINE
Russia last night carried on attacks on Ukraine using Iranian-made drones, and
targeting the capital city in particular. Air raid alerts sounded for several
hours, and local authorities say a young man was injured and several buildings
damaged. This is the second consecutive night of heavy Russian missile attacks
on Kyiv, after the massive one on New Year’s night. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian
forces, which destroyed some of the drones, announced having caused substantial
casualties among the Russian troops in Bakhmut, a small town in the east of the
country which has been seeing heavy fighting for several months now. Apparently
170 Russian troops were killed and at least 200 wounded. Moscow has not yet
confirmed the losses, but said its recent attacks targeted buildings where the
Ukrainians were reportedly producing drones.

POPE
Thousands of believers have gathered in Vatican to pay
their respects to the former Pope Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday aged 95
and whose body is lying in state at St Peter’s Basilica ahead of the funeral scheduled
for Thursday. On Sunday Pope Francis paid tribute to his dearest predecessor,
emphasising his sacrifices offered for the good of the Church. Benedict
XVI, who announced his resignation from the papacy in 2013 on account of his
ill health and age, was a highly praised theologian. The funeral will be
presided over by Pope Francis, and it will be the first time in the 2,000-year
long history of the Catholic Church that a Pope will be buried by his successor.

BRAZIL
Brazil’s new president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was sworn in and vowed to rebuild
the country together with the Brazilian people. For his 3rd term in
office as president, Lula da Silva (77) announced plans to strengthen
environment protection and curb famine. He criticised his far-right
predecessor Jair Bolsonaro’s government, arguing
that They emptied the resources for health, dismantled education, culture,
science, and destroyed the environmental protections. Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva governed the country in 2003-2010, when he fought poverty through major
social programmes. However, corruption had deepened during his previous terms
in office, and da Silva himself served time for corruption and money
laundering, although later on the Supreme Court ruled it a mistrial. (AMP)

2 January 2023
The 2022 Sports year, in retrospect (II)

In July 2022, the headline-hitting event of
the month was the Wimbledon tennis tournament, the year’s third Grand Slam
competition, which confirmed that Simona Halep still is Romania’s top-flight
tennis player of all time, Halep was the only Romanian to have reached as far
as the semifinals, given that Romania had seven tennis players on the main
draw. However, Halep conceded defeat to Kazakhstan’s Yelena Rybakina.

Concurrently, the Romanian delegation
walked away with no les than nine medals in the European Juniors’ Swimming Championships
held in Otopnei, nearby Bucharest, of which five were gold. The medals went to
the men’s 4 by 100m relay team, to David
Popovici in the 50, 100, 200m freestyle events and to Vlad Ștefan Stancu, who
came in first in the 1.500m freestyle event.

Also in July at the
World Fencing Championship in Cairo, Iulian Teodosiu a won bronze in the
individual sabre event.

Late in July, tennis
player Ana Bogdan played her first WTA tournament final in Warsaw, sustaining a
defeat by Caroline Garcia.

August 2022 was also eventful in terms of
top-flight performances, At the World Kayak-canoe Championships in Canada, in
the 1000m men’s singles Olympic race Cătălin Chirilă won the world title and
walked home with the solver medal in the 500m race.

At the European Swimming Championships in Rome,
in the 100m event David Popovici clocked 46 seconds and 86 hundredths. Popovici
broke the world record held by the Brazilian Cesar Cielo Filho, who also in
Rome, this time at the World Championships in 2009, clocked 46 seconds and 91
hundredths. We recall that back then the special speed-enhancing swimsuits were
still officially allowed. Popovici was a whisker away from repeating his performance
in the 200m European final. The 200m race defending champion David Popovici claimed
the title in style, clocking one minute, 47 seconds and 97 hundredths, the new Juniors’
European and world record, as well as the record of the competition.

Also in August, the European multi-discipline
sports championships were held in Munich. In athletics, Bianca Ghelber won gold in the hammer-throw
event, with a throw of 72 de meters and 72 de centimetres. Also in Munich, rower
Cătălin Chirilă won gold in the 1,000m men’s singles race and silver in the
500m race.

In table tennis, Bernadette
Szőcs won gold in the women’s doubles, jointly with Austria’s Sofia Polkonova,
din Austria, and silver, in the mixed doubles event, jointly with Ovidiu
Ionescu.

At the World Juniors’ Swimming
Championships held in Lima, in September, Romanbia came in 4th in
the nations’ competition. The Romanian delegation won two gold and two silver medals. Three times did David
Popovici climb onto the first step of the podium, in the 100m freestyle in the
200m race and in the 4 by 100 freestyle relay event.

In tennis, in a Davis Cupo
confrontation, Romania sustained a 1-3 defeat by Slovakia in the World group’s
first round.

Rowing again provided the best results for Romania. At the World Rowing
Championships in Racice, the Czech Republic. Romania came in 3rd in
the nations’ competitions, while Great Britain and Italy were top of the table
and the runner-up team, respectively. Stepping onto the highest step of the
podium was Ionela Cozmiuc in the women’s lightweight event. Also 1st
placed was the men’s double scull crew made of Marius
Cozmiuc and Sergiu Bejan. The gold medal also went to the women’s lightweight pair
crew made of Ancuța Bodnar and Simona Radiș and the women’s coxed eight crew.

A notable WTA 250 tennis tournament was held in Cluj Napoca. It was
the year’s leading professional competition hosted by Romania. Russia’ s Ana
Blinkova emerged as winner, having outclassed Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the
final, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

At the European Under-23 and Juniors’ Weightlifting Championships in
Albania, Romania won 30 de medals, of which 7 were gold, 13 silver and 10 bronze.
In the Under-23 category, gold went to 55-kilogram category competitor Valentin
Iancu, in the snatch and clean-and-jerk styles and in the combined total. In
the juniors’ event, 49-kilogram category competitor Mihaela Cambei also won
gold, in the snatch and clean-and-jerk styles and in the combined total. In
Also in the Juniors’ competition, 45-kilogram competitor Cosmin Isofache won
gold, in the combined total.

At the European Women’s Handball Championships, jointly hosted by Slovenia,
Montenegro and North Macedonia, Romania came in 12th, the same as in
the championship’s previous edition, hosted by Denmark in 2020. Inside-left Romanian
handballer Cristina Neagu was included in the tournament All-Stars team. Ahead
of the 2023 edition of the World Cup Romania’s national rugby team played three
test-matches in Bucharest, defeating Chile, 30-23, then losing to Uruguay, 16 – 21, and Samoa, nil-22.

At the World Weightlifting championship held in
Bogota, Colombia, in December, 71-kilogram-category competitor Loredana Toma won
gold in the snatch style and in the combined total. Toma performed a deadlift
of 119 kilograms in the snatch style, which is the category’s new world record. Also
in December, as part of the World Short-course Swimming Championships in Melbourne,
David Popovici won silver in the 200m freestyle event,
In the 10m freestyle even, Popovici came in 4th and set a new World Juniors’
record. (EN)

28 December 2022
The 2022 Sports year, in retrospect (I)

The post-pandemic
comeback was the buzzword for sports, in 2022. Most of the competitions resumed their usual format, with increasingly fewer restrictions. Sports hierarchies
returned to normal. Fans have returned to stadiums. For most of the countries, the
pandemic eventually became a distant memory.

We recall that in the year’s first major
tennis competition, the Australian Open, one of the top-seeded players, the
Serb Novak Djokovic, was banned from participating in the competition because of
his refusal to take the anti-Covid vaccine. Djokovic was kept in custody and deported
from Australia afterwards. In Melbourne, the Romanian tennis had an all-female participation. The players were Simona Halep, Sorana Cîrstea, Irina Begu,
Jaqueline Cristian and Gabriela Ruse with Halep and Cirstea being best-placed
in the competition, In the round of 16, Halep was defeated by French challenger
Alizé Cornet in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, while Sorana Cîrstea was defeated by
Poland’s Iga Świątek, also in three sets, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

In January 2022, a new head-coach was appointed
at the helm of the national football team. Edward Iordănescu replaced Mirel
Rădoi. In November 2021, Radoi announced he would no longer be at the helm of
the national squad, having failed to qualify to the playoffs for the 2022 of the
World Cup.

In early February, Romania’s national rugby
team in Bucharest, in the first fixture counting towards the Rugby Europe
Championship, defeated Russia, 34-25. Then Romania defeated Portugal, 37-27. In
late February, Romania was defeated by Spain, 21-38. In tennis, Irina Begu
reached as far as the semifinals of the WTA 500 tournament in Sankt Petersburg.
In water polo, Romania qualified to the European Championships in Croatia, in
the men’s as well as in the women’s competition. In the Winter Olympic games in
Beijing, the Romanian delegation’s best position was secured by the sled relay crew
made of Raluca Strămăturaru, Valentin Creţu and the pair made of Marian Gîtlan
and Darius Şerban. In late February, Romanian table tennis player Bernadette
Szőcs came in 3rd in the Europa Top-16 tournament in Montreux,
Switzerland.

In early March, fixtures kick-started, counting towards
the Romanian Football League’s Group 1, with CFR Cluj moving 7 points clear of the runner-up team, FCSB. In tennis, in Marbella, Romania’s men’s team sustained
a 1-3 defeat by Spain, in a confrontation counting towards the qualifying playoffs
ahead of the Davis Cup final tournament. Marius Copil and Horia Tecău provided
the only point for the Romanian delegation, defeating Alejandro Davidovich
Fokina and Pedro Martinez 7-6, 6-4. Also in tennis, Simona Halep regained her
position among the world’s top 20 tennis players. Previously, Halep reached as
far as the semifinals of the 1, 000 Indian Wells tournament. In rugby, the Romanian national team came in 3rd
as part of the Rugby Europe Championship 2022. Georgia was at the top of the
table, followed by Spain, the same as in the last two year’s combined rankings
that secured the qualification to the World Cup 2023. However, Spain was subsequently
disqualified, having used an ineligible player, while Romania,, which was
supposed to go through the repechage, will go straight to the World Cup.

In April, in the World Wrestling Championships
in Budapest, the Romanian athletes walked away with four medals. In the
55-kilogram category, Andreea Ana won gold, while Alina Vuc and Kriszta Incze won
bronze in the 50 and the 65-kilogram category, respectively. In the men’s version
of the competition, in the 87-kilogram category, Nicu Ojog won silver in the Greco-Roman
style. The Romanian ice-hockey team Sport Club Miercurea Ciuc won the Erste
Liga regional competition Erste Liga for the second consecutive year. In the
Billie Jean King Cup’s women’s team qualifiers, in Radom, Poland defeated Romania,
4-nil. Also in April, the Romanian women’s national handball team qualified to
the European championship, jointly hosted by Slovenia, North Macedonia and Montenegro.

In May 2022, the Romanian delegation competing
in the European Judo Championship was unable to bring a medal back home. The delegation’s
best result was provided by Adrian Sulca, who came in 5th in the 73-kilogram
category. In women’s handball, in a tie counting towards the Champions League’s
quarterfinals, CSM Bucharest was eliminated by Denmark’s Team Esbjerg. In
football, for the fifth consecutive edition and for the eighth time in the club’s
history, CFR from Cluj won the Romanian domestic championship title. In the World’s
Women’s Boxing Championships in Istanbul, Lacramioara Perijoc won silver, in
the 54-kilogram category. In the European Championships held in Armenia’s
Yerevan, in the 86-kilogram category Andrei Paul Arădoaie walked home with the silver medal. It was the first European-level medal for
Romanian boxing since 2015.

In June 2022, the 18-year-old Romanian
swimmer David Popovici grabbed everyone’s attention. As an absolute first for Romanian
swimming, Popovici won two world titles in Budapest, in the 100m and 200m freestyle
events. (EN)

27 December 2022
Athlete of the Week

The FINA World Swimming Championships also known Short Course Worlds came to an end on Sunday, in Melbourne, Australia. Romania was represented by three athletes: David Popovici, in the freestyle speed competitions, in which he holds several world titles, Robert Glința, a former European champion in the 100 meter backstroke event, and Andrei Anghel, one of the most promising swimmers of the young generation. Popovici had the best performance, winning the silver medal in the 200 meter freestyle, which is why Radio Romania International designated him the Athlete of the Week.

In Melbourne, David Popovicis stated goal was to qualify for a final. In the 400 meter freestyle competition, he did not pass the heats. He made up for it in the 100m freestyle, where he qualified for the final, in which he finished 4th, setting a new junior world record. In the 200 meter freestyle he did even better. He finished second behind Koreas Sunwoo Hwang, who had an excellent day and set a new competition record.

David Popovici was born in Bucharest, on September 15, 2004. He stood out in the junior competitions last year, when, at the European Championships in Rome, he won the 200m, 100m and 50m freestyle competitions, in the last one also setting a world junior record. He later broke world junior records in both the 100m and 200m freestyle events. He qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, where he ranked fourth in the 200m freestyle event at a difference of two hundredths of a second from the 3rd placed swimmer. In the senior competitions, he won his first major title in November 2021 when, in Kazan, Russia, he became the European champion in the 200m freestyle event. In June, at the World Swimming Championships in Budapest, he won the 100m and 200m freestyle competitions. At the European Championships in Rome, he broke the world record in the 100m freestyle event, and in the 200 meters he recorded the best time in a textile swimsuit in the history of the event. (LS)

20 December 2022
Athlete of the Week

The FINA World Swimming Championships also known Short Course Worlds came to an end on Sunday, in Melbourne, Australia. Romania was represented by three athletes: David Popovici, in the freestyle speed competitions, in which he holds several world titles, Robert Glința, a former European champion in the 100 meter backstroke event, and Andrei Anghel, one of the most promising swimmers of the young generation. Popovici had the best performance, winning the silver medal in the 200 meter freestyle, which is why Radio Romania International designated him the Athlete of the Week.

In Melbourne, David Popovicis stated goal was to qualify for a final. In the 400 meter freestyle competition, he did not pass the heats. He made up for it in the 100m freestyle, where he qualified for the final, in which he finished 4th, setting a new junior world record. In the 200 meter freestyle he did even better. He finished second behind Koreas Sunwoo Hwang, who had an excellent day and set a new competition record.

David Popovici was born in Bucharest, on September 15, 2004. He stood out in the junior competitions last year, when, at the European Championships in Rome, he won the 200m, 100m and 50m freestyle competitions, in the last one also setting a world junior record. He later broke world junior records in both the 100m and 200m freestyle events. He qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, where he ranked fourth in the 200m freestyle event at a difference of two hundredths of a second from the 3rd placed swimmer. In the senior competitions, he won his first major title in November 2021 when, in Kazan, Russia, he became the European champion in the 200m freestyle event. In June, at the World Swimming Championships in Budapest, he won the 100m and 200m freestyle competitions. At the European Championships in Rome, he broke the world record in the 100m freestyle event, and in the 200 meters he recorded the best time in a textile swimsuit in the history of the event. (LS)

20 December 2022
December 15, 2022 UPDATE

JHA – The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, expressed, on Thursday, her disappointment with last week’s vote in the Justice and Home Affairs Council of the EU, following which Romania and Bulgaria were not admitted to the Schengen Area. The European Union has proven, in time, that it can remove any barriers and bring people together – said Roberta Metsola in her speech at the beginning of the Brussels meeting of the European Council. She also stated that the Union could do this even now, if it had the courage to take political decisions to maintain the European construction. According to official sources, quoted by Radio Romania, President Klaus Iohannis thanked for the strong support of the European Parliament and the overwhelming majority of member states. On the sidelines of the Council, President Iohannis discussed with community leaders, to explain them the unfair situation in which Romania finds itself and the need to find a solution for admission to the Schengen Area.

OECD – Romania submitted, on Thursday, at the Paris-based headquarters of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the initial memorandum regarding its accession to this structure. The document was handed to the Secretary General of the OECD, Mathias Cormann, by Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă, who is on a working visit to the French capital. Currently, the OECD has 38 member states, representing established democracies and consolidated economies. Together, the OECD member states provide about 70% of the global production and trade and 90% of the worlds foreign direct investments. The OECD facilitates the exchange of experience and good practices between countries and makes available to them its own data, analyzes and expertise regarding the establishment of public policies.

Protests – The Federation of Free Trade Unions in Romanian Education continues its protest actions started last week. The employees are dissatisfied with the authorities failure to grant the pay increase for working conditions and overtime. At the same time, they are asking for the index-linking of salaries to cover the inflation rate. On Thursday, the education trade unionists protested in front of the prefects offices in several cities of the country, including Galati (southeast) and Vaslui (east). On the other hand, in Bucharest, policemen and penitentiary workers took to the streets in front of the Finance Ministry. They request the full payment of outstanding salary differences, the updating of food and equipment standards, as well as the indexation of military pensions and salaries.

Swimming – The Romanian swimmer David Popovici ranked fourth, on Thursday, with a time of 45 sec and 64/100, in the 100 m freestyle final of the World Short Course Swimming Championships in Melbourne. Popovici, the world champion in the Olympic pool event, was only seven hundredths of a second away from the bronze medal, but he set a new junior world record, breaking the one set on Wednesday, in the semi-finals (45 sec and 91/100). He will also participate, in Melbourne, in the 200m freestyle, after failing to pass the heats in the 400m freestyle. Also on Thursday and also in Melbourne, another Romanian, Andrei Anghel, qualified for the semifinals of the 50m backstroke event, after being recorded with the seventh time of the series, 23 sec and 12/100. Romania is represented by three swimmers at the World Championships in Australia.

Energy – The leadership of the National Energy Regulatory Authority met, on Thursday, with the representatives of the electricity suppliers in Romania, to explain them how the new price cap law is applied. The law will enter into force on January 1 next year. The suppliers claim that almost 9 million Romanians should submit applications to benefit from capped tariffs, while the Authority says that the number is much lower. The institution points out that each customer can automatically benefit, without any other formalities, from the capping of bills for one single household, if they do not exceed the consumption levels provided by law. (LS)

15 December 2022
Sports Flash

At the 16th FINA World Swimming
Championships (25 m) in Melbourne, the Romanian swimmer David Popovici came out
4th in the 100m freestyle final with 45.64, a new world junior record.
First came the Australian athlete Kyle Chalmers. David Popovici is the
defending 100m freestyle world champion and holder of the world record in this
event.

In men’s basketball, on Wednesday in Riga, Latvia, the
Romanian side U-BT Cluj-Napoca was defeated by the Ukrainian team Prometey
Slobozhanske 105-82, in the EuroCup Group A. After 8 games, the Romanian
champions are ranking 8th, with 6 points. In the FIBA Europe Cup,
CSM Oradea beat the German side Bamberg on home turf, 82 – 80, in the first
match in Group L. In Group I of the same competition, SCM Craiova was defeated
at home by FC Porto, 83-73. Also worth noting is that the women’s team Baschet
Club Arad ended its participation in the EuroCup with a defeat. The Romanian
team was defeated in Poland by Arka Gdynia 87-53 and ranked last in the group D
of the competition.

Arcada Galaţi qualified in the play-offs of the CEV Cup
in men’s volleyball, after beating the Finnish side Savo Volley Kuopio 3-1, on
Wednesday at home, in the second leg of the round of 16. The Romanian champions
had already won in Finland, 3-1. In the play-off, Arcada will be facing the
Italian side Piacenza, which in the round of 16 defeated Fenerbahce Istanbul, 3-1
in both legs.

In women’s volleyball, on Wednesday, in the first leg
of the round of 32 of the CEV Cup, CSO Voluntari lost in Poland to Budowlani
Lodz, 3-0. In the Challenge Cup, also in the round of 32, the first leg, CSM Lugoj lost a dramatic match away from
home to PTT Ankara, 3-2.

On Wednesday, in a game counting towards round 20 of
the Romanian football SuperLeague, Rapid București beat Petrolul Ploiești on
the National Arena in Bucharest, 3-1. Two of Rapid’s goals were scored by the
Croatian player Marko Duganzic, and one by Ștefan Pănoiu, in overtime. Gheorghe
Grozav scored for the Ploiesti side. Top of the ranking at present is Farul
Constanța, with 44 points, followed by CFR, with 41 points. (AMP)

15 December 2022
Sports Flash

At the 16th FINA World Swimming
Championships (25 m) in Melbourne, the Romanian swimmer David Popovici came out
4th in the 100m freestyle final with 45.64, a new world junior record.
First came the Australian athlete Kyle Chalmers. David Popovici is the
defending 100m freestyle world champion and holder of the world record in this
event.

In men’s basketball, on Wednesday in Riga, Latvia, the
Romanian side U-BT Cluj-Napoca was defeated by the Ukrainian team Prometey
Slobozhanske 105-82, in the EuroCup Group A. After 8 games, the Romanian
champions are ranking 8th, with 6 points. In the FIBA Europe Cup,
CSM Oradea beat the German side Bamberg on home turf, 82 – 80, in the first
match in Group L. In Group I of the same competition, SCM Craiova was defeated
at home by FC Porto, 83-73. Also worth noting is that the women’s team Baschet
Club Arad ended its participation in the EuroCup with a defeat. The Romanian
team was defeated in Poland by Arka Gdynia 87-53 and ranked last in the group D
of the competition.

Arcada Galaţi qualified in the play-offs of the CEV Cup
in men’s volleyball, after beating the Finnish side Savo Volley Kuopio 3-1, on
Wednesday at home, in the second leg of the round of 16. The Romanian champions
had already won in Finland, 3-1. In the play-off, Arcada will be facing the
Italian side Piacenza, which in the round of 16 defeated Fenerbahce Istanbul, 3-1
in both legs.

In women’s volleyball, on Wednesday, in the first leg
of the round of 32 of the CEV Cup, CSO Voluntari lost in Poland to Budowlani
Lodz, 3-0. In the Challenge Cup, also in the round of 32, the first leg, CSM Lugoj lost a dramatic match away from
home to PTT Ankara, 3-2.

On Wednesday, in a game counting towards round 20 of
the Romanian football SuperLeague, Rapid București beat Petrolul Ploiești on
the National Arena in Bucharest, 3-1. Two of Rapid’s goals were scored by the
Croatian player Marko Duganzic, and one by Ștefan Pănoiu, in overtime. Gheorghe
Grozav scored for the Ploiesti side. Top of the ranking at present is Farul
Constanța, with 44 points, followed by CFR, with 41 points. (AMP)

15 December 2022
Sports roundup

Romanian women’s handball team Rapid
Bucharest this past Sunday secured a most remarkable win in the Champ[ions
league’s Group B. On home court, holders Rapid outclassed the strong Hungarian
team Győr, 30 – 27. Rapid’s most efficient scorers were Sorina Grozav and Eliza
Buceschi, with 7 goals each. Rapid are 4th-placed in Group B, with
one point less than top-of-the-table team, Metz Handball of France. On Saturday, in the League’s Group A, CSM
Bucharest defeated Hungary’s Ferencvàros away from home, 33 – 29. With 6 goals
scored, Crina Pintea was CSM’s most efficient scorer.
CSM Bucharest are the runner-up team in the group, on a par with top-of-the-table
team, Norway’s Vipers Kristiansand. In the European League, only one Romanian
team reached as far as the competition’s group stage. In the second leg as part
of the third preliminary round, this past Sunday on home court SCM Râmnicu
Vâlcea grabbed a 32-24 win against Swedish opponents Höör.
We recall SCM had also defeated Höör. away from home, 31 – 24. Măgura Cisnădie and Gloria Buzău have been
eliminated from the competition.

The World
Weightlifting Championships are underway in Bogota, Colombia. Romania entered
four athletes in the women’s version of the competition and two other in the men’s
version of the championships. So far, only one athlete has won a medal for the
Romanian delegation. In the 49-kilogram category, Mihaela
Cambei walked away with silver in the snatch style.

In Melbourne, Australia, the Short Course Worlds kick-starts this coming
Tuesday. David Popovici, Robert Glinţă and Andrei Anghel are the three swimmers
representing Romania in the competition. In 2021, in Russia’s Kazan, Popovici won
gold in the 200m freestyle event. In was Romania’s first European title in a
short course competition. Also in short-course European competitions, Glinţă won
gold in the 100m backstroke event . Robert Glinta also won a bronze medal in
the 50m backstroke and two other bronze medals, in the 100m backstroke events. In
2021, Robert Glinta won bronze in the Short Course Worlds in Abu Dhabi, in the 100m backstroke
event.

Steaua Bucharest has
won The Romanian Cup in rugby. In this past Sunday’s final hosted by the
Triumphant Arch National rugby Stadium in Bucharest, Steaua outclassed holders
SCM Timisoara, 25-23. Steaua’s game against SCM was also the last match in international
rugby player Florin Vlaicu’s career. We recall Vlaicu is one of the world’s few
rugby players who scored more than 1,000 points for their national teams.

In news from football, as part of the
Romanian Superleague’s 20th round, on Friday, Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe and FC Voluntari drew,
1-all, one the former team’s turf. In Sibiu FC Hermannstadt grabbed a 4-nil win
against the leader, Farul Constanţa on Saturday. On Sunday, the match pitting U
Cluj against UTA ended in a blank draw, while CFR Cluj were held to a 1-all
draw by FC Botosani, on the latter team’s turf. Also on Sunday, in Ploiesti, FCSB
defeated Chindia Târgovişte 2-nil. On Wednesday, Rapid Bucharest take on
Petrolul Ploiesti. With 44 points, Farul are the leaders in the rankings. CFR
are the runner-up team, with 44 points. (EN)

12 December 2022
Sports roundup

Romanian women’s handball team Rapid
Bucharest this past Sunday secured a most remarkable win in the Champ[ions
league’s Group B. On home court, holders Rapid outclassed the strong Hungarian
team Győr, 30 – 27. Rapid’s most efficient scorers were Sorina Grozav and Eliza
Buceschi, with 7 goals each. Rapid are 4th-placed in Group B, with
one point less than top-of-the-table team, Metz Handball of France. On Saturday, in the League’s Group A, CSM
Bucharest defeated Hungary’s Ferencvàros away from home, 33 – 29. With 6 goals
scored, Crina Pintea was CSM’s most efficient scorer.
CSM Bucharest are the runner-up team in the group, on a par with top-of-the-table
team, Norway’s Vipers Kristiansand. In the European League, only one Romanian
team reached as far as the competition’s group stage. In the second leg as part
of the third preliminary round, this past Sunday on home court SCM Râmnicu
Vâlcea grabbed a 32-24 win against Swedish opponents Höör.
We recall SCM had also defeated Höör. away from home, 31 – 24. Măgura Cisnădie and Gloria Buzău have been
eliminated from the competition.

The World
Weightlifting Championships are underway in Bogota, Colombia. Romania entered
four athletes in the women’s version of the competition and two other in the men’s
version of the championships. So far, only one athlete has won a medal for the
Romanian delegation. In the 49-kilogram category, Mihaela
Cambei walked away with silver in the snatch style.

In Melbourne, Australia, the Short Course Worlds kick-starts this coming
Tuesday. David Popovici, Robert Glinţă and Andrei Anghel are the three swimmers
representing Romania in the competition. In 2021, in Russia’s Kazan, Popovici won
gold in the 200m freestyle event. In was Romania’s first European title in a
short course competition. Also in short-course European competitions, Glinţă won
gold in the 100m backstroke event . Robert Glinta also won a bronze medal in
the 50m backstroke and two other bronze medals, in the 100m backstroke events. In
2021, Robert Glinta won bronze in the Short Course Worlds in Abu Dhabi, in the 100m backstroke
event.

Steaua Bucharest has
won The Romanian Cup in rugby. In this past Sunday’s final hosted by the
Triumphant Arch National rugby Stadium in Bucharest, Steaua outclassed holders
SCM Timisoara, 25-23. Steaua’s game against SCM was also the last match in international
rugby player Florin Vlaicu’s career. We recall Vlaicu is one of the world’s few
rugby players who scored more than 1,000 points for their national teams.

In news from football, as part of the
Romanian Superleague’s 20th round, on Friday, Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe and FC Voluntari drew,
1-all, one the former team’s turf. In Sibiu FC Hermannstadt grabbed a 4-nil win
against the leader, Farul Constanţa on Saturday. On Sunday, the match pitting U
Cluj against UTA ended in a blank draw, while CFR Cluj were held to a 1-all
draw by FC Botosani, on the latter team’s turf. Also on Sunday, in Ploiesti, FCSB
defeated Chindia Târgovişte 2-nil. On Wednesday, Rapid Bucharest take on
Petrolul Ploiesti. With 44 points, Farul are the leaders in the rankings. CFR
are the runner-up team, with 44 points. (EN)

12 December 2022
September 5, 2022

School – Almost 3 million pre-school and school children in Romania started a new school year on Monday in over 17,800 units across the country. The 2022-2023 school year will have 36 school weeks divided into five modules, separated by five mini holidays. End-of-semester tests will no longer be mandatory and there will be only one grade point average, an annual one, instead of semester grade point averages for each subject. Refurbishing works are unfinished in several schools while others lack fire safety certificates.

London — The presdient of the EC, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was looking forward to a constructive relationship with Liz Truss, the future British PM, in full respect of the agreemnets between the EU and the UK. The Romanian PM Nicoale Ciuca also congratulated the leader of the British Conservative Party Liz Truss for her success in the internal elections. Lizz Truss won against Rishi Sunak in the internal competition within the British Conservative Party after the resignation of the Prime Minister Boris Johnson. A foreign minister in the Johnson government, Liz Truss will be sworn in as prime minister on Tuesday, after being received by Queen Elizabeth II, occasion on which the acting prime minister will also come to present his resignation. Boris Johnson announced his resignation in July, after he had resisted for a long time challengers from his own party and the scandals overshadowed, for a while, by the war Russia started against Ukraine on February 24. Since then, he has stood out thanks to his firm support for Kyiv, especially the military aid offered. At domestic level, the British are waiting for consistent economic measures to help the population in winter, given that utility prices will be three times higher than last winter, and that inflation has exceeded 10%, Radio Romania’s correspondent to London reports.

Swimming – Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă congratulated Romanian athletes Bianca Costea, David Popovici and Vlad Stancu for their performances at the World Junior Swimming Championships from Lima, Peru. The Romanian PM wrote in a Facebook post that the three are “an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the more than three million children and young people who started the new school year”. “We are proud of our team that made known the Romanian anthem at the world competition for juniors in Lima”, Nicolae Ciucă also stated. On Sunday, on the last day of the competition, David Popovici won the gold in the 100m freestyle, Bianca Costea won gold in the 50m freestyle, and Vlad Stancu won the bronze medal in the 1,500 m freestyle event. Romania took 4th place in the medal ranking at the Junior World Championships, with 4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals. Gold was won by the mens 4×100 m freestyle relay team (David Popovici, Alexandru Constantinescu, Ştefan Cozma, Patrick Sebastian Dinu), David Popovici won gold in the 200m and 100m freestyle and Bianca Costea in the 50m freestyle. The Romanian swimmers ended a summer full of performances, with David Popovici being the star. He won the 100m and 200m events both at the Senior World Championships in Budapest and at the Senior European Championships in Rome.

Accord – The European Commission and Ukraine on Monday signed an agreement regarding a 500 million-Euro aid for housing and education for displaced people, as well as for agriculture in the war-ravaged country, AFP reports. This funding, announced by the EC on the sidelines of a meeting of the EU-Ukraine Association Council in Brussels, attended by the Ukrainian Prime Minister Denîs Shmîgal, is part of the European commitments announced this spring. “Electricity exports from Ukraine can replace considerable volumes of Russian gas imports,” said the head of the Ukrainian government. At the same time, he added that, “Ukraine has the largest underground gas storage facilities and could become the gas shelf’ of Europe.” Meanwhile, the price of gas in Europe rose by 30% on Monday, after Russia announced that gas delivery through the Nord Stream gas pipeline remained halted indefinitely, increasing fears of disruptions and the rationalization of gas this winter in the EU – Reuters reports.

Commemoration — On behalf of Germany, the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has apologized to the relatives of the Israeli victims of the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage-taking, assuming responsibility for the various “failures” that accompanied the tragedy, as part of Monday’s commemoration of the attack. On September 5, 1972, members of the Palestinian organization Black September entered an apartment of the Israeli delegation in the Olympic Village, killing two Israeli athletes and taking hostage nine other members of the delegation hoping to obtain an exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The intervention of the German security services ended with the death of all the hostages, a bloody denouement for which the West German authorities were partially responsible. Five Palestinian attackers were shot dead and three others were arrested. The Scholz government agreed to unlock the sum of 28 million Euros for compensations. Documents will also be declassified to allow German and Israeli historians to have a better understanding of what happened. The Israeli President Isaac Herzog, present at the commemoration of the attack, expressed hope that the agreement would bring this painful episode to a point of healing.

Moldova – The President of the neighboring Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet with a majority Romanian-speaking population), Maia Sandu, convened a meeting of the Supreme Security Council on Monday in which two main topics were analyzed: the procrastination of high corruption cases and the numerous false bomb alerts of the recent period. After the meeting, Maia Sandu spoke, in a press release, about the measures that must be taken to increase peoples trust in the judiciary, but also about the need to stop the phenomenon of leaking information from pending criminal cases, which, she says, harms investigations. Referring to the multiple false bomb alerts, Maia Sandu said that these were the actions of elements that aim to increase the degree of anxiety in society. (LS)

5 September 2022