Radio România Internațional

Tag: table tennis

  • RRI Sports Club

    RRI Sports Club

    In the second half of last century Romania used to boast some of the world’s best table tennis players. Between 1957 and 1975, Maria Alexandru, for instance, reaped 12 medals in world championships, three gold, five silver and four bronze.

    Asia came back with a vengeance in recent years though and its players became better and better preventing their European counterparts from making it to the competitions’ final stages.

    In men’s world rankings, for instance, only three non-Asians are among the top ten players, a Frenchman, a Brazilian and a Swede. In women’s competition though, the top 13 players are from Asia. Next after these top 13 players comes an athlete from Romania, namely, Bernadette Szőcs, currently ranking 14th, followed by Austrian Sofia Polcanova, who was born in the Republic of Moldova.

    Several days ago, in the mixed contest of the World Cup held in Chengdu, China, the Romanian side exceeded all expectations and came fourth.

    The Romanians secured wins against the teams of Taiwan, and Singapore and lost to South Korea.

    In the second stage they clinched an 8-3 win against France, 8-0 against the USA and 8-2 with Japan. Then our athletes won 8-5 against Germany but lost to China 0-8. Thus Romania managed to make it to the semifinals for the first time. Last year we recall that Romania was stopped in its tracks in the competition’s first stage.

    The Romanians took on China for a place in the finals but lost 8-1. The only Romanian point was obtained by the mixed pair Ovidiu Ionescu / Bernadette Szőcs.

    The two won a set out of the three they played against the world’s best pair made up of Chuqin Wang şi Yingsha Sun. The Romanians also lost the battle for the third position to Hong Kong.

    (bill)

  • Athlete of the Week – Table Tennis Player Bernadette Szőcs

    Athlete of the Week – Table Tennis Player Bernadette Szőcs

    In recent decades, table tennis has been dominated by athletes from Asia. Very few players from Europe have managed to enter the rankings or win medals in world and Olympic competitions. The Champions Tournament made no exception, a competition that factors in the competitive season and brings together the best 16 singles players each year, along with the best eight teams, both men’s and women’s. This year, the competition took place in Kitakyushu, Japan. Europe was represented in the women’s competition only by the Austrian player of Moldovan origin, Sofia Polcanova, ranked 14th in the world, as well as by Bernadette Szőcs, world number 17. The Romanian representative was able to enter the competition following the withdrawal of the Chinese Meng Cheng, the reigning Olympic champion.

     

    In the round of 16, Bernadette ousted Japan’s Hina Hayata, the fourth seed, 3-1. It took her 34 minutes to beat the world number five. She then produced another stellar performance in the quarterfinals, defeating another home team player, Satsuki Odo, the world number eight, 3-0 in just 20 minutes. The Romanian was, however, stopped on her way to the final by China’s Manyu Wang, the second seed and world number two. Bernadette was trailing 3-0 in sets, but she made a spectacular comeback, restoring the tie, 3-3, but Wang prevailed in the final set, at the end of nearly an hour of playtime. The Romanian won the bronze medal, which is why Radio Romania International has designated her Athlete of the Week.

     

    Bernadette Szőcs was born March 5, 1995, in Târgu Mureş (central Romania). She took up sports at the age of 8. The first results in cadet and junior competitions came relatively quickly. Bernadette won several medals in European and world competitions, quickly climbing the international rankings. In 2016, at the European Championships in Budapest, she won bronze in the mixed doubles, alongside Ovidiu Ionescu. A year later, at the European championships in Luxembourg, she won her first European trophy, with the Romanian team. In 2018, in Montreux, Switzerland, she won the European Top 16 tournament, a competition addressing the best players in Europe. A year later, in Nantes, France, she became European champion again with the Romanian team. In Munich, in 2022, she won the European title in women’s doubles, together with Sofia Polcanova, and won silver in mixed doubles, together with Ovidiu Ionescu. At the Paris Olympics this year, in the singles competition, she reached the round of 16, losing to Polcanova. In the mixed doubles, she ranked 5 together with Ovidiu Ionescu. (VP)

  • September 7, 2024 UPDATE

    September 7, 2024 UPDATE

    CYBERCRIME Two crime rings specialized in IT crimes and money laundering have been dismantled in a joint operation involving the Romanian prosecutors from the Direction of Fighting Organised Crime and Terrorism, DIICOT, and the legal authorities in the United States of America. A specialized network made up of Romanian and Bulgarian citizens was set up in California in 2021. By means of sophisticated equipment, the network used to copy data from cards belonging to US citizens, which they used to extract cash. The total damage caused stood at over one million dollars and part of the money went to Romania by means of money transfer systems or among the goods transported by couriers. In Romania, members of a second group, specialized in money laundering, took over the money investing it. Tens of thousands Euros and dollars have been identified and seized during various search operations conducted in Romania.

     

    FILM ‘The New Year that Never Came’ directed, written and produced by Romanian film director Bogdan Muresanu has been awarded two prizes at the International Film Festival in Venice: the FIPRESCI award offered by the jury of the International Federation of Film Critics and Bisato d’Oro 2024 for the best script offered by independent film critics. ‘The film culminates with a profound exploration of human behavior influenced by the fear of political reprisals, shared by several generations who lived under a totalitarian regime. We appreciate this film for its focused political vision, the sophisticated and dynamic plot, the balanced tones and exceptional cast” – the FIPRESCI jury said. DoP Boroka Biro got the special mention for picture Premio Autrici under 40 ‘Valentina Pedicini’, an award which acknowledges the talent of a director under 40 years old for a remarkable performance in film direction, script or picture.

     

    FOOTBALL Romania’s national football side secured a 3-0 win against Kosovo in Pristina on Friday night, the first game in their Nations League’s Group C2. In the same group, Cyprus clinched a one-nil win against Lithuania. These are the national side’s first matches with the former Romanian football legend and great coach, Mircea Lucescu, at the helm. Lucescu went back to the national side after 38 years. He also coached Romania’s national eleven between 1981 and 1986, when they qualified for the European Championships in France in 1984. At that time only eight European sides used to go to the final tournament. Under the guidance of Lucescu, numerous football clubs from Romania, Turkey and Ukraine won their national championships. Another side that he coached Galatasaray Istanbul claimed the UEFA Cup in the year 2000. At the age of 79 Lucescu is the oldest headcoach of a national football side.

     

    SPORT Romania’s table tennis player Camelia Ciripan obtained bronze in the singles of the tennis competition of the summer Paralympics in Paris after losing to Marina Litovcenko 3-0, in the semifinals, the National Agency for Sport has announced. Camelia Ciripan, 45, who was designated athlete of the year 2022 in the Romanian Paralympic Sports, following the bronze medal she won at the world championships in Spain, was Romania’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the Paris Paralympics. Her success comes a day after the gold medal obtained by Romanian judoka Florin-Alexandru Bologa who defeated Yergali Shamey of Kazakhstan in the finals. In the present edition of the Paralympics, Romania is being represented by Alexandru Bologa and Daniel Vargoczki in the judo contest, Eduard Novak and Theodor Matican in the cycling competition and also by table tennis players, Camelia Ciripan and Bobi Simion.

     

    (bill)

     

  • February 22, 2024 UPDATE

    February 22, 2024 UPDATE

    ELECTIONS The United Right Alliance in opposition says it will challenge in court the move by the ruling coalition formed by the Social Democrats and the Liberals to merge local and European elections. The Alliance for the Union of Romanians, also in opposition, has described the decision to merge elections as illegal and unconstitutional. The leaders of the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party, Marcel Ciolacu and Nicolae Ciucă, respectively, on Wednesday evening announced local elections and the national ballot for the European Parliament would be held on the same date in June. The two parties are to form an election alliance and run on joint lists in the European elections, but on separate lists in the local elections. The presidential elections are to be held in September and the parliamentary elections in December.

     

    HEALTHCARE The PM of Romania Marcel Ciolacu Thursday announced new hirings to fill over 2,200 vacancies in the healthcare and social assistance sectors. He also said the government intended to recruit almost 10,000 physicians, nurses and other healthcare personnel in hospitals this year, after procedures to fill another 7,600 vacancies received the green light last month. Ciolacu said this meant better services for patients, as well as less pressure on current hospital staff. The Romanian public healthcare system is struggling with severe personnel shortages, a situation reported both by doctors, and by patients.

     

    UKRAINE Ukraine must stay united and win the war started by Russia, Ukraine’s ambassador to Bucharest Ihor Prokopchuk said at a round table organised by the embassy. He believes the sanctions against Russia were effective, but they need to be even more effective in order to further reduce the financial resources that enable Russia to carry on the war. The diplomat also mentioned that Russia’s aggression on his country started 10 years ago. According to Prokopchuk, Russia’s current large-scale invasion is accompanied by a blatant violation of international law, the destruction of cities and many victims among civilians. Ihor Prokopchuk voiced confidence that Ukraine would win the war, and spoke about his people’s courage and heroism in withstanding the invasion and thwarting Russia’s plans to separate the country from Europe. The Ukrainian ambassador thanked Romania and the other international partners for their political, military and financial support, as well as for the sanctions against Moscow, and said he was hoping this support would continue until Ukraine won the war.

     

    ENVIRONMENT The Romanian Black Sea coastline gained 23 hectares of beach this year in the resorts of Eforie and Agigea, following works to reduce coastal erosion and expand the beachfront. According to the environment minister Mircea Fechet, this not only benefits the environment, but also the economic and tourist activities in the area. He says legal solutions are being searched for to allow businesses to rent sections of the beach for at least 10 years, as opposed to 2 years at present. The minister believes this will make business activity more stable and predictable and drive prices of tourist services down.

     

    TABLE TENNIS Romania’s women’s team was defeated by Japan, 3-0, on Thursday, in the quarter-finals of the World Table Tennis Championships in Busan (South Korea). On Wednesday, Romania qualified for this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, thanks to a 3-0 win against Egypt in the eighth-finals.

     

    TENNIS The Romanian player Sorana Cîrstea qualified into the semi-finals of the WTA 1,000 tournament in Dubai, after a spectacular win on Thursday against the defending Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals. Cîrstea (33, 22 WTA) defeated Vondrousova in 2 hours and 41 minutes, after saving 6 match points. (AMP)

  • February 20, 2024

    February 20, 2024

    VISIT The Romanian Senate Speaker, Nicolae Ciucă, who is on an official visit to Madrid, has talks scheduled today with the head of the People’s Party in Spain, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, and the secretary general for defence policy, Juan Francisco Martinez Nunez. Mr. Ciucǎ will also have a meeting with the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Spain and Portugal, Timotei. On Monday, after the meeting with his counterpart, Pedro Rollan Ojeda, Nicolae Ciuca announced that the Romanians living in Spain may hold dual citizenship as of this year.

     

    ELECTIONS The leaders of the Social Democratic Party and National Liberal Party in Romania’s ruling coalition are meeting again on Wednesday to decide on whether to merge this year’s elections, after the talks so far have failed. The Liberals want the local elections to take place this summer concurrently with the elections for the European Parliament, while the Social Democrats want the parliamentary elections due this autumn to be held jointly with the second round of the presidential election. Save Romania Union, in opposition, threatened to take any legislation merging the elections to the Constitutional Court. This year all 4 types of elections are scheduled in Romania (local, parliamentary, and presidential ballots, and elections for the EP).

     

    HEALTH Some 3.3 million sick leaves were given in Romania last year, which is significantly below the over 4 million reported in 2022. Most sick leaves were taken by cancer patients and pregnant women. The head of the National Health Insurance Agency, Valeria Herdea, says this is not about the number of sick leave days taken by people, but about the fact that many citizens have health problems. Recently, the government has issued an order introducing a 10% tax on sick leave allowances. The authorities argued this was to discourage the practice of taking sick leaves for minor health problems. But the order triggered discontent especially among cancer patients. The Senate withdrew the provision, and the order is to be discussed next in the Chamber of Deputies.

     

    AUTOMOTIVE The Romanian automotive market will likely see a moderate 5% growth this year, the Romanian Automobile Producers and Importers Association (APIA) announced. The Association expects EV sales to continue to increase, and sales of diesel vehicles to drop in 2024.

     

    MISSION The European Union has launched its own naval mission to protect commercial vessels in the Red Sea. Romania may also take part in the mission. Greece will provide a commander for its operational headquarters, while Italy will provide the force commander. According to the Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani, since November Houthi rebels have been attacking commercial vessels on this route, allegedly in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza.

     

    TABLE TENNIS Romania’s men’s team have qualified in the round of 32 of the world table tennis championships in Busan, South Korea, after defeating Iran, 3-1 on Tuesday. On Monday, Romania’s women’s team went straight into the eighth-finals. Taking part in the men’s and women’s competition in South Korea are 40 teams. The top 8 teams at the World Championships are qualified in this year’s Olympic Games in Paris. (AMP)

  • September 17, 2023 – UPDATE

    September 17, 2023 – UPDATE

    UN President Klaus Iohannis will be leading Romania’s
    delegation to the 78th session of the UN General Assembly between
    September 18 and 22 in New York. In his address, Mr. Iohannis will present
    Romania’s views on current global developments, highlighting Romania’s foreign
    policy priorities and its contribution to reaching the goals on the UN
    multilateral agenda. President Iohannis will also attend the Summit on
    Sustainable Development Goals, and will be a guest of honour at the World
    Leaders Forum organised by the prestigious Columbia University in New York, where
    he will be discussing Romania’s outlook on the war in Ukraine and its impact on
    Black Sea security.


    PENSIONS A new
    version of the special pension law, comprising the amendments requested by the
    Constitutional Court, will be endorsed by the end of September, said the
    interim Chamber of Deputies speaker, Alfred Simonis. He added the law covers
    all categories of special pensions, but because the special benefits paid to
    magistrates and other categories cannot be scrapped, as it happened in the case
    of MPs, taxation will be introduced, which the Court has accepted. Also,
    Simonis said, ceilings must be introduced for each particular profession, so as
    to eliminate special pensions of EUR 8,000 or even EUR 14,000 a month. The
    Constitutional Court last month sent back to Parliament the new draft pension
    law, on grounds that pension benefits currently being paid cannot be readjusted
    to different principles than the ones in the law under which they have been
    granted.


    CEREMONY A military and religious ceremony was held on
    Sunday at the Heroes’ Cross on Caraiman Peak in central Romania, to celebrate
    95 years since the monument was unveiled. Included in the Guinness Book of
    Records, the 40m cross is the highest such monument placed on a mountain top in
    the world. It was erected at an altitude of 2,291 m between 1926 and 1928, at
    the initiative of and with support from Queen Marie and King Ferdinand of
    Romania, as a tribute to WW1 heroes.


    FLIGHTS The Romanian airline TAROM announces new flights to and from Chișinău,
    in the neighbouring Republic of Moldova, as of September 24. TAROM will operate
    additional flights over weekends, to reach a total of 21 weekly return flights,
    with prices starting at EUR 85.


    MOTORWAYS As of next week Romania will have 1,000 km of
    motorway in use, with the opening of the Nuşfalău – Suplacu de Barcău segment
    of the A3 Transilvania motoway. Next month the first 20 km of the Bucharest
    ring motorway will also be opened, and next year the first 2 segments of the Ploieşti-Buzău
    motorway are scheduled to be completed.


    SCHENGEN Austria’s opposition to Romania’s Schengen
    accession is not targeted against Bucharest, but against this freedom of
    movement system, said the Austrian minister for the EU, Karoline Edtstadler. The
    statement comes after Bucharest warned it would sue Vienna over its veto to
    Romania’s accession. Karoline Edtstadler told the media she understood the
    position of Romanian authorities, but added Austria cannot close its eyes to an
    already flawed system. She explained the EU should ensure efficient protection of its external
    borders before envisioning a Europe without internal
    borders. In
    an interview to Austrian mass media, Romania’s PM
    Marcel Ciolacu said that in case of further opposition from Austria, Romania
    will have to take the matter to court and demand compensation for the losses
    incurred because of its failure to join the Schengen area.


    NATO NATO’s secretary general
    Jens Stoltenberg has warned in an interview published on Sunday, that we must
    not expect a swift end to the war in Ukraine, as Kyiv carries on its
    counteroffensive against Russian forces, AFP reports. The war began in February 2022, when
    Russian troops invaded Ukraine. As for Ukraine’s efforts to join NATO, Jens Stoltenberg promised
    that sooner or later, Ukraine will be a NATO member. In July’s NATO summit in
    Vilnius, Alliance leaders agreed that Kyiv may join NATO once
    certain conditions are fulfilled, with the US and Germany emphasising that
    these conditions include reforms to protect democracy and the rule of law. In
    mid-June the Ukrainian army launched a counteroffensive to push out the Russian
    troops from the south and east of the country, but so far only a limited number
    of localities have been freed.


    TABLE TENNIS Romania’s women’s team was defeated by Germany,
    3-0, on Sunday, in the European Table Tennis Championships final in Malmo (Sweden).
    Elizabeta Samara lost to Xiaona Shan 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-8), Bernadette Szocs was
    defeated by Ying Han 3-1 (14-16, 11-8, 11-8, 12-10), and Nina Mittelham beat
    Andreea Dragoman 3-2 (5-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 12-10), after the Romanian player
    lost two match points. Romania was already a European vice-champion, after
    winning the silver in 2021, at home in Cluj-Napoca.



    RUGBY Defending world champions, South
    Africa Sunday defeated 76-0 Romania’s national rugby team in a World Cup Group
    B match in Bordeaux (France). A week ago Romania lost to Ireland 82-8 (33-8). Romania’s rugby team is next to play against
    Scotland on September 30 and against Tonga on October 8, in Lille. (AMP)

  • Athlete of the Week

    Athlete of the Week

    The most important multi-sport
    event of the year has come to an end. The European Games hosted jointly by the
    city of Krakow and the region of Malopolska, brought together the best athletes
    of the continent who competed in 29 sport disciplines. Among the 7,000 participants,
    there were also 150 athletes from Romania who walked away from the
    aforementioned competition with 17 medals, 6 gold, 6 silver and 5 bronze.




    Out of the all Romanian
    medalists, we have noticed the performance obtained by table tennis player Bernadette
    Szőcs, who won the first gold in the singles contest and then with the Romanian
    side in the teams’ competition. Together with Ovidiu Ionescu she also reaped
    bronze in the mixed doubles and for her performances in Poland, Radio Romania
    International has designated Bernadette Szőcs ‘Athlete of the Week’.




    Bernadette Szőcs was born on 5 March
    1995 in Târgu Mureş (central Transylvania)
    and took up tennis at the age of 8 with good results in cadets and juniors
    competitions. Bernadette won several medals in European and World competitions
    advancing quickly in international rankings.




    In 2010, demotivated by the lack
    of interest shown by the Romanian sports officials, Bernadette wanted to leave
    the country and compete for Norway but she eventually changed her mind. In 2016,
    at the European Championships in Budapest, she came third in the mixed doubles
    with Ovidiu Ionescu. A year later she won her first European title with the
    Romanian side in Luxembourg. In 2018 in Montreux, Switzerland, she won the
    Top-16 tournament, a competition, which brings together the best players on the
    continent. A year later in Nantes, France, she again became European champion
    with the Romanian team. In Munich, last
    year, she reaped the European title in the doubles event together with Austrian
    player Sofia Polcanova, an athlete born in the Republic of Moldova. She also
    walked away with silver from the mixed-doubles, where she competed together
    with Ovidiu Ionescu. She is presently ranking 17th in the world
    standings, where her best performance was in 2019 when she ranked 14th.


    (bill)

  • Athlete of the Week

    Athlete of the Week

    The most important multi-sport
    event of the year has come to an end. The European Games hosted jointly by the
    city of Krakow and the region of Malopolska, brought together the best athletes
    of the continent who competed in 29 sport disciplines. Among the 7,000 participants,
    there were also 150 athletes from Romania who walked away from the
    aforementioned competition with 17 medals, 6 gold, 6 silver and 5 bronze.




    Out of the all Romanian
    medalists, we have noticed the performance obtained by table tennis player Bernadette
    Szőcs, who won the first gold in the singles contest and then with the Romanian
    side in the teams’ competition. Together with Ovidiu Ionescu she also reaped
    bronze in the mixed doubles and for her performances in Poland, Radio Romania
    International has designated Bernadette Szőcs ‘Athlete of the Week’.




    Bernadette Szőcs was born on 5 March
    1995 in Târgu Mureş (central Transylvania)
    and took up tennis at the age of 8 with good results in cadets and juniors
    competitions. Bernadette won several medals in European and World competitions
    advancing quickly in international rankings.




    In 2010, demotivated by the lack
    of interest shown by the Romanian sports officials, Bernadette wanted to leave
    the country and compete for Norway but she eventually changed her mind. In 2016,
    at the European Championships in Budapest, she came third in the mixed doubles
    with Ovidiu Ionescu. A year later she won her first European title with the
    Romanian side in Luxembourg. In 2018 in Montreux, Switzerland, she won the
    Top-16 tournament, a competition, which brings together the best players on the
    continent. A year later in Nantes, France, she again became European champion
    with the Romanian team. In Munich, last
    year, she reaped the European title in the doubles event together with Austrian
    player Sofia Polcanova, an athlete born in the Republic of Moldova. She also
    walked away with silver from the mixed-doubles, where she competed together
    with Ovidiu Ionescu. She is presently ranking 17th in the world
    standings, where her best performance was in 2019 when she ranked 14th.


    (bill)

  • July 2, 2023

    July 2, 2023

    Justice Day — The Justice Minister, Alina Gorghiu, pleaded, in her message on Justice Day, for collaboration and dialogue in finding good and balanced solutions to ensure both the functionality and efficiency of the judicial system, as well as the quality of the justice act. The legal system needs now, more than ever, unity, balance, mutual trust and openness. This is the message sent on Sunday, on Justice Day, by the president of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, Corina-Alina Corbu. She says that this anniversary takes place, this year, in a complicated context marked by tension, which should not have an impact on the citizens. The statements come in the context in which the representatives of the High Court challenged at the Constitutional Court the changes made to the special pension system which benefits the magistrates. Prosecutor General Alex Florența stated, in his message, that the legislative changes related to the magistrates pensions were made by simulating a dialogue, ignoring the principles of loyal cooperation and mutual respect that the powers of the state owe to each other. The chief prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), Marius Voineag, said, on Justice Day, that the role of the Directorate in the entire judicial system contributes to the development of Romanian society and to reaching the countrys real potential as a member of the EU and NATO. According to him, the issue of fighting corruption remains as topical as before because Romanians are perfectly aware of the fact that each act of corruption means the waste of public resources, missed opportunities for the country and a more uncertain future for the future generations.



    Festival — The Sibiu International Theater Festival ends on Sunday with a performance of the show “Faust”, directed by Silviu Purcarete, followed, at midnight, by a demonstration with drones. The Walk of Fame was enriched, on Saturday, with seven more stars, attributed to important names in the world of Performing Arts. One of the stars was awarded to the president of the Festival, Constantin Chiriac, director of the Radu Stanca theater in Sibiu. He was also decorated by the Presidency of Romania with the National Order of Merit in the rank of Officer. The distinction was granted in sign of appreciation and gratitude for the professionalism and dedication put at the service of art and the public, for the important contribution brought to the domestic and international affirmation of the values ​​of Romanian theatre. Thanks to the tireless involvement of maestro Constantin Chiriac, Sibiu International Theater Festival – FITS is today a landmark for Sibiu and for Romania, as well as an example of the multiple benefits that the promotion of culture can bring to local communities, the Culture Minister Raluca Turcan wrote on Facebook.



    Tennis — The Romanian womens table tennis team won the gold medals at the European Games in Krakow – Malopolska (Poland), on Saturday evening, after defeating the German team in the final with the score 3-2. Romania led 2-0, but the Polish players had a come back and equalized the score, and later Bernadette Szocs scored the winning point. The Romanian athlete also won the individual competition. Romania won four medals in table tennis at the European Games in Poland, two gold and two bronze. Romania now has a total of 16 medals, six gold, five silver and five bronze, at the European Games in Poland. On the other hand, the pair Monica Niculescu (Romania)/Eri Hozumi (Japan) lost 2-0 to the pair Lidia Morozova (Belarus)/Ingrid Gamarra Martins (Brazil) in the doubles final of the WTA 250 tennis tournament from Bad Homburg (Germany). The match was interrupted on Saturday in the first set due to the rain.



    Weather – Meteorologists have issued a warning for severe atmospheric instability, valid throughout Sunday, in three-quarters of Romanias territory. Thus, in the mountainous area, in the north-west, center, north-east, south-west and partially in the south and south-east, there will be periods of showers, including torrential ones, electrical discharges, short-term wind gusts of 55…70 km/h, isolated gales and hail. The maximum temperatures, decreasing compared to the previous day, will generally fall between 25 and 34 degrees C, except for the eastern and south-eastern regions which will enjoy warm weather. Unstable weather has been announced for Bucharest as well, where the maximum temperature will be around 30 degrees. (LS)

  • Sports roundup

    Sports roundup

    Farul Constanţa is Romania’s new football
    champion. The team coached by Gheorghe Hagi has claimed the title a leg before
    the end of the championships’ play-off stage, with a 3-2 home win against FCSB,
    and put a distance of four points between them and the runner-up. Also in the last but one leg, CFR Cluj
    clinched a 2-1 win against Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe. Rapid Bucharest will be up
    against Universitatea Craiova on Monday.




    On Friday Universitatea Cluj secured a 2-1 away
    win against Hermannstadt and FC Arges a 3-0 home win against Petrolul Ploiesti.
    Chindia Targoviste versus FC FC Voluntari ended in a draw, two-all. UTA also
    drew their game against FCU Craiova, one-all. On Saturday, FC Botosani trounced
    FC Mioveni 5-1 and the latter demoted to the second football league. And so did
    Chindia Targoviste. Two sides have advanced to the first league; they are Poli
    Iasi and Otelul Galati, from eastern Romania. UTA and FC Argeş will go into the
    play-offs with the sides on the fourth and fifth positions in the second
    league. FC Arges will be up against Dinamo Bucharest and UTA takes on Gloria
    Buzau.






    Romanian athletes have obtained good results in
    the first matches of the World Table Tennis Championships underway in Durban, South
    Africa. In the women’s singles, Andreea Dragoman has outperformed Szu-Yu Chen
    of Taiwan and Adina Diaconu defeated Goi Rui Xuan, of Singapore. In the men’s
    contest Eduard Ionescu lost to Simon Gauzy of France. Ovidiu Ionescu and
    Spanish Alvaro Robles have qualified for the round of 32 of the doubles contest
    without playing after the pair made up of Ramon Maxwell and Tyrese Knight, of Barbados
    didn’t show up. In the women’s doubles contest, Romanians Andreea Dragoman and Elizabeta
    Samara have qualified for the round of 32 after a win against the South African
    pair made up of Musfiquh Kalam and Lailaa Edwards.




    The Romanian- Spanish pair Adina Diaconu / Maria
    Xiao has also qualified after a win against Charlotte Lutz and Audrey Zarif of
    France. In the mixed-doubles, Ovidiu Ionescu and Bernadette Szőcs have qualified
    for the same round of 32 after a win against Ibrahim Gunduz and Sibel Altinkaya
    of Turkey.


    Unfortunately, Eduard Ionescu and Adina Diaconu
    lost to Simon Gauzy and Prithika Pavade of France. The latest medal obtained by
    a Romanian in the aforementioned competition was when Ovidiu Ionescu, world vice
    champion in the men’s doubles teamed up with Spanish Alvaro Robles in Budapest
    in 2019.


    (bill)

  • Sports roundup

    Sports roundup

    Farul Constanţa is Romania’s new football
    champion. The team coached by Gheorghe Hagi has claimed the title a leg before
    the end of the championships’ play-off stage, with a 3-2 home win against FCSB,
    and put a distance of four points between them and the runner-up. Also in the last but one leg, CFR Cluj
    clinched a 2-1 win against Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe. Rapid Bucharest will be up
    against Universitatea Craiova on Monday.




    On Friday Universitatea Cluj secured a 2-1 away
    win against Hermannstadt and FC Arges a 3-0 home win against Petrolul Ploiesti.
    Chindia Targoviste versus FC FC Voluntari ended in a draw, two-all. UTA also
    drew their game against FCU Craiova, one-all. On Saturday, FC Botosani trounced
    FC Mioveni 5-1 and the latter demoted to the second football league. And so did
    Chindia Targoviste. Two sides have advanced to the first league; they are Poli
    Iasi and Otelul Galati, from eastern Romania. UTA and FC Argeş will go into the
    play-offs with the sides on the fourth and fifth positions in the second
    league. FC Arges will be up against Dinamo Bucharest and UTA takes on Gloria
    Buzau.






    Romanian athletes have obtained good results in
    the first matches of the World Table Tennis Championships underway in Durban, South
    Africa. In the women’s singles, Andreea Dragoman has outperformed Szu-Yu Chen
    of Taiwan and Adina Diaconu defeated Goi Rui Xuan, of Singapore. In the men’s
    contest Eduard Ionescu lost to Simon Gauzy of France. Ovidiu Ionescu and
    Spanish Alvaro Robles have qualified for the round of 32 of the doubles contest
    without playing after the pair made up of Ramon Maxwell and Tyrese Knight, of Barbados
    didn’t show up. In the women’s doubles contest, Romanians Andreea Dragoman and Elizabeta
    Samara have qualified for the round of 32 after a win against the South African
    pair made up of Musfiquh Kalam and Lailaa Edwards.




    The Romanian- Spanish pair Adina Diaconu / Maria
    Xiao has also qualified after a win against Charlotte Lutz and Audrey Zarif of
    France. In the mixed-doubles, Ovidiu Ionescu and Bernadette Szőcs have qualified
    for the same round of 32 after a win against Ibrahim Gunduz and Sibel Altinkaya
    of Turkey.


    Unfortunately, Eduard Ionescu and Adina Diaconu
    lost to Simon Gauzy and Prithika Pavade of France. The latest medal obtained by
    a Romanian in the aforementioned competition was when Ovidiu Ionescu, world vice
    champion in the men’s doubles teamed up with Spanish Alvaro Robles in Budapest
    in 2019.


    (bill)

  • Sports Weekend

    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)

  • Sports Weekend

    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)

  • August 19, 2022 UPDATE

    August 19, 2022 UPDATE

    Budget – The government adopted the first budget rectification of 2022, a positive one, which takes into account an economic growth of 3.5%, the budget revenues for the first six months and the budget execution for this period. The Finance Minister, Adrian Caciu, claims that the budget deficit can be kept under control and that the target of 5.84% for the end of the year is achievable. The Fiscal Council, an independent body that analyzes the sustainability of fiscal and budgetary policies, warned that the rectification may lead to exceeding a deficit of 7% of the Gross Domestic Product, because the government allegedly overestimated the receipts and underestimated part of the expenses.



    Covid – 4,854 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection have been registered in Romania in 24 hours, 631 less than the previous day, the Health Ministry announced on Friday. According to the source, most new cases of COVID are in Bucharest and in the counties of Cluj and Timiş. 3,450 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in specialized health units. 279 patients are treated in ICUs. In the last 24 hours, 21 deaths have been reported among patients with SARS-CoV-2.



    Table tennis – The Romanian-Austrian pair Bernadette Szocs/Sofia Polcanova won the gold medals in the womens doubles, on Thursday evening, at the European Table Tennis Championships in Munich (Germany), after defeating the Romanian pair Elizabeta Samara/ Andrea Dragoman. Samara and Dragoman won the silver medals, while Adina Diaconu and Maria Xiao (Spain) won the bronze. Romanias medal record at the European Championships in Munich is completed by the silver medal won in the mixed doubles by Bernadette Szocs and Ovidiu Ionescu.



    Marathon – 250 runners from ten countries have registered for the most difficult ultra-marathon in Romania, 2X2 Race, which will take place on Saturday, at Bâlea Lac, in the Făgăraş Mountains, at an altitude of over 2,000 meters, AGERPRES reports. The race is one of the most difficult mountain ultra-marathons in the world. The 2X2 Race takes place entirely at over 2,000 m, which makes it unique in Europe and one of the few in the world. This year, runners from Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Israel and Russia have entered the competition. The competitors will run on some of the most technical routes in the Carpathians, reaching the second highest peak in Romania, Negoiu (2,535 m). Such competitions take place on rugged terrain, from dirt paths through forests and alpine plains, to ridges and cliffs.



    Fires – This years fires affected 150,000 hectares in Romania, i.e. ten times more than the average for the period 2006 – 2021, the former head of the Environmental Guard Octavian Berceanu said on Friday. He drew attention, in a Facebook post, to the fact that the ash resulting from the fires risks affecting the inhabitants of the cities, given the lack of protective curtains and green belts of the localities. There have been 715 fires in Romania this year, in the context of a previous multi-year average of 49. The biggest number of fires this year (266 in one week) occurred at the end of March, when more than 61,000 hectares were affected. Romania, with 0.63% of the countrys area affected by fires, ranks second in Europe, after Portugal (0.95%), and Spain and Croatia (0.56%).



    France – The action that 77 Romanian firefighters carried out for a week in France has ended, the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU) announced on Friday. According to the cited source, the Romanian rescuers participated in firefighting missions in the southwest of France, in special meteorological conditions, the missions consisting in identifying and extinguishing hidden outbreaks, as well as in protecting nearby homes from possible other existing outbreaks. The aid that Romania granted to the French authorities was based on the request for international assistance made by the French government through the European Civil Protection Mechanism, General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations says. Some of the Romanian firefighters are returning to the country with an aircraft of the Defense Ministry, and the other rescuers, together with the intervention equipment will come back to Romania by land. (LS)

  • Sports Roundup

    Sports Roundup

    For a long period of time, the Romanian sport has not seen days as rich in performances as the last weekend. The gold medals won by the swimmer David Popovici and his new world record at the continental championships in Italy somewhat overshadowed the results of the Romanian athletes who won medals in Munich, at the European Multisport Championships.



    Most medals were won by the Romanian rowers, who returned home with five gold and three bronze medals, this being the best result in the history of Romanian rowing in the European competition. Gold medals were won by Ioana Vrînceanu and Denisa Tîlvescu in the womens pair and by Marius Cozmiuc and Sergiu Bejan in the mens pair. In the double scull event, the Olympic champions Ancuța Bodnar and Simona Radiș reconfirmed their supremacy. In the single scull event, the light category, Ionela Cozmiuc won gold. The last gold medals were brought by the women’s coxed eight crew, including Magdalena Rusu, Iuliana Buhuş, Ancuța Bodnar, Denisa Tîlvescu, Mădălina Bereş, Amalia Bereş, Ioana Vrînceanu, Simona Radiş, and coxswain Adrian Munteanu. Bronze medals were obtained in the women’s four, men’s four and men’s quadruple sculls.



    At the European Women’s Gymnastics Championships, the juniors stood out with two gold, two silver and two bronze medals. Sabrina Voinea won the gold in the vault event, and Amalia Puflea in the floor event. Silver medals were won in the all around team and individual competitions, through Amalia Ghigoartă. Amalia Puflea won bronze in the beam final, and Sabrina Voinea also got bronze in the floor event. In the seniors competition, the best result was the 4th place taken by Ana Bărbosu, in the floor event. This week the men gymnasts will enter the competition.



    At the European Table Tennis Championships Ovidiu Ionescu and Bernadette Szőcs won silver medals. The Romanian pair was very close to winning the gold, but lost the mixed doubles final to Emmanuel Lebesson/Jianan Yuan from France.



    Now news from football. From Friday to Monday, matches of the fifth stage of the Romanian football Super League were played. On Friday, FCU Craiova defeated FC Argeş, away from home, 2-0. On Saturday, in Arad, UTA defeated Universitatea Cluj 2-1, and in Ploieşti, Petrolul won the traditional derby with Rapid Bucharest 1-0. On Sunday, Universitatea Craiova won 1-0 at home the match against CS Mioveni, FC Botoşani defeated CFR Cluj 1-0 away from home, and FCSB defeated Chindia Târgovişte 3-2 in Bucharest. The two games played on Monday, namely FC Voluntari with Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe and Farul Constanţa with FC Hermannstadt, ended in a draw: 0 all. FC Botoşani leads the standings, with 11 points, being followed by four teams with 9 points each: Hermannstadt, Farul, CFR and Rapid. (LS)