Radio România Internațional

Tag: vault

Sports flash

We begin with the latest from women’s
volleyball. In the semifinals of the CEV Cup, Europe’s second-tier competition,
Romania’s title holders CSM Volei Alba Blaj grabbed a first-leg 3-nil semifinal
win against vice-champions CSM Târgoviște. It took Volei Alba Blaj one hour and 23 minutes to win
the game, grabbing a 25-15 win in the first set. The second set was a little
bit more balanced, yet Alba Blaj also won the set, 25-18 this time. The third
set was a cliffhanger as Volei Alba Blaj won by the narrowest of margins,
25-23. The return leg is scheduled on March 23rd. In the second semi-final, the Italian team Palazzo Wanny Florence grabbed a 3-nil home win against Turkish opponents THY Istanbul.

21-year-old gymnast Gabriel
Burtănete came in 8th, the last position, in the vault
final as part of the World Cup held in Azeri capital Baku, with 13. 249 points. The gold
medal went to the 2021 world champion, Carlos Edriel Yulo of the Philippines, with 14.933
points. Representing Romania at the World Cup in Baku were brothers Gabriel and
Robert Burtănete, and Nicholas Ţarcă.

In the Singapore Smash 2023 table
tennis tournament’s round of 16, Elizabeta Samara sustained a nil-3 defeat by Austrian challenger
Sofia Polcanova. In the previous stage, Samara provided a surprise, defeating Olympic
champion, China’s Meng Chen, 3-2.

Romania’ s women’s rifle team came in 11th
at the European seniors’ and juniors’ Shooting Sports Championships held in Estonia’s
Tallin, in the 10 meter-air rifle event. Romania succeeded 937.7 points all
told in the qualifiers yet failed to earn a position among the competition’s
first 8 teams. The gold medals went to Norway, silver went to Serbia, while Poland
and Germany won the bronze medals. However, Romania won a silver medal, through
junior Luca Joldea, in the pistol event.(EN)

16 March 2023
Sports flash

We begin with the latest from women’s
volleyball. In the semifinals of the CEV Cup, Europe’s second-tier competition,
Romania’s title holders CSM Volei Alba Blaj grabbed a first-leg 3-nil semifinal
win against vice-champions CSM Târgoviște. It took Volei Alba Blaj one hour and 23 minutes to win
the game, grabbing a 25-15 win in the first set. The second set was a little
bit more balanced, yet Alba Blaj also won the set, 25-18 this time. The third
set was a cliffhanger as Volei Alba Blaj won by the narrowest of margins,
25-23. The return leg is scheduled on March 23rd. In the second semi-final, the Italian team Palazzo Wanny Florence grabbed a 3-nil home win against Turkish opponents THY Istanbul.

21-year-old gymnast Gabriel
Burtănete came in 8th, the last position, in the vault
final as part of the World Cup held in Azeri capital Baku, with 13. 249 points. The gold
medal went to the 2021 world champion, Carlos Edriel Yulo of the Philippines, with 14.933
points. Representing Romania at the World Cup in Baku were brothers Gabriel and
Robert Burtănete, and Nicholas Ţarcă.

In the Singapore Smash 2023 table
tennis tournament’s round of 16, Elizabeta Samara sustained a nil-3 defeat by Austrian challenger
Sofia Polcanova. In the previous stage, Samara provided a surprise, defeating Olympic
champion, China’s Meng Chen, 3-2.

Romania’ s women’s rifle team came in 11th
at the European seniors’ and juniors’ Shooting Sports Championships held in Estonia’s
Tallin, in the 10 meter-air rifle event. Romania succeeded 937.7 points all
told in the qualifiers yet failed to earn a position among the competition’s
first 8 teams. The gold medals went to Norway, silver went to Serbia, while Poland
and Germany won the bronze medals. However, Romania won a silver medal, through
junior Luca Joldea, in the pistol event.(EN)

16 March 2023
Sports weekend

Romanian men’s handball team Dinamo Bucharest on Thursday sustained an away defeat by the narrowest of margins, 33 to 34, in the game against German title holders Magdeburg. It was the last match Dinamo played in the Champions League’s Group A. Dinamo came in 5th, according to the final rankings. French team Paris Saint-Germain was at the top of the table in Group A, while Magdeburg was the runner-up team. The first two teams in descending order secured their direct qualification to the Champions League’s quarterfinals. According to a round-robin system, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th -placed teams in Groups A and B will play the playoff fixtures, in a bid to advance to the League’s quarterfinals. Dinamo are pitted against the other German team in the league, THW Kiel. Romanian title holders will play the first leg on March 22 in Bucharest, while the return leg is scheduled a week later in Germany.

As part of the European Indoor Athletics Championships held in Turkyie’s Istanbul, the Romanian athlete Daniela Stanciu this past Thursday qualified to the high-jump finals. Stanciu jumped over the horizontal bar placed at 1 meter 91 centimeters, just as the other seven athletes who made it to the final. However, decisive for the qualification to the finals was the number of attempts each of the athletes needed to meet the set target. Stanciu needed two attempts, just Serbia’s Angelina Topic and Germany’s Christina Honsel. The final is scheduled on Sunday morning.

At the World Cup in Gymnastics, held in Qatar’s Doha, the Romanian gymnasts have qualified to four of the competition’s finals. On Friday, Sabrina Maneca Voinea will prove her mettle in the women’s vault finals. On Saturday, Sabrina Maneca Voinea will again compete in the beam and floor finals, while Andrei Muntean competes in the men’s parallel bars finals.

This coming Sunday in Tbilisi, Romania’s national rugby team take on Georgia, in a fixture counting towards the semi-finals of the Rugby Europe Championship 2023. 33 athletes have been summoned for the match, with 22 of them playing in the domestic championship and 11 being signed up by French clubs. According to the as-it-stands world rankings, Georgia are 12th-placed, while Romania, 20th-placed.

We end with news from football. This week saw fixtures being played, counting towards the Romanian Super League’s 28th round. On Tuesday in Sibiu, Universitatea Cluj defeated FC Hermannstadt 1-nil. In Ploieşti, the match pitting Chindia Târgovişte and FC U Craiova ended in a blank draw, then in Ovidiu, Farul Constanţa won the game against Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe, 2-nil. On Wednesday, FC Voluntari grabbed a 3-nil away win against Dacia Mioveni, Universitatea Craiova secured a 1-nil home win against FC Argeş, while Rapid Bucharest defeated FC Botosani away from home, 2-1. In Cluj on Thursday, CFR defeated UTA Arad, 2-1, while in Bucharest, FCSB a trounced Petrolul Ploiesti, 4-1. Fixtures counting towards the league’s 29th round are scheduled at the weekend. On Friday, Universitatea Cluj go against Farul Constanța. On Saturday, FC U Craiova play a home game against FC Botosani, while in Bucharest, Rapid play FC Hermannstadt. On Sunday, Dacia Mioveni face Chindia Targoviste, Petrolul from Ploiesti take on Universitatea Craiova, while UTA Arad play FCSB. On Monday, FC Voluntari are pitted against FC Argeș, while Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe face CFR Cluj. Farul are at the top of the table, with 61 points, followed by CFR, with 59. (EN)

3 March 2023
Sports weekend

Romanian men’s handball team Dinamo Bucharest on Thursday sustained an away defeat by the narrowest of margins, 33 to 34, in the game against German title holders Magdeburg. It was the last match Dinamo played in the Champions League’s Group A. Dinamo came in 5th, according to the final rankings. French team Paris Saint-Germain was at the top of the table in Group A, while Magdeburg was the runner-up team. The first two teams in descending order secured their direct qualification to the Champions League’s quarterfinals. According to a round-robin system, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th -placed teams in Groups A and B will play the playoff fixtures, in a bid to advance to the League’s quarterfinals. Dinamo are pitted against the other German team in the league, THW Kiel. Romanian title holders will play the first leg on March 22 in Bucharest, while the return leg is scheduled a week later in Germany.

As part of the European Indoor Athletics Championships held in Turkyie’s Istanbul, the Romanian athlete Daniela Stanciu this past Thursday qualified to the high-jump finals. Stanciu jumped over the horizontal bar placed at 1 meter 91 centimeters, just as the other seven athletes who made it to the final. However, decisive for the qualification to the finals was the number of attempts each of the athletes needed to meet the set target. Stanciu needed two attempts, just Serbia’s Angelina Topic and Germany’s Christina Honsel. The final is scheduled on Sunday morning.

At the World Cup in Gymnastics, held in Qatar’s Doha, the Romanian gymnasts have qualified to four of the competition’s finals. On Friday, Sabrina Maneca Voinea will prove her mettle in the women’s vault finals. On Saturday, Sabrina Maneca Voinea will again compete in the beam and floor finals, while Andrei Muntean competes in the men’s parallel bars finals.

This coming Sunday in Tbilisi, Romania’s national rugby team take on Georgia, in a fixture counting towards the semi-finals of the Rugby Europe Championship 2023. 33 athletes have been summoned for the match, with 22 of them playing in the domestic championship and 11 being signed up by French clubs. According to the as-it-stands world rankings, Georgia are 12th-placed, while Romania, 20th-placed.

We end with news from football. This week saw fixtures being played, counting towards the Romanian Super League’s 28th round. On Tuesday in Sibiu, Universitatea Cluj defeated FC Hermannstadt 1-nil. In Ploieşti, the match pitting Chindia Târgovişte and FC U Craiova ended in a blank draw, then in Ovidiu, Farul Constanţa won the game against Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe, 2-nil. On Wednesday, FC Voluntari grabbed a 3-nil away win against Dacia Mioveni, Universitatea Craiova secured a 1-nil home win against FC Argeş, while Rapid Bucharest defeated FC Botosani away from home, 2-1. In Cluj on Thursday, CFR defeated UTA Arad, 2-1, while in Bucharest, FCSB a trounced Petrolul Ploiesti, 4-1. Fixtures counting towards the league’s 29th round are scheduled at the weekend. On Friday, Universitatea Cluj go against Farul Constanța. On Saturday, FC U Craiova play a home game against FC Botosani, while in Bucharest, Rapid play FC Hermannstadt. On Sunday, Dacia Mioveni face Chindia Targoviste, Petrolul from Ploiesti take on Universitatea Craiova, while UTA Arad play FCSB. On Monday, FC Voluntari are pitted against FC Argeș, while Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe face CFR Cluj. Farul are at the top of the table, with 61 points, followed by CFR, with 59. (EN)

3 March 2023
Sports flash

Romania has walked away with eight medals at the European Cadet and Juniors Fencing Championships that drew to a close in Estonian capital city Tallin on Tuesday. In the cadet version of the competition, the Romanian fencers won gold in the women’s teams sabre event and silver in the men’s teams event. Silver also went to Amalia Covaliu, in the individual women’s sabre event and to Casian Cidu, in the men’s event. Anastasia Fusea also stepped onto the third step of the podium in the women’s sabre event, winning bronze. In the Juniors’ version of the Championships, the tally was made of three medals. The men’s sabre team won gold, Amalia Stan won bronze in the women’s sabre event, and also bronze went to Casian Cidu, in the men’s sabre event. Romania entered 42 fencers in the competition, for all categories.

At the World Artistic Gymnastics Cup in Qatar’s Doha this past Wednesday, after the first day of the qualifiers, the Romanian gymnast Sabrina Maneca Voinea secured a place in the vault final. Qualifiers are also held on Thursday, while the finals are scheduled on Friday and Saturday.

In Turkyie’s Istanbul, the European Indoor Athletics Championships are held from Thursday and all through to Sunday. A 14-strong Romanian delegation takes part in the competition, with seven women and seven men competing. The Championships bring together almost 600 athletes from 47 countries. At the most recent edition of the indoor European championships held in the Polish city of Torun, in 2021, the best Romanian performance was provided by Daniela Stanciu who came in 5th in the high-jump event.

In news from football, matches counting towards Romanian Super League’s 28th round have been scheduled this week. On Tuesday, in Sibiu, Universitatea Cluj defeated FC Hermannstadt, 1-nil. In Ploiesti, Chindia Târgovişte held FC U Craiova to a blank draw, while in Ovidiu in the south-east, Farul Constanţa defeated Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe, 2-nil. On Wednesday, FC Voluntari defeated Dacia Mioveni, 3-nil, away from home, Universitatea Craiova grabbed a home win against FC Argeş, 1-nil, while Rapid Bucureşti defeated FC Botoşani, 2-1, away from home, Farul are the leader, with 61 points, while CFR are 2nd-placed, with 56. (EN)

2 March 2023
Sports flash

Romania has walked away with eight medals at the European Cadet and Juniors Fencing Championships that drew to a close in Estonian capital city Tallin on Tuesday. In the cadet version of the competition, the Romanian fencers won gold in the women’s teams sabre event and silver in the men’s teams event. Silver also went to Amalia Covaliu, in the individual women’s sabre event and to Casian Cidu, in the men’s event. Anastasia Fusea also stepped onto the third step of the podium in the women’s sabre event, winning bronze. In the Juniors’ version of the Championships, the tally was made of three medals. The men’s sabre team won gold, Amalia Stan won bronze in the women’s sabre event, and also bronze went to Casian Cidu, in the men’s sabre event. Romania entered 42 fencers in the competition, for all categories.

At the World Artistic Gymnastics Cup in Qatar’s Doha this past Wednesday, after the first day of the qualifiers, the Romanian gymnast Sabrina Maneca Voinea secured a place in the vault final. Qualifiers are also held on Thursday, while the finals are scheduled on Friday and Saturday.

In Turkyie’s Istanbul, the European Indoor Athletics Championships are held from Thursday and all through to Sunday. A 14-strong Romanian delegation takes part in the competition, with seven women and seven men competing. The Championships bring together almost 600 athletes from 47 countries. At the most recent edition of the indoor European championships held in the Polish city of Torun, in 2021, the best Romanian performance was provided by Daniela Stanciu who came in 5th in the high-jump event.

In news from football, matches counting towards Romanian Super League’s 28th round have been scheduled this week. On Tuesday, in Sibiu, Universitatea Cluj defeated FC Hermannstadt, 1-nil. In Ploiesti, Chindia Târgovişte held FC U Craiova to a blank draw, while in Ovidiu in the south-east, Farul Constanţa defeated Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe, 2-nil. On Wednesday, FC Voluntari defeated Dacia Mioveni, 3-nil, away from home, Universitatea Craiova grabbed a home win against FC Argeş, 1-nil, while Rapid Bucureşti defeated FC Botoşani, 2-1, away from home, Farul are the leader, with 61 points, while CFR are 2nd-placed, with 56. (EN)

2 March 2023
Romania at the Olympic games

Romania
was one of the countries where gymnastics has had a long-standing history. In
the United Principalities capital city, in 1867, a couple of Saxon merchants
hailing from Sibiu and Brasov initiated the Bukarester Turnverein Society, the
Gymnastics Association of Bucharest. The Romanian Central Arms, Gymnastics and
Target Shooting Society was founded in 1876 by Professors Gheorghe Moceanu and Constantin
Constantiniu. The latter body played a key role in the promotion of physical
education and sports. Periodically, the Society organized contests at local and
national level. In the school curricula, gymnastics was included as a
discipline also beginning the 19th century. Gymnastics was a compulsory subject
in quite a few educational institutions countrywide. At competitional level,
Romanian gymnastics had its representatives for the first time at the 1936
edition of the Olympic games in Berlin. Ever since, Romanian gymnasts have been
a regular presence at the Olympics, save for the 1948 edition of the games,
held in London.

As an
absolute first, Romanian gymnasts walked home with medals in 1956, at the
Olympic games in Melbourne. Back then Elena Leustean won the bronze medal in
the floor event; also bronze went to the Romanian women’s team, in the nations
competition. Romanian gymnastics’ blazing trail actually began two decades
later, with Nadia Comaneci. For the first time ever in the history of artistic
gymnastics, on July 18, 1976, at the Olympic games in Montreal, Nadia Comaneci
got a 10, with an uneven parallel bars exercise. Back in the day her
performance was impressive thanks to its minuteness and force; the exercise is
still a model for today’s gymnasts. At that time it was the best exercise ever
to have been performed, reason enough for the referees to admit its perfection.
It was one of the memorable moments in the history of artistic gymnastics.
After the Montreal edition of the Olympics, gymnastics enjoyed the widest
audience for each of the following editions of the Olympic games. According to
the collective mindset, Nadia is still the greatest gymnast of all time. Nadia
Comaneci was the role model for hundreds of thousands of little girls all over
the world, who took up gymnastics at a professional level.

45
years on, Romanian gymnastics has been experiencing a large-scale crisis. We recall
that ahead of the 2016 edition of the Olympic Games in Rio, no Romanian
gymnastics team qualified for the women’s or the men’s version of the games.
Romanian gymnastics’ dismal run is the
same ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. Only three Romanian gymnasts will compete in
Japan. Marian Dragulescu will prove his mettle in the men’s vault event.
Joining him will be Larisa Iordache and Maria Holbura, in the women’s
all-around event. One of the veterans in the Olympics, 40 year-old Dragulescu is
most likely to walk away with a medal. Dragulescu’s record is outstanding. In
the Athens Olympics in 2004, Marian Dragulescu won one silver and two bronze medals. In the World Championships, Dragulescu won eight gold and two silver
medals. Dragulescu won eighteen medals in European Championships, of which ten
were gold, six silver and two bronze medals. The only medal that is missing is
an Olympic gold medal. Marian Dragulescu was designated the best athlete of the
year in 2005 and 2009. In the vault event, an exercise bears Dragulescu’s name.

(Translated by Eugen Nasta)

21 July 2021
Romania at the Olympic games

Romania
was one of the countries where gymnastics has had a long-standing history. In
the United Principalities capital city, in 1867, a couple of Saxon merchants
hailing from Sibiu and Brasov initiated the Bukarester Turnverein Society, the
Gymnastics Association of Bucharest. The Romanian Central Arms, Gymnastics and
Target Shooting Society was founded in 1876 by Professors Gheorghe Moceanu and Constantin
Constantiniu. The latter body played a key role in the promotion of physical
education and sports. Periodically, the Society organized contests at local and
national level. In the school curricula, gymnastics was included as a
discipline also beginning the 19th century. Gymnastics was a compulsory subject
in quite a few educational institutions countrywide. At competitional level,
Romanian gymnastics had its representatives for the first time at the 1936
edition of the Olympic games in Berlin. Ever since, Romanian gymnasts have been
a regular presence at the Olympics, save for the 1948 edition of the games,
held in London.

As an
absolute first, Romanian gymnasts walked home with medals in 1956, at the
Olympic games in Melbourne. Back then Elena Leustean won the bronze medal in
the floor event; also bronze went to the Romanian women’s team, in the nations
competition. Romanian gymnastics’ blazing trail actually began two decades
later, with Nadia Comaneci. For the first time ever in the history of artistic
gymnastics, on July 18, 1976, at the Olympic games in Montreal, Nadia Comaneci
got a 10, with an uneven parallel bars exercise. Back in the day her
performance was impressive thanks to its minuteness and force; the exercise is
still a model for today’s gymnasts. At that time it was the best exercise ever
to have been performed, reason enough for the referees to admit its perfection.
It was one of the memorable moments in the history of artistic gymnastics.
After the Montreal edition of the Olympics, gymnastics enjoyed the widest
audience for each of the following editions of the Olympic games. According to
the collective mindset, Nadia is still the greatest gymnast of all time. Nadia
Comaneci was the role model for hundreds of thousands of little girls all over
the world, who took up gymnastics at a professional level.

45
years on, Romanian gymnastics has been experiencing a large-scale crisis. We recall
that ahead of the 2016 edition of the Olympic Games in Rio, no Romanian
gymnastics team qualified for the women’s or the men’s version of the games.
Romanian gymnastics’ dismal run is the
same ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. Only three Romanian gymnasts will compete in
Japan. Marian Dragulescu will prove his mettle in the men’s vault event.
Joining him will be Larisa Iordache and Maria Holbura, in the women’s
all-around event. One of the veterans in the Olympics, 40 year-old Dragulescu is
most likely to walk away with a medal. Dragulescu’s record is outstanding. In
the Athens Olympics in 2004, Marian Dragulescu won one silver and two bronze medals. In the World Championships, Dragulescu won eight gold and two silver
medals. Dragulescu won eighteen medals in European Championships, of which ten
were gold, six silver and two bronze medals. The only medal that is missing is
an Olympic gold medal. Marian Dragulescu was designated the best athlete of the
year in 2005 and 2009. In the vault event, an exercise bears Dragulescu’s name.

(Translated by Eugen Nasta)

21 July 2021
Athlete of the Year 2020

For the lovers of sport, the year 2020 was quite uneventful, competition-wise. Some of the events were cancelled while others were rescheduled, as the sanitary crisis had a strong bearing on the competition schedule. Notwithstanding, many of the Romanian athletes results were way above par, especially in the European championships. Whether we speak about rowing, shooting sports or gymnastics, Romanias anthem could be heard again, and more than once. The years most remarkable feat was provided by womens gymnastics as Larisa Iordache is still fresh from the recently-held European championships hosted by the Turkish city of Mersin. Larisa walked home with two gold medals she won in the beam and floor and two silver medals, one in the vault event and one in the nations competition. Reason enough for Radio Romania International to designate Larisa the Athlete of the year in 2020.

Larisa Iordache secured her comeback in top-flight competition after the three-year break she needed because of a series of surgical operations Larisa underwent in the wake of an Achillean tendon rupture. Against the backdrop of the ongoing pandemic, as she was signed up by the Dinamo Sports Club and since she was an officer with the Internal Affairs Ministry, this past spring Larisa Iordache was employed by the Ministry in her official capacity, joining other athletes as part of the authorities enforcement operations regarding the executive orders issued for this past springs lockdown. Larisa Iordache then resumed training, strictly observing the timetable coaches set for her, so that Larisa could meet her set target in 2020, participation in the European championships hosted by the city of Mersin, Turkey.

In the European championships, Larisa was the star of the competition. After the qualifiers, she secured her participation in all four apparatus pieces finals. Larisa Iordache also contributed to the silver medal Romania won in the nations competition. In the apparatus pieces finals, Larisa first won the silver medal in the vault event. In the beam event, Larisa was way above her challengers. However, in the floor event, the gold medal went to Larisa Iordache as the result of the judges assessment being contested. Before Larisa proved her mettle in the competition, Turkeys Göksu Üçtaş was the top performer, with 13,100 points. Larisas execution was more difficult and her performance was better, yet the Romanian came in 2nd, with 50 thousandths points less than Üçtaş. Double-check revealed that the difficulty score algorithm for Larisas execution was flawed from the beginning, so the Romanian got 13, 450 points and stepped onto the first step of the podium.

Larisa Iordache was born on 19 June, 1996 in Bucharest. She took up high-level performance gymnastics with the Cetate Deva National Sports College. Then Larisa was officially included in Romanias Olympic pool of regulars. She made her debut in the top-level seniors contest in 2012 when she won three medals in the European Championships, gold in the floor event and in the nations competition and silver in the beam event. In the London Olympics Larisa Iordache won silver in the nations competition. In 2013, at the European Championships in Moscow, Larisa won gold in the beam event, while in the all-around event she won silver in beam and floor. Also in 2013, in the World Championships held in Anvers, Larisa Iordache walked away with bronze in the floor event. In 2014 she won gold in the European Championships in Sofia, in the beam event and in the nations competition. Larisa also won silver in the beam event and bronze in the vault event. Larisa Iordaches blazing trail includes the silver medal she won in in Nanning, in the all-around and beam events, also in 2014, while in 2015, in the World Championships in Glasgow, Larisa walked away with the bronze medal she won in the all-around event. 2016 was not that fruitful for Larisa Iordache because she sustained an injury. She secured her comeback in 2017, when she won bronze in the beam event as part of the European Championships held in Romanias Cluj. Larisa Iordache won gold in the all-around and floor events in the World University Games held in Taipei.

Larisa Iordaches set target for the next period is getting through to the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Larisa can book her ticket for Japan at the European individual championships scheduled for April 2021 and hosted by the city of Basel in Switzerland.

(Translation by Eugen Nasta)

6 January 2021