Radio România Internațional

Tag: win

  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club

    The year’s first Grand Slam tournament, the Australian tennis Open, has
    now reached the quarterfinal stage. A couple of seeded competitors, among whom
    the world’s number one tennis player, Poland’s Iga Swiatek, have already left
    the competition.


    The Romanian participants, in the singles but also in the double’s events
    have already been eliminated from the competition’s very first week. The last Romanian
    to have stepped onto the tennis court was Victor Cornea, who this past Saturday was defeated
    in the Open’s men’s doubles event, where he paired up with India’s Nsriram
    Balaji. Cornea and Balaji were defeated by the 10th-seeded Salvadorian-Croatian
    pair made of Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic, 3-6, 3-6. 69th-placed according to
    the world’s doubles rankings, Victor Cornea participated for the third time in
    a Grand Slam tournament. We recall that in 2023 Cornea took part in Roland
    Garros and the US Open. In the recently-held edition of the Australian Open, in
    the first round Victor Cornea and Nsriram Balaji defeated the all-Italian pair made of
    Matteo Arnaldi and Andrea Pellegrino, 6-3, 6-4. The Romanian-Indian pair has thus
    secured a cheque of 53, 000 Australian Dollars. Since 2021, Victor Cornea was the first
    Romanian player to have been included in the men’s event main draw in a Grand
    Slam tournament. The last such Romanian had been Horia Tecău, who retired in
    2022. We recall that, jointly with the German Kevin Krawietz, Tecau secured his
    last Grand Slam wins at the 2021 edition of the Australian Open.


    In 2024
    in Melbourne, the last Romanian to have proved her mettle in the women’s doubles
    was Ana Bogdan. In the second round, Bogdan and the Spanish Slovak-born Rebeka
    Masarova sustained a 3-6, 1-6 defeat by the 6th-seeded American-Japanese
    pair made of Desirae Krawczyk and Ena Shibahara.

    In the women’s singles, no Romanian
    tennis player was could go past the first round. The Romanian tennis is emphatically
    deprived of the presence of Simona Halep. Former WTA, number one tennis player still
    feels the pinch of her suspension, following doping charges. Halep awaits the
    retrial of her case by Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, in the first
    decade of February 2024.

  • Sports flash

    Sports flash


    In a Group B fixture counting towards EuroCup mens basketball team, U-BT Cluj-Napoca on Wednesday grabbed a 85-81 away win against German opponents ratiopharm Ulm.




    American-born Romanian player Patrick Richard was U-BT Cluj-Napocas top scorer, with 27 points and 3 assists on the record. Also in Group B, on Tuesday Italian team Trento defeated Polish team Slask Wroclaw, 85-79. On Wednesday Greek team Aris Thessalonica defeated Montenegrin team Buducnost Podgorica, 76-75, then French team Bourg-en-Bresse defeated Lithuanian opponents Lietkabelis Panevezys, 104-71, while Turk Telekom grabbed a 83-73 away win against Spanish team Dreamland Gran Canaria. U-BT Cluj-Napoca are 3rd-placed in Group B and have already booked their ticket for the competitions play-off. This coming Wednesday U-BT Cluj-Napoca play a home game against Italian team Trento.




    In FIBA Europe Cups Group N, CSM CSU Oradea sustained a 98-101 away defeat by German opponents Niners Chemnitz, after extra time. CSM CSU Oradeas top scorer was American-born player Nijal Pearson, with 22 points and 7 assists. With 8 points in 4 games, Niners Chemnitz are at the top of the table in Group N. CSM CSU Oradea follow, with 5 points. 3rd-placed are Low Country team Leiden, while 4th-placed are Varese of Italy, with 4 points in 3 games played The first two teams in descending order qualify to the quarterfinals. CSM CSU Oradea play their last two fixtures in the group at home, against Leiden, on January 24th and Against Varese, on February the 7th.




    In mens volleyball, Arcada Galati sustained a nil-3 away defeat by Lvi Prague of the Czech Republic. Romanian holders Arcada Galati are 4th-placed according to Group Es final rankings. Italys Civitanova are at the top of the table. Second-placed are Lvi Prague, while third-placed are Greenyard Maaseik of Belgium.




    As part of the ongoing Australian Open, tennis tournament, in the first round of the womens doubles, this past Wednesday the Romanian-Brazilian pair made of Monica Niculescu and Ingrid Martins sustained a 3-6, 1-6 defeat by the all-Italian pair made of Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini. On Thursday also in the womens doubles and again in the first round, the Romanian-Croatian made of Sorana Cîrstea and Donna Vekic have sustained a 2-6, 5-7 defeat by the 9th-seeded pair made the Dutch Demis Schuurs and Brazils Luisa Stefani.




  • Sports flash

    Romanian women’s
    basketball team Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe sustained a 61-71 home defeat by Spanish
    opponents Valencia Basket Club, The fixture counted towards Group A as part of women’s
    basketball Euro league. A first timer among European basketball’s first-tier teams,
    holders Sepsi are 7th placed according to Group A tables, with 13 points
    in 11 games, the same as 8th-placed, bottom-of-the-table Polish team
    Lublin. Sepsi’s next fixture is the away confrontation against Hungarian side
    Miskolc on January 18.


    In men’s
    basketball, in EuroCup’s Group B, U-BT Cluj-Napoca has succeeded its 10th victory,
    securing a 90-74 home win against Greek opponents Aris Thessalonicca. Holders
    U-BT have maintained their 3trd position in the group and will next play an
    away match against Germany’s ratiopharm Ulm.


    In FIBA Europe
    Cup, CSM CSU Oradea sustained an 81-101 away defeat by Italian challengers
    Varese, in a fixture counting towards the competition’s Group N. Romanian
    vice-champions have lost their second fixture in a row. According to group A’s tables,
    German team Chemnitz are at the top, with 6 points. The other three teams in
    the Group, Varese, CSM CSU Oradea and Low Countries’ Leiden have 4 points each.


    Romania’ s men national handball team on Friday plays its debut fixture
    as part of the European Championship in Germany. In Mannheim, Romanian goes
    against Austria in a Group B fixture. On Sunday, Romania takes on Spain, then
    on Tuesday, Romania plays Croatia. EURO 2024 kick-started on Wednesday, with Group
    A fixtures.


    In Düsseldorf, France outclassed North Macedonia, 39 to 29, while Germany
    defeated Switzerland, 27 – 14. After a 28-year gap, Romania has regained its
    place among the teams vying for a top position in Europe. Romania last participated
    in a European championship in Spain, in 1996, when our national squad was 9th-placed.


    For the
    Romanian Super League football teams, winter training sessions are in full swing.
    On Wednesday, in Turkey’s Antalya, FC Voluntari defeated Azeri opponents Turan
    Tovuz, 2-nil, while Universitatea Craiova drew against fourth-league German
    team Greifswalder, 1-all. Also on Wednesday, in Hungary, UTA Arad defeated Hungarian
    second-league team FC Ajka.



  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club

    Denmark,
    Norway and Sweden starting Wednesday will jointly play host to the World’s
    Women Handball Championship. The final is scheduled on November 17. The fixture
    will be hosted by the Jyske Bank Arena in Denmark’s Herning. It is also there
    that the Group E games will be played, Romania’ s games included. Florentin Pera’s
    trainees on December 1st take on the team of Chile. On December 3rd,
    Romania faces Serbia. The most challenging game, scheduled on Tuesday, is the
    match against one of the teams that are favorite to winning a medal, Denmark.
    The first three teams in Group E play straight in the 3rd Main
    Group, alongside the first three teams in Group F. Romania’s likely opponents
    in the 3rd main group are Germany, Poland, Japan or Iran. The game
    will also be played in Herning. The first two teams in descending order in the
    main four groups will then prove their mettle in the quarterfinals, The
    semifinals and the finals follow.


    The
    Romanian national team’s set target for the World Championship is earning a place
    among the world’s top seven teams, which paves the way for the 2024 edition of
    the Olympic games. The world champion will book its ticket to Paris jointly
    with the continental champions. The 2nd, 3rd, 4th,
    5th, 6th and 7th-placed teams at the World
    Championship will secure their participation to the pre-Olympic tournament in
    April, which will complete the list of teams that will participate in the 2024
    edition of the Olympics.


    The
    Romanian national squad is the only team that has so far taken part in all 25
    editions of the World Women’s Handball Championship since the inaugural edition
    held in the former Yugoslavia in 1957. In 1962, Romania itself played host to the
    world championship. We recall that back then Romania won the world title. In
    1973, Romania played the final which they lost to then the World Championship
    host country, former Yugoslavia. Romania also reached as far as the final in 2005, when
    they were defeated by the national team of host country Russia.


    Ahead
    of their participation in the World Championship, Romania last week won the
    Carpati Trophy, a competition held in Bistrita, in the north. Romania won the
    games against Switzerland, 33-28, Portugal, 33-22 and Austria, 41-35.



  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week

    Romania’s national football team last week succeeded its best performance in recent years. The
    national squad booked its ticket to the 2024 edition of the European Championship,
    to be hosted by Germany. The qualification came as something special, as the
    Romanian national team were at the top of the table in Group 1, with a no-defeat
    record. The laudable performance was sealed this past Wednesday in Bucharest,
    in the confrontation against Switzerland, initially the top-seeded team in the
    group, given the status of its lineup and its position according to the world
    rankings made public by FIFA. Switzerland is 14th-placed, while Romania is 48th-placed     according to world rankings. Notwithstanding, in
    Bucharest, such a difference mattered no more, since Romania won, 1-nil.


    The goal scorer, striker Denis Alibec, is the Athlete of the week on Radio
    Romania International.


    Switzerland was in dire
    need of a win against Romania, in order to win the preliminaries’ Group I and
    be included in a more accessible pot ahead of the drawing. Murat Yakin’s
    trainees put on an offensive game, their attacking bouts were quite a few on
    the pitch, yet the Romanian defensive line-up did their job, while the national team’s
    goalie, Horatiu Moldovan, succeeded several remarkable saves. It was the
    Romanians’ strong determination and Denis Alibec’s goal that, no doubt, made
    the difference on the pitch. Here is what Denis Alibec said, right after the
    match.


    We’re
    happy we pulled of a nice one, concluding the campaign with a win and be at the
    top of the table in the group, even though not very many people placed their
    stakes on us early into the qualification campaign, yet we proved that we were
    a family, that we knew how to fight together. Switzerland had a much better
    team, but we went, like, do or die on the pitch.


    Denis Alibec was born
    in Mangalia, on January 5, 1991. He made his debut in Romanian League One being signed
    up by Farul Constanta when he was only 17. Then he got transferred to Inter Milan in Italy. He was not included in the club’s top-flight line-up very
    often, and was on loan with several other teams. Alibec played, among other teams,
    for Astra Giurgiu, FCSB, Kayserispor in Turkey or CFR Cluj.

  • Sports flash

    Sports flash



    Fixtures counting towards European basketball competitions were played on Wednesday. In the European first-tier womens competition, the Euroleague, Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe have sustained yet another defeat. Romanian holders were thrashed by Turkish opponents Fenerbahce Istanbul, 110 to 63. A first-timer in the Euroleague, Sepsi are bottom-of-the-table in Group A. In the wake of the six matches they have played so far, Sepsi have a winless record sheet. Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe will next week travel to France, for a fixture against ASVEL Lyon.



    In the second-tier womens European basketball competition, FIBA EuroCup, in Group C, CSM Constanţa sustained a 87-78 away defeat by Lithuanian squad Kibirkstis. Romanian vice-champion team sustained their fifth defeat in the group, in a similar number of fixtures. Next week, CSM Constanta ply French team Angers, away.



    In the mens version of FIBA EuroCup, U-BT Cluj-Napoca on home turf were thrashed by the winners of the FIBA EuroCup 2023, Dreamland Gran Canaria of Spain, 92 to 70. Romanian title holders are second placed in Group B, with 6 wins and 2 draws. Top of the table are Dreamland Gran Canaria, with 8 wins. U-BT Cluj-Napocas next fixture is the home match against Lithuanian opponents Lietkabelis Panevezys, on November 29.



    In Europes mens third-tier competition, FIBA Europe Cup, CSM CSU Oradea have earned their place among the competitions top 16 teams. In Group J, CSM CSU Oradea came in second, having grabbed a 93-74 home win against Legia Warsaw this past Wednesday. In Group B, Baschet Club Sibiu sustained a 71-84 away defeat by Polish opponents Anwil Wloclawek. For Sibiu, it was the sixth defeat in six games played.



    In news from mens volleyball, in the Champions Leagues Group E, Arcada Galaţi sustained a nil-3 defeat by Italys Cucine Lube Civitanova. Arcada Galati as an absolute first have qualified to the Champions Leagues Group stage, yet they sustained the defeat after one hour and sixteen minutes of play. In Group Es other fixture, Czech team Lvi Prague grabbed a 3-nil away win against Belgian team Greenyard Maaseik. Arcadas next fixture is this coming Wednesdays home confrontation Greenyard Maaseik of Belgium.





  • Romanian national football team has successfully booked its ticket for EURO 2024

    Romanian national football team has successfully booked its ticket for EURO 2024




    After a dismal eight-year gap, with unfulfilled expectations, Romanian national team fans have, yet again, enjoyed a qualification to a final tournament. Which this time has been very special, since the national squad’s record is a no-defeat one. Romania is at the top of the table in the preliminaries’ Group 1, thus earning its place among second-pot teams, ahead of the draw. So, in theory, at least, Romania can avoid locking horns with more top-tier teams than they would have faced had they finished 2nd and been included in pot four. Romania secured the top-of-the-table position in the group, this past Tuesday grabbing a 1-nil home win against Switzerland, a team that has also secured its ticket for EURO 2024, earning the runner-up position in the group.



    It was a great win, and an unexpected one, at that, all the more so as Switzerland is 14th placed according to world rankings, while Romania is 48th placed. In Bucharest on Tuesday, in the wake of a game that had nothing special about it, Edward Iordănescu’s trainees won, 1-nil, thanks to Denis Alibec’s goal on 50 minutes. Here is what the Romanian striker said right after the match



    We’re so happy we have succeeded to close the campaign with a win and be at the top of the table in the group, even though there were many people who did not place their stakes on us, early into the campaign, yet we proved that we were a family, that we knew how to fight together. Switzerland had a much better line-up, but ours was a walk-or-die performance on the pitch.



    Captain Nicolae Stanciu:



    For me, it is the finest evening in my entire footballer’s career, all the more so as we’ve had a couple of difficult years, since we were unable to qualify to this or that competition. I believe tonight we can afford partying and we are anxious for EURO to draw near, as we fully believe in ourselves and we want to have a summer to remember.



    Alibec and Stanciu are Romanian pool of regulars’ only footballers who had played in a final tournament before, that is in 2016, at the European championship in France. Back then national team head coach was Edward Iordanescu’s father, Anghel Iordanescu. It was Iordanescu junior’s turn, right after the game against Switzerland, to prove he himself was a valuable head-coach.



    Edward Iordanescu:


    We’re closing this qualification campaign in a fabulous way. Words simply fail me, personally, in my bid to express gratitude to these wonderful lads, for their determination, for their behavior, for the fine way they proved themselves. And if there is anything, anything at all I deserve any praise for, it is the fact that I believed in them unconditionally, that I succeeded to persuade them to believe in what they can do, in the potential they have, in how wonderful the things they can accomplish are, when they are a family and work together.



    The drawing for the European Championship’s final tournament in Germany will take place in Hamburg on December 2nd.


  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week

    Romanian national football team has booked its ticket for EURO 2024. Head-coach
    Edward Iordănescu succeeded such a performance with a pool of regulars made of young
    footballers. Of them, only two footballers had been to a final tournament
    before, Denis Alibec and Nicolae
    Stanciu. We recall Alibec and Stanciu were under the helm of Edward
    Iordanescu’s father, Anghel Iordanescu, at the 2016 edition of the European
    Championship hosted by France. Today’s generation of important national team
    footballers ok shape in 2019 when Romania’s national U-21 team reached as far
    as the semifinals of the European Championship, jointly hosted by Italy and San
    Marino. Ianis Hagi is one of the leaders of this generation. We recall Ianis is
    currently a midfielder for Spanish first-league team, Deportivo Alavés. ON
    Saturday, Ianis Hagi sealed the fate of the match pitting Romania against Israel,
    scoring the winning goal for his team. Romanian national squad’s 2-1 win
    against Israel sent the team to the EURO 2024 one round ahead of the
    preliminaries’ final stage.


    Reason enough for Radio Romania International to
    designate Ianis Hagi the Athlete of the week.


    In Hungary’s Felcsút, the locality that played host to
    Romania’s match against Israel, Ianis Hagi was on the pitch from the very first
    minute of play. When the score was 1-all, Ianis Hagi shot the ball inside
    Israeli’s box in minute 63, scoring the winning goal for his team. Immediately
    after he scored, Ianis was replaced by Florinel Coman. The score stayed the
    same until the end of the match. Here is what Ianis Hagi stated after the match
    We met our set target. That’s what we worked for. That’s what we wanted for
    ourselves, right from the start and I believe we fully deserved out ticket for
    EURO.


    Ianis Hagi is the son of one of Romania’s greatest footballers, Gheorghe
    Hagi. He was born on October 22, 1998, in Istanbul, Turkey, at the time when
    his father was signed up by Galatasaray. He began playing football with the
    Gheorghe Hagi Academy in Ovidiu, a locality in the vicinity of Romania’s main Black
    Sea harbour, Constanta. In 2014, Ianis
    Hagi made his debut in Romania’s League one, also under the helm of his father,
    being signed up by Viitorul Constanta. Ianis Hagi’s career includes stints with
    Fiorentina, in Italy, with Genk, in Belgium and with Scottish team Glasgow Rangers.
    Ianis Hagi is still under contract with Rangers, but he has been on loan for Alaves
    since this summer. Ianis Hagi made his debut with Romania’s national team in
    the autumn of 2018. We recall that back then Romania secured a 3-nil win against
    Lithuania, in a League of Nations match.

  • Sports flash

    Sports flash

    Romanian men’s
    basketball team U-BT Cluj-Napoca on Wednesday secured their sixth win as part
    of EuroCup. Holders U-BT grabbed a 90-60 away win against Italy’s Dolomiti Energia
    Trento cu 98 la 60 and are now second placed in group B. next week, U-BT receive
    the visit of Spanish team Dreamland Gran Canaria. The latter team on Wednesday
    grabbed a 81-77 home win against Polish opponents Śląsk Wrocław. Dreamland
    Gran Canaria are the only team with a no-defeat record sheet in the seven round
    they have played in EuroCup’s Group B.


    In FIBA
    Europe Cup, CSU Sibiu have sustained their fifth consecutive defeat in Group B. CSU were defeated on home court by Spanish opponents Surne Bilbao Basket, 68-73,
    and are at the bottom of the table in the group. On November 22nd, CSU Sibiu take
    on Polish side Anwil Włocławek, away. In Group J, CSM CSU Oradea defeated Kataja Basket, 105-92, on home court.
    The team from Oradea are second-placed in the group and next week play top-of-the-table team Legya Warsaw. Securing their ticket for the round of 16 will be
    the 10 teams that emerge as winners in their group. They are followed by the
    best six second-placed teams.


    In news from women’s
    volleyball, Romanian title holders Alba Blaj on Wednesday were defeated by
    French opponents Volero Le Cannet, 3-2, in a fixture counting towards Champions
    League’s group E. In Group E’s other game, also hosted by a Romanian town,
    Mioveni, Ukrainian side Prometei
    Dnipro sustained a nil-3 defeat by Polish opponents Łódź. Volero Le Cannet are
    at the top of the table, with two wins. Following in descending order are Alba Blaj
    and Łódź, each with a win on their record sheet.


    Matches
    counting towards the 11th round as part of the National women’s handball
    League were played on Wednesday. Vice-champion team Rapid Bucharest defeated
    Universitatea Craiova, 32 to 25, while Dunărea Brăila defeated SCM Râmnicu
    Vâlcea, 38-37, away. Gloria Bistriţa-Năsăud defeated Corona Braşov, 33-28, while
    Măgura Cisnădie outclassed Handbal Club Zalău, 28 – 27. With 30 points in 10 matches,
    defending champion team CSM Bucharest are at the top of the table. Universitatea
    Craiova follow, with 25 points. Coming in descending order are Rapid and
    Gloria, each with 24 points, all in 11 games played.


  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week

    Romanian cyclist
    Ede-Károly Molnár this past Sunday won
    the European title in the mountain bike cross-country eliminator held in
    Sakarya, Turkey. It was Romanian cyclism’s all-time high so far. Reason enough
    for Radio Romania International to designate Ede-Károly Molnár the Athlete of
    the week.


    According to
    Agerpres Romanian news agency, in Turkey, Molnar overpowered great mountain bike
    cyclists such as the French Titouan Perrin-Ganier or Nils-Obed Riecker and Simon
    Gegenheimer of Germany. Molnar was also lucky, because during the last leg of
    the race one of his three challengers got his bike chain broken, so right from
    the start Molnar secured a medal for himself. The Romania stepped up a little
    bit and walked away with gold, being one second faster than many-time European and
    world champion, Titouan Perrin-Ganier,


    Ede-Károly
    Molnár hails from Sfântu Gheorghe, in central Romania. He was born on March 6, 1996.
    Molnar has been competing in the Concurează la cross-country eliminator (XCE) since
    2022 when he also won a bronze medal at the European Championship in Portugal. He also competed in the Olympic cross-country (XCO) and in the short-track (XCC) races, where he walked
    away with silver at the National Championships in 2023. Molnar was only defeated
    by Vlad Dascălu, a cyclist who will represent Romanian at the 2024 edition of
    the Olympic Games in Paris, in the Olympic cross-country race.


    For the Romanian
    cyclist, the next top-notch competition is drawing near as in two weeks’ time
    the World Championships are about to kick-start, held in Palangkaraya, Indonesia. It is the competition where
    Molnar will have the opportunity to prove the success in Turkey was not a
    random performance.


    —–

  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club


    The World Rugby Cup has now reached its final stage. In Paris on Saturday, the grand finale will see New Zealand facing South Africa. Both teams have had an unassuming start in the competition, with defeats in the group stage. New Zealand was defeated by France, while South Africa was defeated by Ireland. However, progress was increasingly visible for both teams, since in the quarterfinals, South Africa defeated host team France, while New Zealand defeated defending world champions Ireland.



    In the group stage, we had the chance to watch South Africa play, that including a match against Romania. The “Springboks” trounced Romania, 76-nil, causing the second defeat for our national team at the 2023 edition of the World Cup. We recall Romania was given a most serious hiding in their debut game, being defeated by Ireland, 8-82. The defeat was even more serious in the game against Scotland, nil-84. The only match where Romania mattered a little bit was the fixture against Tonga, a game they lost anyway, 24-45. However, we could see a lot of determination among the Romanian players, given that, quite unlike the previous confrontations, the game against Tonga was not entirely hopeless. Eugen Apjoks trainees succeeded three fine tries, through Cristi Boboc, Florin Surugiu and Marius Simionescu.



    In the wake of Romanias dismal run in France, rugby fans could see for themselves how far Romania was from earning a place in the first echelon at world level. We even wonder if we can claim a position among the worlds second-tier teams, where such line-ups as those of Portugal, Georgia or Fiji have had a good run at the World Cup 2023. For these countries, on Wednesday, World Rugby broke the news.



    Beginning with the 2027 edition of the World Cup in Australia, the final tournament will include 27 teams. In theory, Romania still stands a chance to yet again prove its mettle at the World Cup, as our national squad is 20th placed according to the as-it-stands table at world level. World Rugby has also ruled the setting up of Nations League, a competition due to kick off beginning 2026. The Nations League will have two divisions with twelve teams each. The first division will be made of the worlds top ten national teams and two guest national teams. Fixtures are scheduled in July and November, replacing the previous tournament or the test matches that were usually held in July and November. According to World Rugby, changes have been made in a bid to enable weaker teams to play top-flight squads more often.




  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week

    Romania’s most important
    tennis tournament has recently drawn to a close in Cluj-Napoca. It is known as WTA
    250 Transylvania Open, a women’s tournament with 260 thousand USD in prize
    money. Taking part in the tournament have been several top-flight tennis players,
    both in women’s singles and in women’s doubles. All eight seeded players in the
    women’s singles are ranked among the world’s top 100 tennis players. Among them, Romania’s Sorana
    Cîrstea, Alycia Parks of the USA, Belgium’s Greet Minnen or
    Spaniard Rebeka Masarova. Apart from Sorana Cirstea, six other Romanian tennis
    players have been included in the main draw. Ilona Georgiana Ghioroaie came straight
    from the qualifiers. Jaqueline Cristian, Patricia Ţig and Ana Bogdan gained their
    admission thanks to their WTA rankings, while Miriam Bulgaru and Elena-Gabriela
    Ruse got wild cards. Elena-Gabriela Ruse was the best since she reached as far
    as the tournament’s final.


    Reason enough for
    Radio Romania International to designate Ruse the Athlete of the week.


    In Cluj-Napoca, Elena-Gabriela Ruse defeated second-seeded
    Alycia Parks, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4, in the first round. In the second round, Ruse
    defeated Hungarian opponent Anna Bondar, 7-6, 6-2. In
    the quarterfinals, Elena Ruse defeated Colombian challenger Emiliana Arango, 6-1, nil-6,
    6-1. In the semi-finals, Elena Gabriela Ruse defeated fourth-seeded tennis
    player Rebeka Masarova, 6-1, 6-4. However, in the final, Elena Gabriela Ruse
    was defeated by Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch, 6-3, 6-4.


    Elena-Gabriela Ruse was born on November 6, 1997, in Bucharest. She took
    up tennis when she was four and a half years old, with Dinamo Bucharest sports
    club. Her career-best so far includes only one WTA women’s singles tournament
    she won in Hamburg, in 2021. Also in 202,1 Ruse was a finalist in the Palermo
    tournament. In Cluj-Napoca Elena-Gabriela Ruse made it to the finals for the
    third time around in her women’s single career. Ruse therefore climbed 61
    notches up and now ranks 127th according to the world standings. Elena-Gabriela Ruse was best-placed in May 2022, when she ranked 51st. Elena-Gabriela
    Ruse’s performance in the women’s doubles is far more consistent, especially
    since she has been pairing up with Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk. Elena Gabriela Ruse
    is 37th-placed according to the world’s women’s doubles rankings. In 2023, in
    the year’s first Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne, Ruse and Kostyuk reached
    as far as the semi-finals.

  • Sports flash


    Romanian womens volleyball team CSM Lugoj had no problem advancing to the Challenge Cups round of 32. CSM Lugoj on Wednesday secured a 3-nil home win against North-Macedonian team Rabotnicki Skopje. The fixture counted as the second leg of the preliminary round. The finalist of the 2022 edition of the Challenge Cup, CSM Lugoj, had also secured a 3-nil win in the first leg on Tuesday, in a match hosted by the Ioan Kunst-Ghermănescu Sports hall in Lugoj. CSM Lugojs most efficient players were Nevena Vukcevic, with 15 points, and Petruţa Orlandea, cu 11 points. In the competitions round of 32, CSM Lugoj face Swiss team Sm Aesch Pfeffingen. The first leg is scheduled on November14, away. We recall that in 2021, also in the Challenge Cups round of 32, CSM eliminated Sm Aesch Pfeffingen, following a 3-2 home win and another win, away, 3-1.



    Also in the Challenge Cup, CSO Voluntari has made a leap forward towards the competitions round of 32. On Wednesday, CSO Voluntari secured a 3-2 away win against Greek opponents AEK Athens. CSO Voluntari came from behind when the scoreboard pointed to a 2-nil for the Greek team. With 26 points, CSO Voluntaris Heidy Casanova Alvarez was her teams top scorer. The second leg is scheduled on October 18 in Dobroesti.



    In news from womens handball, in a Group 1 fixture counting towards the 2024 European Women Handball Championship preliminaries, Romanias national squad defeated Bosnia Herzegovina, 49-`17. With 7 goals scored, Cristina Laslo was the Romania national teams top scorer. In Group 1s other match, Croatia defeated Greece, 32-22. On Saturday, Bosnia-Herzegovina plays Croatia, while Greece goes against Romania. 24 teams will be taking part in the final tournament, the first two teams in each group, plus the best four 3rd-placed teams. Host countries teams, that is Austria, Hungary and Switzerland have qualified straight to the final tournament, just as the defending champion, Norway.



    This coming weekend in Bucharest, gymnasts from 21 countries will participate in a World Cup aerobic gymnastics leg. According to the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, confirming their participation were delegations from all five continents. After the 2011 edition of the European Championships held in Bucharest, the World Cup legs held in 2001 in Bucharest and in Timisoara, in 2013, this is the fourth international aerobic gymnastics competition hosted by Romania.




  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club


    The Champions League in womens handballs 2023 – 2024 edition has now reached the second round of the group stage. Holders CSM Bucharest and runner-up team Rapid represent Romania in the competition. CSM has been included in Group A, while Rapid, in Group B. There are eight teams for each of the two series. The first two teams, in descending order, play straight in the Leagues s quarterfinals. According to a round-robin system, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th-placed teams will prove their mettle in the playoff fixtures. The four winning teams add up to the list of teams that have already booked their ticket for the quarterfinals.



    After the first two rounds, both CSM and Rapid have a win and a defeat on their record sheet. CSM played their debut home game against Danish opponents Odense, 28-24, then sustained a 24-26 defeat by Bietigheim, away. In the first round, Rapid sustained a 28 to 30 defeat by Esbjerg of Denmark, then secured a 26-25 win against Polish team Zaglebie Lubin.



    Fixtures counting towards the third round are scheduled at the weekend. In a match hosted by the Multi-Purpose Sports Hall in Bucharest, on Saturday CSM face Hungarian challenger Gyor, the team that will most likely win the current edition of the League according to the bookmakers. Gyor won the away game against French team Brest Bretagne, 24-23 and trounced Hungarian side Debrecen at home, 35-23. Rapid Also in Bucharest, but on Sunday, Rapid take on Danish team Ikast. The latter team provided the Leagues first great surprise, winning the match against the winners of the Leagues previous edition, 30-26. In the second round, Ikast secured another win, in France, 39-36 against Metz Handball.



    On the European Handball Federations website, at eurohandball.com, posted on the page dedicated to the womens version of the Champions League there is a portrait of Cristina Neagu, who said she wanted to win the League yet again with CSM Bucharest. The internationally-acclaimed Romanian handballer went on to say she badly wanted to win the League to inspire her fellow handballers, to help them learn they can get everything if they work hard and think big.




  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week

    Romania a couple
    of days ago has yet again confirmed it fully deserved the status it has earned
    among Europe’s top-flight table tennis teams. As part of the European teams’
    championships held in the Swedish city of Malmo, in the men’s version of the
    competition, Romania reached as far as the round of 16, while in the women’s
    version of the event Romania won the silver medals, The latter’s performance is
    a reiteration of the team’s exceptional feat in Cluj-Napoca, in 2021.The
    Romanian table tennis team’s record includes a couple of European titles, with the
    most recent one being won in France’s Nantes, in 2019.


    In 2023 in Sweden, the Romanian line-up was made of Bernadette Szőcs, Elizabeta Samara, Andreea Dragoman and Adina
    Diaconu, who had no problem outclassing Croatia, Serbia
    and Slovenia in the group stage. In the quarterfinals, Romanian succeeded a
    hard-fought win against Spain, while in the semifinal the Romanian team
    defeated France. However, in the
    final, Romania lost to Germany. For the Romanian team, Bernadette
    Szőcs put on the best performance, winning all the games she played until the
    final, when he was defeated by the world’s number 10 table tennis player, Ying
    Han. For her exceptional performance in Sweden and for her crucial contribution to the team’s winning the silver medal, Bernadette Szocs was designated the Athlete of the
    week by Radio Romania International.


    Bernadette Szőcs was born on March 5, 1995, in the central Transylvanian
    town of Targu-Mures. She took up table tennis at the age of 8. For Bernie, good
    results in the cadets and juniors’ competitions were quick to appear. Bernadette
    won several medals in European and world championships, climbing up according to world
    rankings rather rapidly. In 2016, pairing up with Ovidiu Ionescu in the mixed
    doubles event as part of the European championships in Budapest, she came in 3rd.
    In 2017, at the European championships in Luxembourg, Bernadette Szocs won her
    first European title with the team. In 2018, in Montreux, Switzerland she won
    the European Top-16 tournament, an event for Europe’s top-notch table tennis
    players. In 2019 in Nantes, France, she became a European champion in the teams’
    contest. In Munich, in 2022, Bernadette Szocs won the women’s doubles European
    title, jointly with Austrian player Sofia Polcanova, who
    was born in the republic of Moldova, Also in Munich, Bernadette Szocs won the mixed
    doubles’ silver medals, alongside Ovidiu Ionescu. Bernadette is 11th
    placed according to the as-it-stands world rankings.