Radio România Internațional

Tag: women’s

  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week

    The Grand Slam tournament in Roland Garros, France,
    drew to a close this past Sunday. In the men’s singles final, Novak Djokovic
    emerged as winner. However,
    attention-grabbing for Romanian tennis fans was the women’s version of the
    tournament, despite the fact that the best Romanian tennis player of the
    moment, WTA 3rd-placed Simona Halep, did not participate in Roland
    Garros, since she is still recovering from an injury she sustained fairly
    recently. So center-stage was placed another Romanian tennis player, Sorana
    Cirstea, who reached as far as the round of 16, where she was overpowered by
    Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek. However, in the tournament’s women’s doubles, another Romanian, Irina Begu, was only a
    whisker away from playing the final. Pairing up with Argentinean Nadia
    Podoroska, Irina advanced to the semifinals, repeating her career-best in a
    Grand Slam tournament. We recall that in 2018, Begu and Monica Niculescu played
    the semifinals at the Australian Open.


    Begu and Podoroska’s trail at Roland Garros this year
    included a straight-set win in the first round against the all-French pair made up of Estelle Cascino and Jessika Ponchet, 6-3, 6-1 as well as a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 win
    against Ens Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama of Japan. Begu and Podoroska then
    outclassed another all-French pair made up of Clara Burel and Chloe Paquet, 6-3,
    6-1. In the quarterfinals, Irina Begu and Nadia Podoroska secured a 6-3, 4-6,
    6-2 win against the Croatian-US pair made up of Petra Martic and Shelby Rogers.
    However, in the semifinals, Begu and Podoroska were defeated by the US-Polish
    pair made up of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Iga Swiatek, 6-3, 6-4.


    Irina Begu was born in Bucharest, on August 26, 1990.
    In 2006, Irina produced her first notable performance as she walked away with
    the European title in the under-16 category. In April 2011, Irina Begu played
    the first WTA final of her career in Marbella. Irina’s run in Marbella saw the
    Romanian successfully fighting her way to the final, where she was defeated by Viktoria Azarenka of Belarus. Irina Begu’s record includes 4 WTA
    women’s singles titles. The Romanian won the tournament in Tashkent in 2012 and
    in Seoul, in 2015. Also, Begu won the Florianopolis tournament in 2016 and the
    tournament held in Bucharest, in 2017. As a professional tennis player, Irina Begu won nine women’s
    doubles titles. Irina won the Hobart tournament in 2012, pairing up with another
    Romanian, Monica Niculescu, then went on to win the ‘s-Hertogenbosch tournament
    in 2013, when she paired up with Anabel Medina Garrigues as well as the
    tournament in Rio, in 2014, when she paired up with cu Maria Irigoyen. Also in 2014,
    Irina Begu won the tournament in Seoul, jointly with Lara Arruabarrena. In
    2017, Irina Begu won the tournament in Bucharest, when she paired up with Raluca
    Olaru. Irina and Sara Errani won the tournament in Tianjin, also in 2017. Two
    other WTA titles went to Irina Begu in 2018, in China’s Shenzhen, when Irina
    paired up with Simona Halep, and in Bucharest, when Begu paired up with Andreea
    Mitu. In 2019, Irina Begu won the Thailand Open, jointly with Monica Niculescu.
    Irina Begu is world no. 78 in the WTA singles ranking and 63rd in the doubles
    rankings.

    (Translation by Eugen Nasta)


  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week

    The Grand Slam tournament in Roland Garros, France,
    drew to a close this past Sunday. In the men’s singles final, Novak Djokovic
    emerged as winner. However,
    attention-grabbing for Romanian tennis fans was the women’s version of the
    tournament, despite the fact that the best Romanian tennis player of the
    moment, WTA 3rd-placed Simona Halep, did not participate in Roland
    Garros, since she is still recovering from an injury she sustained fairly
    recently. So center-stage was placed another Romanian tennis player, Sorana
    Cirstea, who reached as far as the round of 16, where she was overpowered by
    Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek. However, in the tournament’s women’s doubles, another Romanian, Irina Begu, was only a
    whisker away from playing the final. Pairing up with Argentinean Nadia
    Podoroska, Irina advanced to the semifinals, repeating her career-best in a
    Grand Slam tournament. We recall that in 2018, Begu and Monica Niculescu played
    the semifinals at the Australian Open.


    Begu and Podoroska’s trail at Roland Garros this year
    included a straight-set win in the first round against the all-French pair made up of Estelle Cascino and Jessika Ponchet, 6-3, 6-1 as well as a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 win
    against Ens Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama of Japan. Begu and Podoroska then
    outclassed another all-French pair made up of Clara Burel and Chloe Paquet, 6-3,
    6-1. In the quarterfinals, Irina Begu and Nadia Podoroska secured a 6-3, 4-6,
    6-2 win against the Croatian-US pair made up of Petra Martic and Shelby Rogers.
    However, in the semifinals, Begu and Podoroska were defeated by the US-Polish
    pair made up of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Iga Swiatek, 6-3, 6-4.


    Irina Begu was born in Bucharest, on August 26, 1990.
    In 2006, Irina produced her first notable performance as she walked away with
    the European title in the under-16 category. In April 2011, Irina Begu played
    the first WTA final of her career in Marbella. Irina’s run in Marbella saw the
    Romanian successfully fighting her way to the final, where she was defeated by Viktoria Azarenka of Belarus. Irina Begu’s record includes 4 WTA
    women’s singles titles. The Romanian won the tournament in Tashkent in 2012 and
    in Seoul, in 2015. Also, Begu won the Florianopolis tournament in 2016 and the
    tournament held in Bucharest, in 2017. As a professional tennis player, Irina Begu won nine women’s
    doubles titles. Irina won the Hobart tournament in 2012, pairing up with another
    Romanian, Monica Niculescu, then went on to win the ‘s-Hertogenbosch tournament
    in 2013, when she paired up with Anabel Medina Garrigues as well as the
    tournament in Rio, in 2014, when she paired up with cu Maria Irigoyen. Also in 2014,
    Irina Begu won the tournament in Seoul, jointly with Lara Arruabarrena. In
    2017, Irina Begu won the tournament in Bucharest, when she paired up with Raluca
    Olaru. Irina and Sara Errani won the tournament in Tianjin, also in 2017. Two
    other WTA titles went to Irina Begu in 2018, in China’s Shenzhen, when Irina
    paired up with Simona Halep, and in Bucharest, when Begu paired up with Andreea
    Mitu. In 2019, Irina Begu won the Thailand Open, jointly with Monica Niculescu.
    Irina Begu is world no. 78 in the WTA singles ranking and 63rd in the doubles
    rankings.

    (Translation by Eugen Nasta)


  • Team of the Year 2016

    Team of the Year 2016

    2016 was a special year for Romanian fencing, with noteworthy results beginning to add to Romanian fencers’ record sheet as early as in March, when Steaua Bucharest’s women’s epee team, made up of Ana Maria Popescu-Brânză, Simona Gherman, Simona Pop and Greta Veres won the European Cup. In the final, Steaua outperformed Moscow Fencing Club, 45-38.



    In June, Romania walked away with 4 medals at the European Fencing Championships in Torun, Poland. In the individual epee event, the gold went to Simona Gherman, while the silver medal went to Ana-Maria Popescu, whom Gherman defeated in the final. The other two medals were bronze, and were won by Romania’s women’s epee team, made of Ana-Maria Popescu, Simona Pop, Simona Gherman and Loredana Dinu, and by the men’s saber team, made of Alin Badea, Tiberiu Dolniceanu, Ciprian Gălăţanu and Iulian Teodosiu.



    Taking that into account, expectations were high ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio, and it was again the women’s epee team that met these expectations. The team members, Ana-Maria Popescu, Simona Pop, Simona Gherman and Loredana Dinu, won the first Olympic title for Romanian fencing in the nations’ competition. Also, it was the only gold medal the Romanian delegation won at the Olympic Games in Rio.



    In Rio, Romania’s hardest match was the one against the United States in the quarterfinals, when Romania won, 24-23, thanks to Ana-Maria Popescu’s golden touch. Then in the semifinals, Romania had no problem defeating Russia, 45-31, while in the finals, Romania outclassed the defending Olympic champions China, 44-38.



    The gold medal in Rio turned Romania’s epee lineup into an unrivaled team in the race for the Team of the year 2016 title. The performance of Romanian women fencers is all the more impressive, as most of the team members were at the end of their career. Save for Simona Pop, who was born in 1988, the other girls are over 30 and their record includes a great number of medals won in top-class competitions.