Radio România Internațional

Tag: World Fencing Championships

Sports

The Romanian tennis player Irina Begu won the WTA tournament in Palermo,
with more than 200,000 euro in prize money. In the final, on Sunday, she beat the Italian
Lucia Bronzetti, 6-2, 6-2. The Romanian thus added the fifth WTA title in her
career, after the one she won five years ago, in Bucharest. For the success in
Sicily, Begu was rewarded, according to Agerpres, with 26,770 euros and 280 WTA
points. At last year’s edition in Palermo, the Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse was
defeated in the final by the American player Danielle Collins. Until Sunday,
the only Romanian player who had won the Palermo tournament was Irina Spârlea,
in 1994 and 1995.

The World Fencing Championships ended in Cairo on Saturday. The Romanian
athletes won two bronze medals, both in individual competitions. Iulian
Teodosiu calimed the third step of the podium in saber, and Maria Boldor, in
foil.

The World Athletics Championships ended on Sunday, in Eugene, in the
American state of Oregon. Romania was represented by 8 athletes, of which four
in the male and four in the female competitions. Bianca Ghelber ranked sixth in
hammer throw, Alin Firfirică came in 7th in discus throw, and Daniela Stanciu
ranked tenth in the high jump event.

Games counting for the second stage of the Romanian Football Superleague
were held this past weekend. On Friday, Farul Constanța defeated away from home
CS Mioveni, 2-0. On Saturday, also in Mioveni, FC Botoșani beat FC Voluntari 1-0.
Four games were played on Sunday. Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe beat FC Argeș 4-0 at
home, FC U Craiova won on home turf the match against the champion, CFR Cluj,
3-1. In Mediaș, Universitatea Cluj and Universitatea Craiova ended in a draw, 1-1.
Finally, in the derby, in Bucharest, Rapid beat FCSB 2-0. The last two matches
of the stage are to be held on Monday. Chindia Târgoviște with FC Hermannstadt and
UTA Arad with Petrolul Ploiești. Farul and FC Botoșani lead the ranking, the
only teams with 6 points out of 6.(MI)

25 July 2022
Sports

The Romanian tennis player Irina Begu won the WTA tournament in Palermo,
with more than 200,000 euro in prize money. In the final, on Sunday, she beat the Italian
Lucia Bronzetti, 6-2, 6-2. The Romanian thus added the fifth WTA title in her
career, after the one she won five years ago, in Bucharest. For the success in
Sicily, Begu was rewarded, according to Agerpres, with 26,770 euros and 280 WTA
points. At last year’s edition in Palermo, the Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse was
defeated in the final by the American player Danielle Collins. Until Sunday,
the only Romanian player who had won the Palermo tournament was Irina Spârlea,
in 1994 and 1995.

The World Fencing Championships ended in Cairo on Saturday. The Romanian
athletes won two bronze medals, both in individual competitions. Iulian
Teodosiu calimed the third step of the podium in saber, and Maria Boldor, in
foil.

The World Athletics Championships ended on Sunday, in Eugene, in the
American state of Oregon. Romania was represented by 8 athletes, of which four
in the male and four in the female competitions. Bianca Ghelber ranked sixth in
hammer throw, Alin Firfirică came in 7th in discus throw, and Daniela Stanciu
ranked tenth in the high jump event.

Games counting for the second stage of the Romanian Football Superleague
were held this past weekend. On Friday, Farul Constanța defeated away from home
CS Mioveni, 2-0. On Saturday, also in Mioveni, FC Botoșani beat FC Voluntari 1-0.
Four games were played on Sunday. Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe beat FC Argeș 4-0 at
home, FC U Craiova won on home turf the match against the champion, CFR Cluj,
3-1. In Mediaș, Universitatea Cluj and Universitatea Craiova ended in a draw, 1-1.
Finally, in the derby, in Bucharest, Rapid beat FCSB 2-0. The last two matches
of the stage are to be held on Monday. Chindia Târgoviște with FC Hermannstadt and
UTA Arad with Petrolul Ploiești. Farul and FC Botoșani lead the ranking, the
only teams with 6 points out of 6.(MI)

25 July 2022
Athlete of the Week on RRI – Fencer Ana-Maria Popescu

Romanian fencer Ana-Maria Popescu
on Sunday won the women’s epee singles at the World Cup in Doha. In the final
she defeated Mara Navarria of Italy, 15-9. For her remarkable performance, we
have designated Ana-Maria Popescu Athlete of the Week on RRI.

In Doha, Ana-Maria ousted Camille
Nabeth of France, 15-10 in the first round. In the second round she won 15-9
against Estonian Katrina Lehis. In the round of 16 she knocked out Hyo-jung Jung
of South Korea, 15-6. In the quarterfinals she won 10-9 against Katharine
Holmes of the United States, while in the semis she defeated Tatyana
Andryushina of Russia.

Ana Maria Popescu, better known to
fencing lovers as Ana Maria Branza, was born on November 26, 1984. For the
first time ever Ana Maria Popescu compelled international recognition in 2001,
when she won the title at the World Cadets Championships held in Poland. A year
later, Ana Maria Popescu reaped the world juniors title at the world
championships in Turkey. 2002 turned out to be a special year for Ana Maria
Popescu, who walked away with silver from the World Seniors Championships held
in Lisbon.

In 2008 in Bejing, Ana Maria
Popescu won the silver medal, the highest distinction for Romanian fencing at
the Beijing Olympics. At the Rio Olympics of 2016, she won the gold medal in
the team event with Romania’s national team.

Let us further note that this
season Ana-Maria Popescu won the Tallinn Fencing Championships in 2019, ranking
second in the Havana World Championships earlier this year. She is the leader
in the World Cup general standings, being very close to securing qualification
to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo this year.

(Translated by V. Palcu)

28 January 2020
Sports Roundup

The BRD Bucharest Open is the only
WTA tournament hosted by Romania. Underway in the capital city Bucharest, the
tournament has 250,000 USD in prize money. In the women’s singles, 1st-seed
is Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova. The pair made of Irina Begu and Raluca Olaru
of Romania is 1st-seed in the doubles event. We recall that in 2017,
Begu and Olaru won the BRD Bucharest Open. In 2018, Begu was also 1st-seed
in the doubles, but at that time she was pairing up with Andreea Mitu.

At the 2019 edition of the World
fencing Championships in Budapest, the Romanian delegation is made of 23
fencers, of whom 12 compete in men’s and 11 in the women’s version of the
competition. 2nd-placed according to the women’s version of the
world’s epee rankings, Olympic champion Ana Maria Popescu stands the greatest
chance to winning a medal. We recall that in 2018 Popescu walked away with
silver at the World Championships in China’s Wu Xi. Ana Maria Popescu’s record
can only be complete if she wins gold in the individual event. We recall Ana
Maria won two gold medals in the 2010 and 2011 editions of the World
championship, but she won both medals in the nations’ competition. In the
women’s version of the epee, foil and saber events, Romania has put forward
complete teams. Also complete are the teams fighting in men’s saber and sword
events.

This past weekend saw the beginning
of a new edition of Romanian League One’s football season. On Friday, the match
pitting FC Voluntari against Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe ended in a blank draw. On
Saturday, Astra Giurgiu and FC Botosani drew 2-all. The match pitting CFR Cluj
against Poli Iasi also ended in a draw, 1-all this time. On Sunday,
Universitatea Craiova defeated Academica Clinceni, 3-2, while in the southern
Romanian town of Pitesti, FCSB defeated FC Hermannstadt, 4-3.

Just like in the previous season,
teams placed 1 to 6 in League One’s regular season are part of Group 1, while
the teams placed 7 to 14 continue in Group 2. Group 1’s first-place team will
book its ticket for the preliminaries of the Champions League, while 2nd
and 3rd-placed teams will compete in Europa League preliminaries. The
6th-placed team in Group 2 will play a playoff game with the 3rd-placed
team in League two, according to the final rankings. 7th and 8th-placed
teams in Group 2 are relegated from League One.

15 July 2019
Sports Roundup

The BRD Bucharest Open is the only
WTA tournament hosted by Romania. Underway in the capital city Bucharest, the
tournament has 250,000 USD in prize money. In the women’s singles, 1st-seed
is Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova. The pair made of Irina Begu and Raluca Olaru
of Romania is 1st-seed in the doubles event. We recall that in 2017,
Begu and Olaru won the BRD Bucharest Open. In 2018, Begu was also 1st-seed
in the doubles, but at that time she was pairing up with Andreea Mitu.

At the 2019 edition of the World
fencing Championships in Budapest, the Romanian delegation is made of 23
fencers, of whom 12 compete in men’s and 11 in the women’s version of the
competition. 2nd-placed according to the women’s version of the
world’s epee rankings, Olympic champion Ana Maria Popescu stands the greatest
chance to winning a medal. We recall that in 2018 Popescu walked away with
silver at the World Championships in China’s Wu Xi. Ana Maria Popescu’s record
can only be complete if she wins gold in the individual event. We recall Ana
Maria won two gold medals in the 2010 and 2011 editions of the World
championship, but she won both medals in the nations’ competition. In the
women’s version of the epee, foil and saber events, Romania has put forward
complete teams. Also complete are the teams fighting in men’s saber and sword
events.

This past weekend saw the beginning
of a new edition of Romanian League One’s football season. On Friday, the match
pitting FC Voluntari against Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe ended in a blank draw. On
Saturday, Astra Giurgiu and FC Botosani drew 2-all. The match pitting CFR Cluj
against Poli Iasi also ended in a draw, 1-all this time. On Sunday,
Universitatea Craiova defeated Academica Clinceni, 3-2, while in the southern
Romanian town of Pitesti, FCSB defeated FC Hermannstadt, 4-3.

Just like in the previous season,
teams placed 1 to 6 in League One’s regular season are part of Group 1, while
the teams placed 7 to 14 continue in Group 2. Group 1’s first-place team will
book its ticket for the preliminaries of the Champions League, while 2nd
and 3rd-placed teams will compete in Europa League preliminaries. The
6th-placed team in Group 2 will play a playoff game with the 3rd-placed
team in League two, according to the final rankings. 7th and 8th-placed
teams in Group 2 are relegated from League One.

15 July 2019
Athlete of the Week on RRI – Fencer Bianca Pascu

The World Fencing Championships were held last week in Athens. In the women’s individual event, Bianca Pascu, one of Romania’s top fencers right now, won the epee event. For her remarkable achievement we have designated Bianca Pascu Athlete of the Week on RRI.

In Athens, Bianca Pascu eased past the top two players in the world fencing standings. In the quarterfinals, Bianca defeated the multiple gold medalist Olga Harlan of Ukraine. In the semi-finals, our fencer knocked out Anna Marton of Hungary, who won bronze at the 2015 World Championships and silver at the 2016 European Championships. In the final match, Bianca Pascu defeated another Hungarian fencer, Liza Pusztai, who is yet to turn 17.

After her win in Athens, Bianca is now ranked 5 in the world fencing standings, her career best.

Bianca Pascu is an athlete enrolled at the Dinamo Bucharest sports club. She is currently coached by Florin Zalomir. She was born on June 13, 1988 in Brasov, central Romania. She took up fencing at the age of 10. She grabbed her first notable results in 2008, when she won silver in both the individual and the team events at the European Under-21 Championships hosted by Gent, Belgium. At the 2011 Summer Universiade she won the silver medal. Last year, at the European Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, she won bronze in the women’s single epee event, which was the best performance in her career that far.

(Translated by V. Palcu)

20 March 2018