Radio România Internațional

Tag: wrestling

  • SPORTS ROUNDUP

    SPORTS ROUNDUP

    The European Games have wrapped up in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. In the final rankings, Romania came in 26th, with two gold medals, three silver, and five bronze. The gold medals went to Laura Georgeta Coman, in the 10 meter air rifle event, and to the pair Catalin Chirila and Victor Mihalachi in the 1,000 m canoe event. The silver medals went to Dacian Barna and Andreea Bogati in the mixed aerobics event, to the Ovidiu Ionescu/ Bernadette Szocs pair in the table tennis mixed doubles event, and by the womens table tennis team, made up of Bernadette Szocs, Elizabeta Samara, and Daniela Dodean. Romanias first bronze medals went to sambo fighters, Daniela Poroineanu, in the 56-kilogram category, Anda Mihaela Vâlvoi, in the 64-kilogram category and Alina-Petronela Paunescu in the plus 80 category. The other bronze medals went to Romanias representatives in group aerobic gymnastics. They are Gabriel Bocşer, Mihai Alin Popa, Dacian Nicolae Barna, Dorin Marian Broţei and Andreea Bogati. The last of the bronze medals went to Krista Incze in wrestling, in the 62 kg category.

    Romanias mens volleyball team won the European Silver League on Sunday by defeating Greece 3-0 in Alexandria, in the second leg of the final. The Romanians had won the first leg in an away game, 3-2. The womens team won the promotion to the Golden League, after winning against Slovenia.

    In tennis, games started at Wimbledon, in the third Grand Slam tournament of the year. In the womens first round, Romania features six players, Simona Halep, Mihaela Buzarnescu, Ana Bogdan, Sorana Cirstea, Monica Niculescu, and Elena-Gabriela Ruse. In the mens competition only Marius Copil features on behalf of Romania.

    In the gymnastics world championships in Gyor, Hungary, Romanian athlete Gabriel Burtanete won on Sunday the gold in the vault event. Coming in second was Chinese Haonan Yang, while third place was taken by British Jasper Smith-Gordon.

  • RRI Sports Club

    RRI Sports Club

    The World Wrestling Championships hosted by the Hungarian capital city Budapest drew to a close this past Sunday. Romanias delegation travelling to Budapest was made up of 15 wrestlers, including a string of European award-winning athletes and even a world vice-champion. Unfortunately, the Romanian delegation this year walked away with no medal. The Romanian Wrestling Federations stated aim was to win at least a medal, so that Romanian wrestlers at least match their performance at the 2017 edition of the World Championships, when Alina Vuc won silver in the 48-kilogram category.



    Ukrainian-born Katya Zhydachevska in the 57-kilogram category, and George Bucur in the 65-kilogram category, freestyle, were the best-placed Romanians in Budapest, being ranked 5th in the final standings.



    The world vice-champion competing in the 50-kilogram category, Romanias Alina Vuc sustained a round-of-16 defeat by Japanese challenger Yiu Susaki, who then made it to the finals. Vuc was allowed to participate in the repechage rounds, yet she was defeated by Indian contender Ritu Ritu.



    The European champion in the 63-kilogram category, Mihai Mihut, sustained a round-of-16 defeat in the match again Hungarian opponent Istvan Vancsa. In the 57-kilogram category, the Ukrainian-born Romanian wrestler Andrey Dukov, two times medalist in the European championships, lost to Turkeys Suleyman Atli.



    Russian wrestlers dominated the competition. They went home with three gold, one silver and two bronze medals, which is the best result for Russia in a world wrestling championship of the post-Soviet era. Japan was the runner-up in this years edition of the world championships, with a record of 5 gold medals. 4 of them were won in the womens competition, the same as in 2017 at the World Championships hosted by the French capital city Paris.


    (translated by: Eugen Nasta)

  • RRI Sports Club

    RRI Sports Club

    The World Wrestling Championships hosted by the Hungarian capital city Budapest drew to a close this past Sunday. Romanias delegation travelling to Budapest was made up of 15 wrestlers, including a string of European award-winning athletes and even a world vice-champion. Unfortunately, the Romanian delegation this year walked away with no medal. The Romanian Wrestling Federations stated aim was to win at least a medal, so that Romanian wrestlers at least match their performance at the 2017 edition of the World Championships, when Alina Vuc won silver in the 48-kilogram category.



    Ukrainian-born Katya Zhydachevska in the 57-kilogram category, and George Bucur in the 65-kilogram category, freestyle, were the best-placed Romanians in Budapest, being ranked 5th in the final standings.



    The world vice-champion competing in the 50-kilogram category, Romanias Alina Vuc sustained a round-of-16 defeat by Japanese challenger Yiu Susaki, who then made it to the finals. Vuc was allowed to participate in the repechage rounds, yet she was defeated by Indian contender Ritu Ritu.



    The European champion in the 63-kilogram category, Mihai Mihut, sustained a round-of-16 defeat in the match again Hungarian opponent Istvan Vancsa. In the 57-kilogram category, the Ukrainian-born Romanian wrestler Andrey Dukov, two times medalist in the European championships, lost to Turkeys Suleyman Atli.



    Russian wrestlers dominated the competition. They went home with three gold, one silver and two bronze medals, which is the best result for Russia in a world wrestling championship of the post-Soviet era. Japan was the runner-up in this years edition of the world championships, with a record of 5 gold medals. 4 of them were won in the womens competition, the same as in 2017 at the World Championships hosted by the French capital city Paris.


    (translated by: Eugen Nasta)

  • Athlete of the Week on RRI – Wrestler Andrei Dukov

    Athlete of the Week on RRI – Wrestler Andrei Dukov

    At the European Wrestling Championships that came to a close in Novi Sad, Serbia, Romania grabbed two medals, both in the freestyle event: Andrei Dukov grabbed silver, in the 57-kg category, while Alina Vuc won bronze in the women’s 48-kg category. Another three athletes came in 5th place, after losing the bronze finals: Kriszta Incze in the 60-kg freestyle category, Adrian Moise in the 70-kg freestyle category, and Alin Alexuc in the 130-kg Greek-Roman category. Thus our delegation met the objective set by the Romanian Wrestling Federation, namely winning two medals. For winning silver in the freestyle event, Radio Romania International has designated Andrei Dukov Athelte of the Week.



    Last week Dukov concluded the 57-kg men’s competition by taking on Georgian-born Azeri Ghiorghi Edisherashvili in the final. His opponent was far more experienced, as he won the 2013 European gold medal in the 55-kg category. In the round of 16, Dukov had eliminated Aleksandar Mancic of Serbia, knocked out Georgian-born Spanish wrestler Levan Metreveli Vartanov in the quarterfinals and edged out Suleyman Atli of Turkey in the semi-finals.



    Andrei Dukov was born on December 22, 1987 in Ismail, Ukraine. He is 1,65 meters tall and weighs 62 kgs. In 2008 he was awarded Romanian citizenship and was signed by Steaua Bucharest Army Sports Club. Apart from this year’s silver medal, Dukov has also won a bronze in the 2016 European Wrestling Championships in Riga. In 2011 and 2013 he won gold at the Ion Corneanu tournament. In 2013 he won silver in the German Grand Prix. (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • May 3, 2017

    May 3, 2017

    ORGANISED CRIME – Police and prosecutors with the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) have today conducted home searches in Bucharest and several counties in Romania, targeting an organised crime group in a case involving the National Freight Railways Corporation. Forty people, including the current and the former managers of the corporation, are suspected of having set up an organised crime group, aggravated embezzlement, forgery and fraud. The group members allegedly under-appraised in 2016 assets belonging to the company, before selling nearly 2,500 freight cars intended for scrapping. The difference between the actual worth and the under-assessed worth of the goods went, according to the police, into the accounts of a company that collected ferrous scrap metal. As a result, the Corporation incurred losses of over 6.3 million euros.




    PRESS FREEDOM – “Journalists are intimidated not just in authoritarian regimes, but also in countries that are usually regarded as democratic, the president of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani said in a message on World Press Freedom Day, celebrated today. A former journalist himself, Tajani mentions as negative examples Turkey, Russia and China, and says the EU is the strongest defender of the freedom of expression all over the world. World Press Freedom Day is celebrated in Bucharest as well, with the launch of the FreeEx Report on press freedom in Romania in 2016-2017, which looks at the main events with an impact on the freedom of expression. Previously, a similar report drawn up by Reporters without Borders (RSF) and released last week ranked Romania 46th out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom. “The excessive politicising of the mass-media, corrupt financing mechanisms, editorial policies subordinated to owner interests and the intelligence agency infiltration of staff – such has been the impact of the medias transformation into political propaganda tools, which has been particularly visible in election years, reads the RSF report. Romania went up 3 places since last year, when it was 49th in this ranking.




    TOURISM – Check-ins in Romanian accommodation units in the first quarter of the year totalled more than 2 million people, up around 11% compared to the same period of 2016, according to data made public today by the National Statistics Institute. Most of the foreign tourists came from Europe (76.2% of the total), especially from Germany, Italy, and the UK. Last year the number of foreign tourists was nearly 11% larger than in 2015, namely 2.5 million, a record for the last few decades.




    BREXIT – Britain will not pay 100 billion euros to leave the EU, the Brexit Secretary David Davis said today, after British media reported that the EU negotiators have revised their original figures. The new bill, 40 billion euros higher than previous estimates, includes the payment of farming subsidies and administrative fees to the EU. Other elements taken into account are the budget of the UK and the EU investment expenditure. The revision of estimates indicates a tougher position taken by the 27 member states with respect to Britains demands. Today, the EU chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, will present detailed guidelines for the EU side. The date of the official divorce was set for March 29, 2019, unless an extension is agreed on by decision-makers.




    MOLDOVA – The presence of any troops or military bases headed and controlled by other countries, on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, is against the Constitution, Moldovas Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday. The president of the Constitutional Court, Alexandru Tănase, explained that although the legislation makes it clear that the Republic of Moldova does not allow the deployment of foreign military on its territory, there are still Russian Federation troops in the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transdniester.




    WRESTLING – The Romanian athlete Andrei Dukov won the silver in the 57-kilo freestyle category, on Tuesday, at the European Wrestling Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia. Defeated in the final by the Georgian-born Azeri Giorgi Edisherashvili, Dukov improved his performance since last year, when he won bronze in the continental championship. Also on Tuesday, on the first day of the competition, the Romanian Alina Vuc won the bronze in the 48 kilo category, after defeating the Polish Anna Lukasiak. Romania, which has already reached its two medal target for this competition, is taking part in the European Championship in Novi Sad with 14 athletes.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Olympic Update

    Olympic Update

    Romanian wrestler Alin Alexuc — Ciurariu came in 5th in men’s Greco — Roman 98 kg event. In the round of 16, the Romanian wrestler had managed to pass by the Egyptian Hamdy Moustafa Elsaid Abdelwahab, but in the quarters he was defeated by the Armenian Artur Aleksanyan, the one who would eventually win the golden medal. There followed re-qualifications, where the Romanian athlete defeated the Italian Daigoro Timoncini. In the game that could have brought him the bronze medal, Alexuc — Ciurariu was defeated by Cenk Ildem of Turkey. Also in the Greco-Roman wrestling event, but in the 66 kg category, the Romanian wrestler Ion Iulian Panait was defeated in the first round by the Russian Islambek Albiev.



    In artistic gymnastics, Andrei Vasile Muntean came in 6th in the men’s parallel bars final. He got 15.600 points, a better result than the one he had obtained in qualifications, when he got 15.466 points. Unfortunately, Romania has not managed to win any medals in the gymnastics competitions in Rio, as Marian Dragulescu came in 4th in men’s vault, and Catalina Ponor finished the women’s beam final on 7th place. It’s for the first time since 1972 that Romanian gymnasts come back home from the Olympic Games with no medals.



    Romanian athlete Alina Rotaru failed to qualify for the women’s long jump final. Her best jump was 6 meters 40 centimeters long, 13 centimeters shorter than the jump of the last finalist, Jazmin Sawyers of Great Britain.

  • Olympic Update

    Olympic Update

    Romanian wrestler Alin Alexuc — Ciurariu came in 5th in men’s Greco — Roman 98 kg event. In the round of 16, the Romanian wrestler had managed to pass by the Egyptian Hamdy Moustafa Elsaid Abdelwahab, but in the quarters he was defeated by the Armenian Artur Aleksanyan, the one who would eventually win the golden medal. There followed re-qualifications, where the Romanian athlete defeated the Italian Daigoro Timoncini. In the game that could have brought him the bronze medal, Alexuc — Ciurariu was defeated by Cenk Ildem of Turkey. Also in the Greco-Roman wrestling event, but in the 66 kg category, the Romanian wrestler Ion Iulian Panait was defeated in the first round by the Russian Islambek Albiev.



    In artistic gymnastics, Andrei Vasile Muntean came in 6th in the men’s parallel bars final. He got 15.600 points, a better result than the one he had obtained in qualifications, when he got 15.466 points. Unfortunately, Romania has not managed to win any medals in the gymnastics competitions in Rio, as Marian Dragulescu came in 4th in men’s vault, and Catalina Ponor finished the women’s beam final on 7th place. It’s for the first time since 1972 that Romanian gymnasts come back home from the Olympic Games with no medals.



    Romanian athlete Alina Rotaru failed to qualify for the women’s long jump final. Her best jump was 6 meters 40 centimeters long, 13 centimeters shorter than the jump of the last finalist, Jazmin Sawyers of Great Britain.

  • Wrestling

    Wrestling

    Romania won three medals in the European Wrestling Championships held in Riga last week. Alina Vuc became silver medallist in the 48-kilogram category, the best performance in her career so far. Alina, 22, has in recent years obtained several medals in the under twenty-one and seniors competitions. With the silver she won in Riga, Alina has also compelled recognition in seniors’ competitions. She came very close to the gold medal but lost in the finals to Maria Stadnik of Azerbaijan, Olympic vice-champion in London and defending European champion.



    Also from the Romanian delegation, free-style wrestler Andrei Dukov won his first medal in the men’s contest of a European championship. Dukov lost to Ukrainian Andrei Iatenko in the semifinals but managed to clinch the bronze after a win against Mahir Amiraslanov of Azerbaijan.



    Ivan Guidea, also from Romania, won his first medal in a major senior competition. He became the bronze medallist after a difficult three-two victory against Munir Recep Aktas of Turkey. Guidea has also obtained a clear win, 11-1, against Ukrainian Petro Bileiciuk.



    In the Greco-Roman section only one wrestler from Romania, Tomi Hinoveanu, managed a good show and fought for the bronze medal in the 71-kilogram category. The Romanian was outperformed by Varsan Boranian of Armenia but in the qualifying rounds he managed to win two games. He lost the decisive game against Balint Korpasi ending up on the 5th position in the standings.