Radio România Internațional

Category: Sport

  • Sports Flash

    Sports Flash

    Romanian athlete Luca Joldea won the bronze medal in the 10m air pistol individual event at the European Shooting Championships held in Croatia, in Osijek. We recall that on Monday, Laura Georgeta Ilie won gold in the women’s individual event, as well as bronze in the women’s team event, in the 10m air rifle.

     

    Volleyball club Alba Blaj has qualified to CEV Cup final in women’s volleyball, after defeating the Hungarian side Vasas Budapest 3-0 at home in the second leg of the semi-finals. The Romanian vice-champions had also won the first leg 3-2, and will play the CEV final for the third time. The team from Blaj has played four European finals so far, losing all of them: the Champions League final seven years ago, then the CEV Cup in 2019 and 2023, and finally the Challenge Cup in 2021.

     

    The men’s basketball team U-BT Cluj-Napoca was knocked out from the EuroCup. The Romanian champions on Wednesday lost away from home to the Spanish club Valencia Basket, score 98-74, in the quarterfinals. The Spanish team prevailed after controlling the game from minute one. The best players for Cluj were Americans Zach Hankins, with 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Zavier Simpson, with 12 points and 10 assists. U-BT Cluj-Napoca played the EuroCup quarterfinals for the second year in a row, after qualifying directly from the group in 2024.

     

    On Wednesday, the interim president of Romania, Ilie Bolojan, awarded former football legend Gheorghe Hagi the highest distinction of the Romanian state – the “Star of Romania” National Order in rank of Knight. A member of the so-called “Golden Generation” of Romanian football, Hagi totaled 124 caps for the Romanian team, and was team captain 65 times. Gheorghe Hagi represented Romania in three editions of the World Cup, namely in 1990 in Italy, then in 1994 in the United States, and in 1998 in France. At the same time, Hagi took part in three European Championships, namely in 1984 in France as a reserve, and in the first lineup in 1996 in England, and in 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands. He is considered the best Romanian player of all time. Among the teams he played for were Steaua Bucharest, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

     

    Gloria Sports Club 2018 Bistriţa-Năsăud will change its name to CS Gloria Bistriţa. The change comes as a result of an association agreement that will be signed between the Bistriţa-Năsăud County Council, which controls the interest in the club, and the Bistriţa City Hall, the county seat. This year, the club’s women’s handball team played in the women’s Champions League, where it reached the group phase. (VP)

  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club

    The first part of Romania’s Super league football championship has drawn to a close. After the 30 rounds of the regular season, the first six teams according to the ranking advance to Group 2, where they will compete for Romania’s championship title. FCSB are at the forefront in the fight for the winning of the championship, with 28 points, CFR Cluj follow suit, with 27 points.

    Following in descending order are three teams with 26 points each, that is Universitatea Craiova, Universitatea Cluj and Dinamo Bucharest. The last team of the batch is another Bucharest squad, Rapid, with 23 points on its record sheet. In the coming weekend, in Craiova, Universitatea Cluj are pitted against Universitatea Craiova. In Cluj, the local side CFR play Dinamo, while in Bucharest, FCSB face Rapid.

    The Superleague’s ten other teams in Group 1 will confront one another to avoid being relegated. With a record of 21 points each, Transylvanian teams Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe and Hermannstadt Sibiu are best-placed according to the table. Worst-placed is Gloria Buzau, with 10 points, that is three points less than the other teams of the batch.

    At the end of the championship, Group 1’s first two teams in descending order enter the competition for a place in the preliminaries of Europe’s Conference League, taking on Group 2’s 3rd-placed team. Group1’s 9th and 10th-placed teams are relegated.

    Replacing them in the Super league are the second tier’s first two teams. In a bid to maintain their place in the Super league, the play-out’s 7th and 8th-placed teams will engage, in the playoff fixtures, with the Second League’s 3rd and 4th-placed teams.

    On Thursday, in France, FCSB play the second leg of the tie against Olympique Lyonnais, in the Europa League’s round of 16. In the first leg, in Bucharest, Olympique Lyonnais won, 3-1.

  • Sports weekend

    Sports weekend

    Three tennis players from Romania this coming weekend will play in the second round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells, an event with almost 9 million dollars in prize money. In the first round on Wednesday, Irina Begu defeated Ann Li of the USA, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.

    Begu will next go against 25th- seeded tennis player, Great Britain’s Katie Boulder. On Thursday, Jaqueline Cristian defeated Russian opponent Veronika Kudermetova, 6-2, 6-3. This coming weekend, Cristian takes on 27th-seeded player, Canada’s Leylah Fernandez. Sorana Cîrstea will also go against another seeded player, US opponent Emma Navarro, 10th-seeded in Indian Wells.

    We recall Cirstea in the first round outclassed Australian challenger Maya Joint, who came straight from the qualifiers, 6-2,7-5.
    At the World Women’s Boxing Championships in Nis, Serbia, due to kick-start this coming Saturday, Romania will dispatch a 10-strong delegation of boxers. European champion in 2019 and vice-word champion in 2022, Lacramioara Perijoc stands the greatest chances to winning a medal. Perijoc’s record also includes European silver medals, in 2023 and 2024. In Nis, Lacramioara Perijoc will compete in the 57-kilogram category.

    Also keeping her hopes alive to winning a medal is Claudia Nechita, a boxer who initially competed in the 57-kilogram category and now fights in the 60-kilogram category. We recall Nechita participated in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. In 2024 at the European Championships in Belgrade Nechita walked home with the silver medal.

    The prize money for the medal is impressive: 100, 000 USD for gold, 50, 000 USD for silver and 25, 000 USD for the bronze medal. 10,000 USD go to the 5th-placed boxer. Prize money all told amounts to almost three million USD.

    Football matches are scheduled at the weekend, counting towards the 30th round, the last one, of Romanian Superleague’s regular season. On Friday, Oţelul Galaţi are pitted against Poli Iaşi, while Farul Constanţa play Universitatea Cluj. In Ploiesti on Saturday, the local side Petrolul play Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe. In Sibiu, Hermannstadt take on Rapid Bucharest.

    In the first fixture on Sunday, CFR Cluj play a home match against Gloria Buzău. On Sunday evening in Bucharest, round 30th’ derby will see top-of-the-table team FCSB facing the runner-up team Universitatea Craiova. Bucharest team FCSB are fresh from a 1-3 defeat in the Europa League’s round of 16, in the first leg of the tie against French team Olympique Lyonnais.

    The regular season’s last two fixtures are scheduled on Monday, as FC Botoşani are pitted against Unirea Slobozia, while UTA go against Dinamo. FCSB are at the top of the as-it-stands table, with 53 points. Universitatea Craiova follows suit, with 52 points.

  • Sports flash

    Sports flash

    U-BT Cluj-Napoca basketball team has succeeded a heart-throbbing qualification in the quarterfinals of EuroCup men’s competition, having defeated in the round of 16 Lithuanians opponents Wolves Vilnius, 100-99, away. U-BT’s top scorer was their US player Zavier Simpson, with 25 points, 5 recoveries and 14 assists.

    In the quarterfinals, U-BT Cluj-Napoca take on Spain’s Valencia Basket, a team they have already gone against in the EuroCup’s group stage. In both legs of the tie, the Spaniards won, 105-96 in Cluj-Napoca and 108-80 in Valencia and are at the top of the table in Group B. We recall U-BT Cluj-Napoca play the EuroCup’s quarterfinals for the second year in a row, having qualified straight from the competition’s group phase in 2024.

    In news from women’s volleyball, Volei Alba Blaj grabbed a 3-2 away win against Hungarian side Vasas Budapest, in a fixture counting towards the first leg of the CEV Cup semifinals. Romanian vice-champions won after two hours of play and made a giant leap forward to the CEV Cup’s finals.

    With 23 points, the Ukrainian Elizaveta Ruban was the Romanian team’s most efficient scorer. The return leg against Vasas in scheduled on March 11 in Blaj. We recall Volei Alba Blaj has unsuccessfully played four times in European Cups finals, in 2018, in the Champions League, in the CEV Cup, in 2019 and 2023, and in the Challenge Cup in 2021.

    At the 2025 edition of the European Seniors’ Indoor Athletics Championship in Apeldoorn, The Low Countries, Romania has sent a seven-strong delegation, with four athletes proving their mettle in the women’s version of the competition, while other three, in the men’s version.

    Alina Rotaru – Kottmann competes in the long-jump event, Andreea Taloş, Diana Ana Maria Ion, and Răzvan Cristian Grecu, in the hop, step and jump event, Maria Mihalache, in the 60m race, Alin Ionuţ Anton, in the 60m hurdles race and Andrei Rares Toader, in the shot-put event.

    Andreea Miklos, in the 400m race and Stella Rutto in the 3, 000m race initially included the delegation, will not participate in the competition. Recently Miklos has sustained an injury while Rutto was unable to gather the required number of points for qualification. Daniela Stanciu has not been included in the delegation either. We recall Daniela represented Romania at the Paris Olympics in 2024, in the high-jump event and is now recovering after an injury.

  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club

    Romanian football team FCSB is that close to succeeding a performance which is an absolute first for Romanian football: the qualification to the quarterfinals of a European competition in a new format. Since the Champions League, Europa League then Conference League have replaced the former European Cups, the longest trail of a Romanian football team ended at the round of 16.

    It happened in 2013, when Steaua Bucharest, in Europa League’s round of 16, was defeated by Chelsea, the trophy holders at that time. We recall Steaua won in the first leg, 1-nil, in Bucharest, then sustained a 1-3 defeat on Stamford Bridge. Since 2017, Steaua has become FCSB.

    On Thursday, holders FCSB play the first leg against French team Olympique Lyonnais. FCSB have recently gone past the competitions’ playoffs, defeating Greek opponents PAOK Thessalonica, 2-1, away and 2-nil, at home.

    Olympique Lyonnais have advanced straight to the round of 16, having been 6th-placed in the main group phase. The French team’s record is made of four wins, three draws and only one defeat. Their record is not spectacularly better than FCSB’s record, made of four wins, two draws and two defeats. What made the difference was Olympique Lyonnais’ 4-1 win against Glasgow Rangers on Ibrox park on October 3rd. We recall on October 25th Glasgow rangers trounced FCSB, 4-nil.

    At present, one round ahead of the end of the regular season, holders FCSB are at the top of the table according to the Superleague’s ranking, having one point more than Universitatea Craiova, the team FCSB will confront this coming Sunday. In this past weekend’s round, the match pitting FCSB against Rapid Bucharest ended in a blank draw; FCSB were one man shy on the pitch for almost 60 minutes.

    In the French first League, after 24 rounds, Olympique Lyonnais are 6th-placed, On Sunday, Portuguese head-coach Palo Fonseca’s trainees grabbed a 2-1 home win against Brest, the team that in 2025 represented France in the Champions League.

    In the French championship’s last five fixtures, Olympique sustained only two defeats, by top of the table team Paris Saint-Germain and the runner-up team Olympique Marseille.

  • Sports Roundup

    Sports Roundup

     

    Romania won five medals at the European Cadet and Junior Fencing Championships 2025 in Antalya, Turkey. In the juniors category, the women’s sabre team, comprising Rosemarie Benciu, Amalia Covaliu, Catinca Dumitru and Anastasia Fusea, have won the gold, while in men’s sabre Vlad Covaliu won the silver, as did Emma Şonţ, in the women’s epee. In the cadet competitions, Amalia Covaliu won the silver medal in sabre, and Natalia Constantin won the bronze in epee.

     

    Romania’s rugby team lost the semi-final of the Rugby Europe Championship, which it played away from home against Georgia on Sunday. Georgia won 43-5, and also secured the Antim Ivireanu Cup, a trophy reflecting the results of the direct matches between the 2 teams. In the other semi-final, Portugal lost to Spain, 42-31, on Saturday, in Lisbon. Georgia and Spain will thus fight for the trophy, while Romania and Portugal will compete for third place, in the finals scheduled for Saturday, March 15. The 2 teams have already faced each other in the current edition of the competition, in the group stage, in Botoşani. Portugal won 34-6. Romania’s qualification for the semi-finals of the Rugby Europe Championship after victories against Germany and Belgium in the group stage, secured the country’s ticket for the 2027 World Cup, which will be held in Australia.

     

    Over the weekend, matches were held counting for the 29th round of the Romanian football Super League, the last but one in the regular season. On Friday, in Clinceni, Oţelul Galaţi defeated Unirea Slobozia 1-0, while in Sfântu Gheorghe Sepsi OSK tied 1-all against CFR Cluj. On Saturday, FC Botoşani pulled off the surprise of the round, beating Universitatea Cluj 1-0 away from home. Universitatea Craiova also won 1-0 in the home game against Farul Constanţa. On Sunday, in Iaşi, Politehnica defeated Petrolul Ploieşti 1-0, and the derby of the round, pitting the Bucharest-based teams Rapid and FCSB, ended in a goalless draw. The last two matches of the round, Gloria Buzău vs UTA and Dinamo București vs Hermannstadt, are due on Monday. In the standings, FCSB are in first place, with 53 points, followed by Universitatea Craiova, with 52 points. (AMP)

  • Sports Weekend

    Sports Weekend

    At the WTA 250 tennis tournament in Austin, offering some 275 thousand USD in total prizes, Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea (WTA 120) will take on 5th-seed McCartney Kessler (56 WTA) of the USA in the quarterfinals. In the round of 16, on Thursday, Sorana beat second-seed Diana Schnaider (WTA 13) of Russia, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. The Romanian player thus secured a 6,815-USD check and 54 WTA points.

     

    The Romanian rugby team will compete in the semifinals of the 2025 edition of Rugby Europe Championship, the second most important European competition after the Six Nations Tournament. The “Oaks” will take on Georgia in Tbilisi. Georgia is currently the best-performing team in Rugby Europe Championship, currently ranked 11th in world standings, better than the much more successful team of Wales, which is ranked 12th. In this global hierarchy, Romania ranks 20th. We recall that, by qualifying to the semifinals of Rugby Europe Championship after grabbing wins over Germany and Belgium in the group stage, Romania qualified to the 2027 World Cup, which will be held in Australia.

     

    This weekend will see matches in the Romanian Football Super League, counting towards the 29th round, the second-to-last of the regular season. On Friday, Unirea Slobozia will play Oţelul Galaţi whereas Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe will take on CFR Cluj. On Saturday, Universitatea Cluj will play FC Botoşani at home, while Universitatea Craiova will take on Farul Constanţa, also at home. In the first match on Sunday, in Iaşi, the local side Politehnica will meet Petrolul Ploieşti. The highlight match will take place on the National Arena stadium in the capital-city, pitting Rapid against Bucharest rivals FCSB. Rapid needs at least a draw to secure a place in the group stage. Finally, on Monday, Gloria Buzău will play UTA Arad while Dinamo Bucharest will take on FC Hermannstadt. FCSB tops the league tables with 52 points, followed by Universitatea Cluj with 51. (VP)

  • RRI Sports Club – Handballer Cornel Oţelea

    RRI Sports Club – Handballer Cornel Oţelea

    This January, the only Romanian handball player to win the world title three times passed away. Cornel Oţelea died aged 84, after an impressive career as a player and coach. The announcement was made by the club where he spent most of his life, namely Steaua Bucharest Army Sports Club. Here, Cornel Oţelea performed as an athlete, coach and commander.

     

    Cornel Oţelea was born November 19, 1940, in Şeica Mare, Sibiu County (center). At the age of 18, he was already playing in the 11-man handball team of the army club, at the time called CCA (the Central Army House). In 1961, the club changed its name to Steaua Bucharest, and around that time, handball switched from fielding 11-player teams to 7-player teams. Romania too was one of the nations that established themselves in the new discipline from the very beginning. At the 1961 World Championship, hosted by West Germany, Romania, with Oţelea in the lineup, won first place. In the final held in Dortmund, on March 12, the Romanian handballers defeated Czechoslovakia 9-8 at the end of stoppage time. Just three years later, on March 15, 1964, in Prague, Romania won a new world title, this time beating Sweden, 25-22. After a world bronze in 1967, when Romania defeated the USSR in the bronze final of the World Championship in Sweden, a new gold medal followed in 1970. The competition was held in France, and on March 8, in Paris, Romania defeated the German Democratic Republic 13-12 after extra time. It was the last world title won by Cornel Oţelea as a player. Overall, he gathered 92 caps with Romania’s national team, scoring 147 goals. Romania remained a world superpower in handball and won another world championship, in 1974, when the competitions were held in East Germany, Romania beating the host team 14-12.

     

    After retiring from professional competitions, Cornel Oţelea went on to become a successful coach. His first great achievement was winning the European Champions Cup with Steaua in 1977. Also with Cornel Oţelea at the helm, the Romanian men’s national team won its last medal at a world championship, bronze at the 1990 edition held in Czechoslovakia, after losing 27-21 in the bronze final to Yugoslavia. Let us further note that in 1983-84 and then between 1991 and 1997 he was the commander of the Steaua Bucharest Army Sports Club. In 1997, the Ministry of Defense in Bucharest awarded him the rank of major-general, the current equivalent of the rank of brigadier general. (VP)

  • Radio Romania International Sports Club

    Radio Romania International Sports Club

    Romanian veteran athlete, the late Mihaela Penes passed away on August 29, 2024. Penes was one of Romanian athletics’’ first Olympic champions, Mihaela Penes lead a life totally dedicated to sports, first as a performer, then as a head-coach and official of Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee. However, in recent years Mihaela Penes retired from public life. She went to a monastery in Northern Moldavia and later she spent the rest of her days in a care home in Bucharest.

    Mihaela Peneş was born in Bucharest on July 22nd, 1947. She took up sports when still a child, under the direct supervision of her mother. Her first great performance occurred when she was only 7. Back then Mihaela swam across the Floreasca lake. For her performance she was rewarded with an ice-cream.

    Mihaela Penes had a dalliance with swimming and handball, yet she eventually opted for athletics. It didn’t taker her long to break the juniors’ javelin throw national record in 1964, when she was only 17. Also in 1964 Mihaela Penes was included in the line-up for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Back then she was highly unlikely to win a medal, yet Mihaela Penes succeeded the impossible.

    In the qualifiers, veteran athlete Yelena Gorchakova of then the USSR succeeded a throw measuring 62 meters and 40 centimeters, setting a new world record, unparalleled for eight years. However, in the final Gorchakova came in third. From her very first attempt, Mihaela Peneş succeeded to throw the javelin at the distance of 60 meters and 54 centimeters, winning the gold medal. Hungary’s Marta Rudas won the silver medal, with a throw of 58 meters and 27 centimeters. Yelena Gorchakova of then the USSR walked home with silver, with a throw measuring 57 meters and 6 centimeters.

    At the Olympic Games in Ciudad de Mexico in 1968, Mihaela Penes competed as a defending champion. Again, her best attempt in the final was her first throw, measuring 59 de meters and 92 centimetres. However, Hungarian athlete Angela Nemeth in her second attempt managed a throw measuring 60 meters and 36 centimeters, scooping the gold medal, Mihaela Penes had to make do with the silver medal. The bronze medal went to Austria’s Eva Janko, with a throw measuring 58 meters and 4 centimeters.

    After she retired from competition, Penes was a dedicated head coach. Later she was on the official top management staff of the Romanian Athletics Federation and the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee. Mihaela Penes also had a stint as director of Romanian Olympic Academy.

  • RRI Sports Club – Gymnast Dan Grecu

    RRI Sports Club – Gymnast Dan Grecu

    Another top-performing athlete who passed away last year was the great gymnast and coach Dan Grecu. He was the first Romanian gymnast to become world champion. The next world champion in the history of Romanian men’s gymnastics, Marius Urzică, was his student. Dan Grecu was the first Romanian to win a medal in the Olympic men’s gymnastics and, 20 years later, he trained another athlete who grabbed the first Olympic gold for Romanian gymnastics: Marius Urzică.

     

    Dan Grecu was born September 26, 1950, in Bucharest. He took up gymnastics at the age of 8, in Iași, under the guidance of coach Octav Ungureanu. At the age of 12, he returned to Bucharest, where he enrolled at CSS Viitorul, with Mircea Bădulescu as his coach. He then moved to Dinamo Bucharest, a club where he spent his entire career as an athlete and later as a coach. In 1966, he won his first junior title. In 1970, he was drafted for the first time in the country’s representative team, taking part in the World Championships in Ljubljana. In 1972, he took part in the Munich Olympics, where he ranked 7th with the Romanian team. He grabbed his first notable results in 1973, at the European Championships in Grenoble, where he won silver in the still rings event.

     

    Dan Grecu’s name will remain forever tied to his great achievement in 1974. Then, in Varna, under the guidance of Mircea Bădulescu, he won the world title in the still rings event, after a fantastic battle with the representative of the Soviet Union, Nikolai Andrianov, with whom he was tied for first place on the podium. In 1976, at the Montreal Olympics, he once again confirmed his excellent skill in the rings event, winning the bronze medal.

     

    As a coach, Dan Grecu was at the helm of the best men’s gymnastics team that Romania has ever had. His students grabbed an Olympic gold, won by Marius Urzică in 2000 in Sydney, and several medals at the World and European Championships. In 2001, at the World Championships in Gent, the Romanian men’s gymnastics achieved the best results in its entire history, winning three gold medals. Marian Drăgulescu won the title in the vault and floor events, and Marius Urzică won gold in the pommel horse event. Following a career of excellence, in 2024 Dan Grecu was awarded the Golden Torque, the highest distinction of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee. (VP)

  • Romanian Footballer Helmut Duckadam

    Romanian Footballer Helmut Duckadam

    The former Romanian goalkeeper, Helmut Duckadam, known as the «Hero of Seville», left us in December, last year, at the age of only 65. This famous footballer had faced several health issues in recent years and, according to newspapers in Bucharest, in the autumn of 2024 he was subjected to an open-heart surgery.

    On May 7, 1986, Romanian eleven, Steaua Bucharest, obtained the most important performance in the history of the Romanian football, the European Champions’ Cup. Steaua made history that year in Seville by defeating the Spanish champions, FC Barcelona, in the penalty shootout.

    Marius Lăcătuş and Gabi Balint scored for Steaua, but the real hero of the Romanian side that night was its goalie, Helmut Duckadam, who managed to save all the four shots of the opponents and brought home the trophy.

    Helmut Duckadam was born on April 1, 1959, in Arad county, western Romania, in a locality first documented in 1256. He made his debut in football with the local side, Semlacana, then he joined the School Football Club Gloria Arad. He made his debut in senior competitions in 1977, as the goalie of third-leaguer Constructorul Arad. In the first Romanian football league he played in September 1978, in a game against CS Târgovişte, his side, UTA, lost 2-0.

    He was part of the UTA lineup for four years after which he signed up with Steaua Bucharest, the best Romanian football side at that time.

    With Steaua he won the national championship twice, in 1985 and 1986. After the famous victory in the European Champions Cup, he had to give up his sports career after a surgery in his right arm caused by an aneurysm. He came back to the pitch in 1989, with the second leaguer Vagonul Arad, where he stayed for two seasons. After the end of his sporting career, he joined the Border Police where he worked for a while before his departure to the United States, where he spent one year. Upon his return to Romania he joined the sports world again by serving as honorary president of the former football club, Steaua Bucharest, today known as FCSB.

    (bill)

  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club

    Among the great athletes who sadly passed away in 2024 there is former handball legend and head-coach Ştefan Birtalan. He was born on September 25, 1948 in Zalau, northern Romania. When in high school he took up handball, volleyball, basketball and athletics.

    Minerul Baia Mare was among the first teams Birtalan was signed up by. Minerul got first promoted to the second-tier division, Division B, and then to Division A. From 1970 to 1985, with an interruption from 1981 to 1983, Stefan Birtalan played for Steaua Bucharest, a team with which he won the domestic championship title 12 times. With Steaua Bucharest Army Club, in 1971 Birtalan was a European Champions Cup finalist. We recall Steaua won the Cup in 1977.

    In 1974, 1976 and 1977, Birtalan was awarded Romania’s best athlete title. For the Romanian national teams, he had been playing from 1966 when he made his debut with the juniors’ national teams. In 1968, at the age of 20, Birtalan scooped Romania’s best athlete title. He was then selected for the national seniors’ team, when they won the world title in Paris, in 1970, and in Berlin, in 1974, in then the German Democratic Republic. Also in Berlin, in 1974, Stefan Birtalan was designated top scorer, with 43 goals scored.

    Birtalan participated in three editions of the Olympic games. In Munich, in 1972, when Romania walked away with bronze, Birtalan played only one game. However, in 1976, in Montreal, where Romania won the silver medals, Birtalan played in six games and was the competition’s most efficient scorer, with 32 goals scored. In 1980, in Moscow, he participated in an edition of the Olympic Games for the third time around, walking home with a bronze medal. Birtalan played in all six fixtures Romania had on schedule, scoring 23 goals.

    As a head-coach, Ştefan Birtalan began his career in the Italian second-tier league, with Follonica. Upon his return to Romania, he was Radu Voina’s deputy head-coach with Steaua Bucharest. Concurrently, Birtalan trained Romania’s men’s youth national team. From 1991 to 1994, Stefan Birtalan was Steaua’s head-coach. Birtalan then activated in Qatar, as a coordinating head-coach of all national handball teams of the Gulf Country.

    In 2002, Birtalan gave up being a head-coach altogether because of health problems. He was then co-opted by Steaua Bucharest in the handball section’s management staff.

  • Radio Romania International Sports club

    Radio Romania International Sports club

    Many-time world and Olympic medalist, veteran kayak rower Vasile Diba died on February 20, 2024. The first Romanian Olympic kayak champion was born on July 24, 1954, in the Tulcea County locality of Jurilovca, in the east.

    Diba made his debut in rowing with the Delta Tulcea sports club in 1970, under the supervision of one of Romania’s greatest coaches, Igor Lipalit. In 1971, Vasile Dina succeeded his first great performance winning the national juniors’ title in men’s canoe sprint kayak single 500m race. Also in 1971, on the Snagov Lake in Romania, Diba became European juniors’ vice-champion in men’s kayak double.

    In 1973, being drafted for the military service in the structures of the Internal Affairs Ministry, Vasile Dîba was signed up by Dinamo Bucharest sports club. In 1977, Diba wins his first world titles in a seniors’ competition in Mexico’s Xochimilco. Diba won the title in men’s canoe sprint kayak single 500m race. Also, he was part of the team that won kayak 4x500m relay race.

    Vasile Diba’s career continued, until the end, with Dinamo Bucharest Sports Club. In 1976, as part of the Olympic Games in Montreal, Diba won the gold medal in men’s canoe sprint kayak single 500m race and the bronze medal in the 1,000m race. Also in the 500m and 1,000m races, in 1977 Vasile Diba won the world title in Sofia. In 1978, he retained his title in the 500m race at the World Championships in former Yugoslavia.

    In Moscow in 1980, Vasile Diba participated in the Olympics for the second time around in his career. Back then he won bronze in men’s canoe sprint kayak single 500m race and silver with men’s kayak four crew. Vasile Diba also took the start in the Los Angeles Olympics, in 1984, but he was unable to step onto a step of the podium.

    Vasile Dîba retired from competition in 1987. His record until them had been a scintillating one,so Diba is one of Romania’s greatest kayak rowers of all time. After he retired from competition, Diba opted for quitting the world of sports altogether, joining the Internal Affairs Ministry enforcement structures. He worked in the ministry’s Judiciary section in a Bucharest-based police station until 2001, when he retired.

  • A preview of the football game FCSB vs PAOK Thessaloniki

    A preview of the football game FCSB vs PAOK Thessaloniki

    Romania’s football champion FCSB, on Thursday will be vying for a place in Europa League’s round of 16. On the National Arena in Bucharest, the Romanian side will be playing the Greek champions PAOK Thessaloniki, a team coached by Romanian Răzvan Lucescu, in the second leg of the play-off.

    FCSB won the first match last Thursday 2-1. Tanzanian Mbwana Samatta put the hosts into the lead in the first half of the game. But PAOK’s Brazilian player Taison was given an early bath and in the second half FCSB managed to capitalize on the situation and scored twice through Andrei Gheorghiţă and Cameroonian Joyskim Dawa. The two sides played in the League’s group also in Thessaloniki last October, when FCSB won the match 1-0 although outnumbered after the elimination of Darius Olaru.

    FCSB will not be relying on Darius Olaru on Thursday too, since the midfielder is recovering from the injuries he got during the game against Hamburg, part of the team’s training session in Turkey.

    However, the Romanian side proved it can do without Olaru pretty well  and the team is still capable of mounting quick and flexible schemes during the match. We recall that the last year’s champions, FCSB, managed to make it to the top of the Romanian Superleague and into the play-off of the Romanian championship.

    In turn PAOK ranks fourth in the first Greek league after Olympiakos, AEK and Panathinaikos. PAOK has disappointed its fans and is presently hankering for a good show in Bucharest during a match, which is going to be attended by 4 thousand Greek fans.

    Fans of the two sides are expected to come in large numbers and brave the elements during the game on Thursday as seats were sold a long time ago.

    FCSB versus PAOK will be umpired by a team from Slovenia, headed by Matej Jug, an experienced 45 years old official, who has been on FIFA’s list since 2007.

    (bill)

  • Sports Roundup

    Sports Roundup

     

    Romania came out 2nd in Group B of the Rugby Europe Championship, the second most valuable rugby tier on the continent after the 6 Nations Tournament. Romania failed to win the group after being defeated by Portugal in Botoşani on Saturday, 34-6. The semi-finals will take place on March 1. Romania will play away against Georgia, and Portugal will take on Spain, at home. A place among the top 4 teams in the competition ensured the Romanians direct qualification to the 2027 World Cup.

     

    In handball, games took place in the women’s European competitions over the weekend. In the Champions League, Group A, on Saturday, Gloria Bistriţa-Năsăud were defeated at home by the French team Metz, 34-8, and on Sunday, CSM Bucharest won in Norway against Storhamar, 32-21. One round before the end of the group stage, CSM are in 3rd place, and Gloria in 7th. In the last round, the 2 teams will play each other in Bucharest. CSM has secured its qualification in the play-offs for the quarter-finals. The Bistriţa team needs a win in the last round, coupled with a defeat of the Norwegian team Storhamar by the group leader, Metz. In Group B, Rapid did not play, as the team they were supposed to meet, namely the Norwegian group Vipers Kristiansand, withdrew from the competition. Rapid is in 7th place and, in order to qualify for the quarter-final play-offs, they must not lose in the last round, in Podgorica, against Buducnost.

     

    In the EHF European League, both Romanian teams that played on Saturday won their respective matches. In Group A, Dunărea Brăila defeated the Spanish team Elche 32-29 away from home, and in the next round they will take on Ikast (in Denmark). In Group B, SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea defeated the German team Borussia Dortmund at home, 32-27, and will meet the Norwegian team Larvik on Sunday at home. Both Romanian teams lead their respective groups.

     

    The Romanian Men’s Basketball Cup was won by CSO Voluntari, who Sunday won the final against CSM CSU Oradea, 93-83. CSO Voluntari thus won the third Romanian Cup in its history, after the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The Oradea team has played eight finals so far, and has lost all of them.

     

    We end with football. Over the weekend, matches counting for round 27 of the Romanian Super League took place. On Friday, Hermannstadt won against Sfântu Gheorghe 3-2, and Universitatea Craiova beat Oţelul Galaţi 2-1 at home. On Saturday, UTA won in Ploieşti against Petrolul 1-0, and Farul Constanţa beat Dinamo 2-0 in Bucharest. On Sunday, the game in Iaşi between Poli and CFR Cluj ended in a 1-all draw, then FCSB defeated Gloria Buzău 2-0 away from home. The last two matches of the round, pitting Universitatea Cluj against Unirea Slobozia and Rapid Bucharest against FC Botoșani, are scheduled on Monday. FCSB leads the standings with 49 points, and Craiova follows with 48. (AMP)