Radio România Internațional

Category: Sport

  • Romanian Tennis Players at the Australian Open

    Romanian Tennis Players at the Australian Open


    The headline grabbing sports event of the moment is held in the Southern hemisphere. Were speaking about the years first Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open.



    However, news is not so good as regards Romanians tennis players run in the aforementioned competition. The WTA 2nd placed tennis player, the Romanian Simona Halep, on whom all hopes were pinned for a bracing start at the Australian Open, was eliminated from the very first round. Halep conceded a 6-4, 6-3 defeat to Chinas Zhang Shuai, a contender who came straight from the qualifiers.



    Another Romanian tennis player, 29-seed Irina Begu was also edged out of the competition, and again in the inaugural round. Begu conceded defeat to Swedens Johanna Larsson, 6-3, 6-2. Andreea Mitu was also eliminated in the inaugural round by her German opponent Julia Goerges. .



    Monica Niculescu secured a 6-2, 6-1 win in the fixture against Brazils Teliana Pereira, and Alexandra Dulgheru clinched a 6-4, 6-2 win against Storm Sanders from Australia. Both Romanians have got through to the Australian Opens second round.



    In the womens doubles on Wednesday, the Romanian-Belgian pair made of Raluca Olaru and Ysaline Bonaventure defeated the Serbian – German pair made of Jelena Jankovic and Andrea Petkovic, 6-4, 6-4.



    Throughout the years, the Australian Open has been quite a challenge for Romanian tennis players. We recall that best-placed in Melbourne were Virginia Ruzici and Irina Sparlea. The former reached as far as the semifinals in 1980, where she conceded defeat to Hana Mandlikova, the then Czechoslovakian tennis player who walked away with the trophy. In 1997, Irina Sparlea was eliminated also in the quarterfinals and again conceded defeat to the winner of the trophy, the Swiss Martina Hingis.



    In the mens singles, the Romanian Andrei Pavel was best-placed at the Australian Open, since he twice qualified for the round of last 16. We recall that in 1999 Andrei Pavel was eliminated in the round of last 16 by Russian contender Evgeny Kafelnikov. In 2004 Andrei Pavel conceded defeat to Spains Juan Carlos Ferrero.



    Romanian tennis players best performance ever at the Australian Open occurred in 2012, when Horia Tecau jointly with US teammate Bethanie Mattek Sands won the mixed doubles finals.





  • Athlete of the Week on RRI: Tennis player Florin Mergea

    Athlete of the Week on RRI: Tennis player Florin Mergea

    The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, is set to kick off in Melbourne. Prior to this competition several top-level tennis tournaments were held in Brisbane and Sydney in Australia, Hobart in Tasmania, or Auckland in New Zealand. The last such tournament was held in Sydney. In the womens singles, totaling some 688 thousand dollars in prize money, Romanian tennis player Simona Halep reached the semi-finals, where she was knocked out by Svetlana Kuznetsova. In the mens doubles, Florin Mergea of Romania and Rohan Bopanna of India made it to the doubles finals, where they lost however to the pair made up of Jamie Murray of the United Kingdom and Bruno Soares of Brazil, 6-3, 7-6.



    For qualifying to the finals in Sydney, we have designated Florin Mergea Athlete of the Week on RRI.



    Florin Mergea was born on January 26, 1985 in Craiova, into a family of physicians. As a young tennis player he paired up with Horia Tecau, and together they won several top-level tournaments, including the under-21 doubles final at Wimbledon. He turned pro in 2003. In the last three years, Florin Mergea had a great run, which one might find surprising considering he is no longer in his prime. In September 2012 he was ranked among the worlds top 100 players in doubles standings, while in July 2015, after his win in the Madrid tournament alongside Rohan Bopanna, he was in 7th place. At present he is ranked 11. At the Australian Open, Mergea and Bopanna are seeded 4th in the doubles competition, and will play Omar Jasika and Nich Kyrgios of Australia in the first round.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • Footbal Flash

    Footbal Flash

    An important piece of news has come from the transfers market, since Romania’s champions Steaua Bucharest have reached an agreement with international footballer Ciprian Marica. Sports newspapers have mainly quoted Steaua’s financier Gigi Becali as saying that Marica’s salary will roughly stand at the level of the medium wage in Romnia. However, Marica’s bonus for taking his team to the Champions League might stand at around on million Euro, Gigi Becali told a TV station in Bucharest.


    Thirty-year old Ciprian Marica has recently played for Turkey’s Konyaspor, a club with which he terminated his contract in October 2015. Marica has also played for Dinamo Bucharest, Shakhtar Donetsk, VfB Stuttgart, Schalke and Getafe.



    Ciprian Marica boasts 72 caps for Romania’s national team, for which he scored 25 goals. He made his debut with the national squad on November 16, 2003, in a friendly game that saw Romania sustaining a 1-nil defeat against Italy. Then for the next decade Marica was a national squad regular. However, a string of younger teammates, among whom Constantin Budescu and Claudiu Keseru have contested Marica’s status at the national team in recent years.



    Serbian defender Marko Momcilovici, formerly of Pandurii Targu Jiu has also been signed up by Steaua. According to Romanian sports newspapers, Steaua will pay Pandurii Targu Jiu 250,000 Euro for the transfer of Momcilovici.



    According to latest news from the transfers market Steaua will nevertheless be parting company will a couple of foreign footballers such as the Dutch Nicandro Breeveld, the Algerian Aymen Tahar, the Brazilian Guilherme and Haiti’s Jean Sony Alcenat.

  • RRI Sports Club – Handball

    RRI Sports Club – Handball

    At the end of this week handball lovers in Romania will find the teams that will be playing in the qualifying playoffs for the World Handball Championships of 2017. The Romanian side is part of the second preliminary group and will be up on its own turf, in Baia Mare, against the group’s leader, Austria. On Saturday, our handballers will be playing the Italian side in an away game. The group’s best handball side is qualified for the playoffs.


    Romanian women’s handball sides will be taking on their opponents in the European Cups this weekend. In the Champions League’s games that commenced at the end of last week, Romania’s champions CSM Bucharest lost the game they played away against the Macedonians from Vardar Skopje 22-21. CSM is currently ranking fourth in the group with five points. In the main group, HCM Baia Mare has secured a 31-28 home win against the French side Fleury Loiret. The result has pushed Baia Mare to the fifth position in the group’s ranking.



    In the first round of the Cup Winner’s Cup eight finals, the Romanian side Municipal Craiova clinched a 30-29 home win against Mercator Ljubljana of Slovenia. The return game is due on Saturday. Romania had two sides in the EHF Cup’s eight finals. Last Sunday, HCM Roman obtained a 22-21 win on home turf against Corona Brasov. The two sides will be meeting for the return game in Brasov, central Romania, on Sunday.



    Cristina Neagu, the best player in the World Championship held in Denmark in December has extended her contract with Buducnost Podgorica until 2017. We recall that with Cristina, the Montenegrin side won the Champions League a year ago. Last month Cristina was designated the world’s best handballer in 2015 through the vote of a 19-member jury and the votes of the fans on handball-planet.com. Next came Nora Mork and Heidi Loke of Norway.

  • RRI Sports Club – Handball

    RRI Sports Club – Handball

    At the end of this week handball lovers in Romania will find the teams that will be playing in the qualifying playoffs for the World Handball Championships of 2017. The Romanian side is part of the second preliminary group and will be up on its own turf, in Baia Mare, against the group’s leader, Austria. On Saturday, our handballers will be playing the Italian side in an away game. The group’s best handball side is qualified for the playoffs.


    Romanian women’s handball sides will be taking on their opponents in the European Cups this weekend. In the Champions League’s games that commenced at the end of last week, Romania’s champions CSM Bucharest lost the game they played away against the Macedonians from Vardar Skopje 22-21. CSM is currently ranking fourth in the group with five points. In the main group, HCM Baia Mare has secured a 31-28 home win against the French side Fleury Loiret. The result has pushed Baia Mare to the fifth position in the group’s ranking.



    In the first round of the Cup Winner’s Cup eight finals, the Romanian side Municipal Craiova clinched a 30-29 home win against Mercator Ljubljana of Slovenia. The return game is due on Saturday. Romania had two sides in the EHF Cup’s eight finals. Last Sunday, HCM Roman obtained a 22-21 win on home turf against Corona Brasov. The two sides will be meeting for the return game in Brasov, central Romania, on Sunday.



    Cristina Neagu, the best player in the World Championship held in Denmark in December has extended her contract with Buducnost Podgorica until 2017. We recall that with Cristina, the Montenegrin side won the Champions League a year ago. Last month Cristina was designated the world’s best handballer in 2015 through the vote of a 19-member jury and the votes of the fans on handball-planet.com. Next came Nora Mork and Heidi Loke of Norway.

  • Sports Year 2015 (1)

    Sports Year 2015 (1)

    2015 comes to an end, time for us to take a look back at Romanians sports performances this year. It was quite a good year, especially when it comes to team sports. The national football team booked their ticket for EURO 2016, the national rugby team had a good run at the World Cup in England, while the womens national handball team stepped onto the podium at the recently-held World Championships in Denmark.



    We begin with tennis, since WTA 2nd placed Romanian tennis player Simona Halep compelled recognition in the Shenzhen WTA tennis tournament, overpowering Swiss contender Timea Bacsinsky in the final in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. Simona Halep also got through to the womens singles quarterfinals of the years first Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open. In the mens doubles version of the same competition, two Romanians also reached as far as the quarterfinals, Horia Tecau, pairing up with the Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer, and Florin Mergea, who paired up with the British Dominic Inglot. Tecau and Rojer made headway into the semifinals, but they lost to Italys Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini. However, the Shenzhen tournament offered Tecau the opportunity to have a similar performance as the one in the mens doubles in the Melbourne tournament in 2012, when he also played in the semifinals, pairing up with Swedens Robert Lindstedt.



    In February 2015, the first great performance of the month also came from tennis, since Romanias womens team qualified for the playoff stage of the Fed Cups World Group. We recall that in the eastern Romanian city of Galati, our team outperformed Spain, 3-2. In the first singles fixture, Halep defeated Silvia Soler Espinosa, 6-2, 6-2, while Garbine Muguruza defeated Irina Begu, 6-3, 6-2. Then Muguruza secured yet another win over Halep, 6-4, 6-3, but fortunately Irina Begu braced up and won the game against Silvia Soler Espinosa, 6-2, 6-4. The doubles confrontation proved crucial, with Irina Begu and Monica Niculescu happily grabbing a win against Garbine Muguruza and Anabel Medina-Garrigues, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.



    The tennis tournament in Rotterdam was also held in February. Early into 2015, it was one of the most important ATP tournaments, with almost one million and a half Euro prize money up for grabs. Romanian Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands won the doubles version of the tournament, securing a 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 win over the British-Australian pair made of Jamie Murray and John Peers.



    Late in February Simona Halep scored yet another success, since she secured a 6-4, 7-6 win over Czech contender Carolina Pliskova in the finals of the Dubai tournament, with 2,513, 000 dollars prize money at stake.



    In March 2015, Romania secured its comeback among the elite nations of European athletics following a four-year gap. At the European Indoor Championships in Prague, Florentina Marincu walked away with bronze in the long-jump event, and also the bronze medal went to veteran Marian Oprea in the triple jump event. Florentina Marincus 6 meters and 79 centimeters jump also landed a European juniors record.



    In April, Romania won two medals at the European Gymnastics Championships held in Montpellier, France. In the womens version of the competition, Andreea Munteanu won gold in the beam event, while in mens version of the same competition Marius Berbecar won silver in the even parallel bars event.



    Also in April 2015, Romanias womens tennis team got through to the Fed Cups World Group, securing a 3-2 win over Canada. The match was hosted by Canadas Montreal, and in the first fixtures Alexandra Dulgheru secured a 6-4, 6-4 win over the worlds number 7 Eugenie Bouchard, while Francoise Abanda secured a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win in the game against Irina Begu. Andreea Mitu secured yet another win in the match against Eugenie Bouchard, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, while Alexandra Dulgherus 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 win in the game against Francoise Abanda sealed Romanias win in the fixture against Canada.



    Rowing also brought the Romanians a string of medals, since in May 2015, Romania walked away with no less than 4 medals at the European kayak-canoe Championships held in the Czech Republic. The gold medal in the 1,000m double kayak event went to Roxana Borha and Elena Meroniac, who also won silver in the 500m event. Silver medals also went to Florentina Caminescu in the 1,000m simple kayak event and to Romanias mens crew in the 1,000m four-canoe event.



    We carry on with news form handball, as the Romanian handball player Cristina Neagu won the Champions League with Montenegros Buducnost Podgorica, securing a 26-22 win in the finals they played against Norwegian contenders Larvik, in Budapest. Cristina Neagu was Buducnosts inter-left handball player, and came on top position in the Champions League scorers rankings, with 102 goals scored, on a par with Croatian Andrea Penezic of Vardar Skopje.



    In June 2015, at the European Fencing Championships held in Montreux, Switzerland, the Romanian Simona Pop won bronze in the womens individual epee event.



    Late in June, the inaugural edition of the European Games was held in the Azeri capital Baku. With a delegation of 147 athletes, Romania came in 17th in the medals rankings, with three gold, five silver and four bronze medals. Winners of the gold medals were Ana-Maria Branza in the womens individual epee event, judoka Andreea Chitu, in the 52-kilogram category and Romanias womens epee team, made of Ana-Maria Brânză, Simona Gherman, Simona Pop and Amalia Tătăran.



    So much so for the first part of our look back at sports year 2015. Get ready to tune in for the second part of our roundup sports item, tomorrow. Bye for now!



    (Translation by E. Nasta)

  • Athlete of the Year 2015

    Athlete of the Year 2015


    2015 was a relatively good year for Romanian sports, especially when it comes to team sports. The national football team booked their ticket for EURO 2016, and the national rugby team had a good run at the World Cup in England. However, the year’s most notable performance was the bronze medal the women’s national handball team won at the World Championships in Denmark in December.



    With 63 goals on her record sheet, Cristina Neagu was the Romanian lineup’s best handball player. Neagu was also designated the most efficient scorer at the World Championship, being eventually designated the competition’s best player.



    The first great performance Cristina Neagu achieved in 2015 was the Champions League trophy she won in May jointly with her club team Buducnost Podgorica. We recall that in Budapest the team from Montenegro secured a 26-22 win over Norwegian contenders Larvik. With 102 goals scored, Buducnost inter-left handball player Cristina Neagu earned the top position in the Champions League scorer rankings, on a par with Croatian Andrea Penezic, of Vardar Skopje.



    Taking all these excellent feats into account, Radio Romania International designated Cristina Neagu the Athlete of the Year 2015. Here is what Cristina told Dolce Sport TV station when Romania’s national team won bronze in Denmark.



    Cristina Neagu: I said 2015 was going to be MY year. God gave me the chance to win the Champions League as well. But being aware of the fact that we were supposed be playing here in Denmark, I wanted and said we would cut a fine figure at the World Championship, also standing a real chance to qualify for the Olympics, and it was going to be my year. By and large, it turned out to be true. Honestly, I don’t have enough words to describe how happy I am right now.



    Cristina Neagu was born in Bucharest on August 22nd, 1988. She made her debut at the Sports School Club number 5. As a junior handball player, Cristina was more than once designated the world’s best handball player starting 2005, when Romania walked home with silver from the European Juniors’ Championship in Austria. She became a senior handball player in 2006, when she was signed up by Rulmentul Brasov, and then she got transferred to Oltchim Ramnicu Valcea.



    In 2010, Cristina Neagu was designated the world’s best handball player, following an extraordinary year, when she reached the Champions League finals with Oltchim Ramnicu Valcea, also winning bronze at the European Championship in Norway and Denmark, with Romania’s national team. A number of health problems kept her far from the handball court for two years after that.



    Following the dismantling of Oltchim Ramnicu Valcea, Cristina Neagu was signed up by Montenegro’s Buducnost Podgorica, the team she is currently playing for.




  • RRI Sports Club: Romania qualifies for the World Women’s Handball Championship semifinals

    RRI Sports Club: Romania qualifies for the World Women’s Handball Championship semifinals

    The Romania national womens handball team on Wednesday evening grabbed a surprising win over Denmark (31-30), managing to advance to the semifinals of the World Handball Championship. Cristina Neagu has been declared best player of the match, after scoring 15 goals.



    In the three other fixtures, at this stage of the competition, France lost to the Netherlands, 25-28, Poland registered a surprising win over Russia, 21-20, while Norway defeated Montenegro, 26-25.



    In the semifinals, Romania will be taking on Norway, while Poland is pitted against the Netherlands. Romania is the only country to have participated in all final tournaments of the World Championships, since 1957, boasting three medals: gold in 1962 and silver in 1973 and 2005, respectively.


    (Translated and edited by: Diana Vijeu)

  • Rugby

    Rugby

    Timisoara Saracens are Romania’s new rugby champions,
    after winning against title holders CSM Stiinta Baia Mare in the finals, 18:15.
    The match was played at the Lascar Ghinet stadium in Baia Mare. The Saracens’
    most recent win came after an excellent season, in which they also won the
    King’s Cup and Romania’s Cup. The Saracens have thus added the fourth champion
    title to their record sheet, following the other titles won in 1972, 2012 and
    2013. Stiinta may find some comfort in the fact that they have won the title
    five times, in 1990, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014.




    The match between Timisoara Saracens and Stiinta Baia
    Mare was balanced before coming to a dramatic end. The Saracens drew first
    blood when Calafeteanu converted Shennan’s try 6 minutes into the match.
    However, as Saracens player Drenceanu received the yellow card, Stiinta took
    advantage and equalised to 7-all on minute 23, when Samoa converted Danila’s
    try. Stiinta then took the lead following Ratu Taniela’s successful drop goal
    in the 27th minute of play. The Saracens equalised towards the end
    of the first half after a penalty kick converted by Calafeteanu.




    The Saracens also played well at the beginning of the
    second half and Fonovai Tangimana scored another try for the team on the 47th
    minute, before Calafeteanu converted a penalty kick five minutes later,
    securing his team a comfortable 18:10 lead. Stiinta got back into the game and
    their attacks became more dangerous, but Samoa wasted a good opportunity to
    convert a penalty kick. They did raise their score in the 70th
    minute, when Alexandru Bucur scored a try. Although they had one man more on
    the field, Stiinta were unable to score again for the rest of the match.




    In other news from rugby, CSM Olimpia Bucharest has
    won the bronze medal of the rugby Super League. Olimpia trounced another team
    from Bucharest, Steaua, 21:8. Steaua were the first to score, but CSM quickly
    equalised and were already in the lead at half-time, 15:8. Steaua pushed hard
    for a comeback, but were unable to score for the rest of the game.

  • Rugby

    Rugby

    Timisoara Saracens are Romania’s new rugby champions,
    after winning against title holders CSM Stiinta Baia Mare in the finals, 18:15.
    The match was played at the Lascar Ghinet stadium in Baia Mare. The Saracens’
    most recent win came after an excellent season, in which they also won the
    King’s Cup and Romania’s Cup. The Saracens have thus added the fourth champion
    title to their record sheet, following the other titles won in 1972, 2012 and
    2013. Stiinta may find some comfort in the fact that they have won the title
    five times, in 1990, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014.




    The match between Timisoara Saracens and Stiinta Baia
    Mare was balanced before coming to a dramatic end. The Saracens drew first
    blood when Calafeteanu converted Shennan’s try 6 minutes into the match.
    However, as Saracens player Drenceanu received the yellow card, Stiinta took
    advantage and equalised to 7-all on minute 23, when Samoa converted Danila’s
    try. Stiinta then took the lead following Ratu Taniela’s successful drop goal
    in the 27th minute of play. The Saracens equalised towards the end
    of the first half after a penalty kick converted by Calafeteanu.




    The Saracens also played well at the beginning of the
    second half and Fonovai Tangimana scored another try for the team on the 47th
    minute, before Calafeteanu converted a penalty kick five minutes later,
    securing his team a comfortable 18:10 lead. Stiinta got back into the game and
    their attacks became more dangerous, but Samoa wasted a good opportunity to
    convert a penalty kick. They did raise their score in the 70th
    minute, when Alexandru Bucur scored a try. Although they had one man more on
    the field, Stiinta were unable to score again for the rest of the match.




    In other news from rugby, CSM Olimpia Bucharest has
    won the bronze medal of the rugby Super League. Olimpia trounced another team
    from Bucharest, Steaua, 21:8. Steaua were the first to score, but CSM quickly
    equalised and were already in the lead at half-time, 15:8. Steaua pushed hard
    for a comeback, but were unable to score for the rest of the game.

  • Footballer Florin Andone

    Footballer Florin Andone

    The Romanian striker Florin Andone’s goal in the game that pitted his team Cordoba against Girona FC brought Cordoba on top position of the table in the second division of the Spanish football league, Cordoba grabbing a 2-1 away win. On 54 minutes Fidel opened the score, while five minutes later Florin Andone sealed his team’s win with yet another goal. Girona’s Juan Mata turned a penalty kick into a goal late into the second half, on 88 minutes.



    Andone was a regular for Cordoba in the game against Girona. However, he got yellow-booked, and in for Andone was Raul de Tomas in minute 90 of the game. On his record sheet, the Romanian international footballer has 7 goals scored in 13 games and is third-placed in the goal getters’ ranking, following Alcorcon’s David Rodriguez and Yuri of Ponferradina, each with 9 goals. Also Andone stands on a par with Elche’s Sergio Leon and Susaeta of Real Oviedo. In the Spanish second league, Cordoba is the leader team, with 30 points, Alaves is the runner-up team, with 29 points, while third-placed is Osasuna, with 26 points.



    For his excellent run in recent games, Radio Romania International has designated Florin Andone the Athlete of the Week. Andone is 1 meter 82 centimeters tall and was born in Joldesti, a locality in Botosani, northeastern Romania. Andone graduated from CD Castellon’s football academy and made his debut as a senior footballer in the 2010 – 2011 season, in the Spanish second league. In 2011, Andone was transferred to Villareal, where he played until 2014. In 2013, Andone was on loan for Spanish third league team Atletico Baleares. Having had an excellent run with Baleares, a team for which he scored 12 goals, Andone was transferred to second league team Cordoba FC. As a pro, Andone made his debut in December 2014, scoring his first goal for Cordoba in a fixture against Granada, also in December 2014. Back then Cordoba were held to a 1-all draw by Granada.



    In 2012, Florin Andone made his debut with Romania’s under-19 team. In June 2015, Andone played his debut game with Romania’s national team in a game against Northern Ireland. The fixture counted towards Euro 2016 preliminaries, and ended in a blank draw. On November 16, 2015, Andone scored his first goal for the national squad in Romania’s friendly against Italy, when our national team held Italy to a 2-all draw.

  • Romanian Handball Teams in European Cups

    Romanian Handball Teams in European Cups

    Dinamo Bucharest has no problem qualifying for the group stage of the EHF Cup in mens handball, having secured a 31-25 win against Slovenian side RK Maribor Branik, in the second leg of the competitions second round. After being defeated in the first leg, 27-26, Dinamos powerful swirl early into the game earned the Romanians a 20-9 advantage. CSM, a team that in the first leg trounced their opponents, 31-24, is the second Romanian team to have qualified in the EHF Cups group stage.



    The president of the Romanian Handball Federation Alexandru Dedu, in a series of messages posted on his Facebook page, has praised the Romanian teams excellent run in the European Cups. No less than seven teams have got through to the European Spring, said Dedu. “Im not so sure about that, but I think it is Romanian handballs best performance in the European Cups spring. It is an obvious proof the standard of the domestic championship is on an upward trend. Congrats to the clubs and loads of success in the next stages! Dedu also wrote.



    Apart from the mens teams, womens teams CSM Bucharest and HCM Baia Mare have qualified for the Champions Leagues main rounds. HCM Roman and ASC Corona 2010 Brasov have got through to the EHF Cups eighth finals, while SCM Craiova has made headway into the Cup of Cups eighth finals.



    This month, all eyes will be focused on the womens World Championship to be held in Denmark over December 5 and 20. Romanias national team also takes part in the competition. Ahead of the event, Romania is playing a series of games as part of a training tournament which is underway these days. In the final day of the Razel-Bec Paris Île-de-France international tournament, the Romanians trounced the national team of Cuba, 36-23. The Romanians had no problem defeating a definitely poorer opponent, and Ana Maria Tanasie was the national teams top scorer with 9 goals. In its debut game as part of the French tournament, Romania grabbed a 31-26 win against the Czech Republic. Our national teams last test match ahead of their debut fixture at the Word Championship in Denmark is the away game against Sweden on Wednesday.

  • RRI Sports Club: A Review of Romania vs. Italy Football Match

    RRI Sports Club: A Review of Romania vs. Italy Football Match

    Romanias football squad ended this past Tuesdays friendly match against Italy in Bologna in a 2-all draw. With manager Anghel Iordanescu at the helm since October 2014, the national squad has had an unbeaten run so far.



    Twenty thousand fans were on the premises to watch the game in Bologna, four thousand of whom were Romanian supporters. Anghel Iordanescus trainees had a bracing start and were much more offensive than usual. Romania opened the score on 8 minutes when Bogdan Stancu took advantage of a mix-up in Italys defense line and scored the goal from the edge of the penalty area, with a far-post shot. Around halftime, the Italians got themselves back into the game, put pressure on Romanian goalie Ciprian Tatarusanu, but no shots on target could be seen in the first half, which is a novelty for Italy since Antonio Conte has taken up the position of national squad manager.



    In the second half, Italy turned the tables in their favor. On 55 minutes, Dragos Grigore hacked down Eder in the penalty box and Italys Claudio Marchisio turned the penalty kick into a goal. Ten minutes later, Maonolo Gabbiadini put world vice-champion team ahead with a header, following one of Italys attacking bouts when Romanias Cristian Sapunaru got Napolis Gabbiadini out of offside.



    The Italians were close to scoring yet again several times, but the ones who actually scored were the Romanians. On 88 minutes, Alexandru Maxim floated in a free-kick Vlad Chiriches headed goalwards, keeper Salvatore Sirigu deflected the ball in front of him and Romanias Florin Andone scored his first goal with the national squad, leveling the score, 2-all.



    Both teams were on the pitch wearing black armbands. A moment of silence was observed in memory of the victims of the fire that broke out at the Colectiv Club in Bucharest, as well as in memory of the victims of this past Fridays terrorist attacks in Paris.



    (translated by E. Nasta)


  • RRI Sports Club – Doping, Back in the Spotlight

    RRI Sports Club – Doping, Back in the Spotlight

    The International Olympic Committee on Tuesday ruled
    in favor of the temporary suspension of one of the Committee’s honorary members
    and former president of the International Association of Athletics Federations
    (IAAF) Lamine Diack. Diack’s suspension is linked with the scandal triggered by
    several top-flight Russian athletes’ positive doping tests. 82-year old Lamine
    Diack of Senegal, who was at the helm of IAAF until August 2015, is accused of
    having accepted to cover up positive doping tests of Russian athletes. Also,
    Diack has been charged by the French judiciary with passive corruption and money laundering.

    The scandal triggered by
    the positive doping tests of Russian athletes has occurred less that an year
    ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio. Among the targeted athletes are Marina
    Savinova and Ekaterina Poistogova, two Russian athletes who reaped gold ands
    silver, respectively, at the London Olympics in 2012, in the 800 m event. The novelty of the charges this time lies with the intricate way in
    which athletes’ positive doping tests intertwined with charges of corruption
    targeting Russian Federation’s sports and government officials.

    The report the
    World Anti-Doping Agency presented earlier this week exposed the way in which
    Russian sports officials, as well as IAAF officials systematically covered up
    doping practices and positive doping tests. Moreover, the anti-doping lab in
    Moscow has been accused of having destroyed more than 1,000 urine and blood
    samples. The World Anti-Doping Agency has announced the closing, with immediate
    effect, of the laboratory in Moscow and has also called for unprecedented sanctions in this case. Among
    other things, Russia is banned from all
    athletics competitions, including the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.


    As expected,
    Russian authorities have denied the evidence laid out by the World Anti Doping
    Agency Even the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov was very keen on expressing
    his view on the issue, speaking about the lack of evidence pertaining to the
    case in point. However, specific elements are expected to crop up along the
    way. According to a World Anti-Doping
    Agency press release, in the interim, samples analysed by the
    Moscow Anti-doping Centre shall be transported securely, promptly and with a
    demonstrable chain of custody to another WADA-accredited laboratory.
    According to the same source, samples will be sealed, in order to secure their
    perfect preservation.














  • RRI Sports Club – Handball

    RRI Sports Club – Handball

    Last week brought about poor results for Romanian womens handball. Both teams playing the main group phase of Champions League lost. In Group A on Friday, HCM Baia Mare lost on home turf to group leader Rostov Don of Russia, 22 to 20. The visiting side had the lead almost for the entire game, with the exception of the beginning of the first half, when the score was 3-all. Halfway through the second half, HCM managed to make it 16-all. The moment that tipped the balance in favour of Rostov Don was when Valentina Ardean-Elisei got a red booking for a rough tackle on Ana Sen.



    After the win in Baia Mare, Rostov remains the group leader with 6 points in two matches. Larvik of Norway ranks second with 4 points, followed by HCM Baia Mare with 2 points and Krim Ljubljana with zero points. HCM Baia Mares next fixture is scheduled on November 7, when it play Rostov Don away from home.



    On Sunday, in Group D, CSM Bucharest lost to Buducnost Podgorica of Montenegro, the defending European champions, 28-22 at home. Romanian Cristina Neagu was the top scorer for Buducnost with 9 goals, alongside former Oltchim player Katarina Bulatovic with 7 goals.



    Buducnost dominated the first half, having secured a 4 goal lead before half time. CSM Bucharest managed to even odds shortly into the second half, with four consecutive goals, and the scoreboard read 15-all on 37 minutes. The team from Montenegro picked up their game to win 28-22 at full time.



    Buducnost is leader of Group D with 6 points, followed by CSM Bucharest with 4 points, Savehof of Sweden with 2 points and Lublin of Poland with zero points. The upcoming fixture will pit CSM Bucharest against Buducnost on November 8 in Podgorica.