Radio România Internațional

Category: Sport

  • 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.


  • Athlete of the Week on RRI – Handballer Marius Sadoveac

    Athlete of the Week on RRI – Handballer Marius Sadoveac

    Last weekend brought about good results for Romanian handball teams playing in Champions League, with one win and one loss for womens teams. Romanias champions CSM Bucharest won easily against Savehof of Sweden away from home, 28-17. CSM is ranked 1st in Group D with 4 points, the same number of points as Buducnost Podgorica, although with a better goal average. Romanias representative in Group A, HCM Baia Mare, lost at home to Larvik Norway, 31-29. Ranking first in the group tables is Rostov Don of Russia with 4 points, followed by HCM Baia Mare and Larvik, each with two points, although the Romania team has a better goal average.



    In the mens version of Champions League, Romanian champions Minaur Baia Mare grabbed their third win in the group, defeating Metalurg Skopje of Macedonia away from home, 23-21. Hungarian Tamas Ivancsik, Ukrainian Vladislav Otrushko and Romanians Daniel Bera and Marius Sadoveac were the top scorers for Minaur, each with four goals. To designate this weeks athlete on RRI, we thus needed additional criteria, and we grounded our decision on previous performances. We have chosen Marius Sadoveac Athlete of the Week on RRI, as he is the top scorer for Minaur this season of Champions League, with 25 goals.



    Marius Sadoveac was born on May 7, 1985 in Timisoara, western Romania. He made his debut with the team of the Banatul Sports High School, and later he joined Poli Timisoara, a team with which he played the Challenge Cup quarterfinals. He was then signed by HCM Constanta. With this club he played in five editions of Champions League. This is Sadoveacs first season in Champions League with his new team Baia Mare, where he is a right-wing first-team regular.


  • Athlete of the Week on RRI – Handballer Paula Ungureanu

    Athlete of the Week on RRI – Handballer Paula Ungureanu

    The Romanian womens handball teams playing in the Champions League have moved past the group phase. HCM Baia Mare grabbed a 33-27 away win against Krim Mercator Ljubljana of Slovenia in Group A, while CSM Bucharest trounced MKS Selgros Lublin of Poland 33-21 on home turf in Group D.



    Certainly, of the two results, the most surprising is the win secured by HCM Baia Mare. Krim Mercator is a powerful club right now, playing five Champions League finals and winning two, in 2001 and 2003. Despite this, the odds had HCM Baia Mare favourite to win.



    Aurelian Roscas trainees had a tough game in Ljubljana. The first half was balanced, with HCM Baia Mare managing to secure a small lead. The top scorers for Romania were Allison Pineau of France and Lois Abbingh of the Netherlands, each with 9 goals. However, it was goalkeeper Paula Ungureanu who made the difference, which is why we have designated her Athlete of the Week on RRI.



    Still recovering after an injury sustained during the qualifiers, Paula Ungureanu was sent onto the court 10 minutes into the game, when the scoreboard read 7-all. Her first save prevented Krim Mercator from making it 9 all a couple of minutes later. The Slovene team came back in the lead, and but for Paulas remarkable saves, they could have secured even a bigger lead. HCM Baia Mare had a one-goal lead at half-time.



    In the second half HCM Baia Mare again took the lead. Paula Ungureanus saves again made the difference in key moments throughout the game. HCM Baia Mares offensive power waned, but Paula Ungureanu kept the teams chances of winning the game alive. Towards the end, HCM picked up their game and secured the win with a 6-goal lead.



    Paula Ungureanu was born on March 30, 1980 in Brasov. She made her debut at REMIN Deva, playing the Challenge Cup final with that team in 2004. Between 2004-2006 she played for Hypo Niederosterreich Vienna, one of Europes most prestigious clubs. In 2005 she reached with her club the Champions League semi-finals. In 2006 she was signed by Dunaferr, Hungary, playing in the EHF Cup semi-finals in 2008. Also in 2008 she transferred to Podravka Koprivnica and then moved to Oltchim Ramnicu-Valcea in 2009. In 2010 she played in the Champions League final with Oltchim, and the semi-finals in 2012 and 2013.


  • Historic Victory for the Romanian Rugby Squad in the World Cups

    Historic Victory for the Romanian Rugby Squad in the World Cups

    Romania’s rugby squad scored a historic victory in the World Cup in England. The Oak Leaf Knights defeated Canada 17 to 15 after being led 15-0. In effect, they achieved the most spectacular reversal of fortunes in the history of the World Cup. The game started badly for the Romanians. In the first half, the Canadians dominated by far. They led the first half by eight points to none, after the penalty kick by Gordon McRorie, in the 11th minute, and the try by Daniel van der Merwe in the 33rd minute. Things did not go well at the beginning of the second half either. The Maple Leafs had another try in the 44th minute, scored by Jeff Hastler, with Nathan Hirayama, turning the board to 15-0.



    However, the Romanian team had a spectacular comeback, and their forward team started to up their game. In minute 53, Mihai Macovei managed Romania’s first try, with Florin Vlaicu. Then came the yellow card given to Jebb Sinclair, who had to leave the field towards the end of the game. Taking advantage of higher numbers, Romania managed another try, again with Macovei and Vlaicu, turning the score 15 to 14. The Romanians turned up the pressure, and the Canadians did not cope well. In the 77th minute, the referee granted a penalty kick to the Oak Leaves, and Vlaicu scored, sealing the victory for Romania in this World Cup.



    Right now, Romania is fourth in Pool D, with 4 points. The first two placed are Ireland and France, with 14 points, Italy following with 5. Canada is last placed, with 2 points. On Sunday, Ireland plays France, while Romania meets Italy. If victorious, the Romanian Oak Leaf Knights qualify by default for the next World Cup.

  • Sports Club

    Sports Club

    Romania’s women’s table tennis team has walked away with silver medals at the recently-held European Championships in Russia’s Ekaterinburg. In this past Tuesday’s finals, Romania sustained a 3-nil defeat in the game against Germany.



    It was all too obvious Germany was way better than Romania. In the first game, Ying Han thrashed Bernadette Szocs, 3-nil. After having wasted a set ball in the first leg, conceding a narrow 12-10 defeat, the Romanian simply couldn’t take the heat for the rest of the game, and was trounced in the following two sets, 11-1.



    However, a more balanced game was the one pitting Xiaona Han against Elisabeta Samara. In the first two sets, Samara conceded defeat to her German opponent, 12-10, also losing the third set, 11-5. The only Romanian tennis player to have been a whisk away from winning a game was Daniela Dodean, who took on Petrissa Solja. Dodean lost the first two sets, yet she braced up and won the other two, only to concede defeat in the crucial set, 11-9.


    The bronze medals went to Russia and Ukraine.



    In Ekaterinburg, Romania’s lineup, whose manager was Viorel Filimon, was made of Elizabeta Samara, Daniela Dodean, Bernadette Szőcs, Camelia Poştoacă, Alina Diaconu and Cristina Hîrîci. We should also note that Daniela Dodean was back into the game following a two years’ maternity leave. Ahead of the European table tennis championships in Ekaterinburg, Dodean had won all the five fixtures for Romania.



    In Russia, Romania lost her fourth final in the last six years, after the ones in 2010, 2011, 2013, all fixtures against Germany. However, Romania’s record includes three European titles in the women’ s version of the competition, in 1992, 2002 and 2005.


    Individual events are well under way at the ongoing European championships.



  • Rugby World Cup 2015

    Rugby World Cup 2015

    Romania’s rugby team put on a good
    performance in their first match at the 2015 Rugby World Cup hosted by England
    despite losing 38:11 to former runner-up France.




    In the first part of the match, Romania
    even managed to dominate their opponents. France, however, scored early, in the
    8th minute of the game, with a penalty goal kicked by Morgan Parra.
    Romania’s Florin Vlaicu helped level the score in the 20th minute. A
    minute earlier, however, Romania had been close to France’s touch-in goal, but
    they were not awarded the try, as the video referee decided the ball did not
    touch the ground. In the 26th minute, it was again Vlaicu who missed
    a penalty from in front of the posts, wasting Romania’s opportunity to take the
    lead. It all came to pieces for Romania in the 29th minute, when
    Paulica Ion was sent off with a yellow card. While Romania were one man down,
    France converted two tries, leading 17:6 at half time.




    In the second half, the scoreline
    was unchanged for 26minutes. In the 67th minute, Sofiane
    Guitune scored another try, albeit a contentious one, taking the score to 24:6.
    It was all over for Romania, who lost all their self-confidence. They did,
    however, manage to score a try in the 74th minute, thanks to
    Valentin Ursache. The final scoreline, 38:11, was established one minute before
    the end of the match, when France scored another try. Looking back, Romania
    were above expectations and even had a few flashes, but were too weak to pull
    it off.





    In their next game on
    Sunday, September 27th, at Wembley, Romania will take on Ireland,
    the winner of the 2015 Six Nations Championship. On the 6th of
    October, Romania face Canada at Leicester City Stadium and a few days later, on
    the 11th of October, they play against Italy at Sandy Park, in
    Exeter.

  • RRI Sports Roundup

    RRI Sports Roundup

    The Romanian womens handball team HCM Baia Mare this weekend qualified for the Champions League. Aurelian Roscas trainees won the playoff of the preliminary group phase played in Baia Mare, 32-21, against Danish side Team Esbjerg. In the semi-finals on Saturday, the team from Baia Mare had won against BelAZ Minsk of Belarus, 31-21. In Champions League, HCM will be part of Group A, alongside Larvik of Norway, Krim Ljubljana of Slovenia and Rostov-Don of Russia.




    The other Romanian team in Champions League is CSM Bucharest, the defending champions, which will play in Group D, alongside Buducnost Podgorica of Montenegro, Savehof of Sweden and Selgros Lublin in Poland.




    Let us also note that the mens team Minaur Baia Mare has also qualified to Champions League. Also from mens handball, Dinamo Bucharest will be playing in the second preliminary round of the EHF Cup. In the return leg of the first round, Dinamo held Energia Tg. Jiu from Romania to a 24-all draw. In the first leg, Dinamo Bucharest had won 38-24.




    In the second preliminary round, Dinamo will play Diomidis Argous. The first match is scheduled away from home on October 10 or 11, while the return leg will be played in Bucharest, on October 17th or 18th.




    From the world of gymnastics, let us note that Marian Dragulescu won two medals at the Israeli Cup, a competition played this weekend in Tel Aviv. He won gold in the vault event and bronze in the beam event. Another Romanian athlete, Andrei Ursache, ranked 3rd in the pommel horse event.




    Let us now take a look at the football matches played this weekend as part of the 10th round of the Romanian First League. On Saturday, Concordia Chiajna held FC Botosani to a blank draw, while ASA Targu Mures couldnt beat Petrolul Ploiesti at home, 1-all. In Giurgiu, Pandurii Targu Jiu grabbed an important 2-1 over Astra. Finally, on Sunday, Poli Timisoara defeated Steaua Bucharest 1-nil. On Monday, Viitorul Contanta will play FC Voluntari, while Dinamo Bucharest will be taking on CFR Cluj.Astra tops the tables with 20 points, followed by Dinamo and ASA Targu Mures, each with 17 points.


  • RRI Sports Club – Rowing

    RRI Sports Club – Rowing

    Last week the World Rowing Championships were held on Aiguebelette Lake in France. The competition had a very important stake, given that some of the events counted towards the Rio Olympics to be held next year. The objective of the Romanian Rowing Federation was to obtain qualification for at least three Romanian crews to the Olympic Games, an objective that has been met. The Romanian womens double-skull crew, made up of Cristina Grigoras and Laura Oprea won the B finals. The Romanian mens four-skull crew, made up of Dragos Aicoboae, Adrian Damii, Marius Cozmiuc and Andrei Gontaru ended the B final in 5th place and finally, the mens double-skull crew, made up of Cristi Pirghie and George Palamariu, ended the B final in 5th place.



    Surprisingly, Romanias eight crew, made up of Roxana Cogianu, Iuliana Popa, Mihaela Petrila, Ioana Crăciun, Adelina Cojocariu, Irina Dorneanu, Mădălina Bereş, Andreea Boghian and Daniela Druncea failed to secure qualification to the Rio Olympics. Our girls didnt get to qualify to the A final. In the qualifying heat they finished the race in 3rd place, after Canada and New Zealand, while the re-qualifying heat they were outranked by the UK and Russia. On the competitions final day they won the B final in 6, minutes, 5.72 seconds, by 0.7 seconds less than the time obtained by the United States in the A final. However, the B final didnt offer any tickets to Rio, and therefore the last chance of qualifying to Rio will be in next years competition.



    The biggest disappointing for the Romanian delegation in this years rowing championships was the failure of qualifying any crew to the final. 21 countries obtained medals at Aiguebelette, of which 8 grabbed at least one gold medal.


    Last week the World Rowing Championships were held on Aiguebelette Lake in France. The competition had a very important stake, given that some of the events counted towards the Rio Olympics to be held next year. The objective of the Romanian Rowing Federation was to obtain qualification for at least three Romanian crews to the Olympic Games, an objective that has been met. The Romanian womens double-skull crew, made up of Cristina Grigoras and Laura Oprea won the B finals. The Romanian mens four-skull crew, made up of Dragos Aicoboae, Adrian Damii, Marius Cozmiuc and Andrei Gontaru ended the B final in 5th place and finally, the mens double-skull crew, made up of Cristi Pirghie and George Palamariu, ended the B final in 5th place.



    Surprisingly, Romanias eight crew, made up of Roxana Cogianu, Iuliana Popa, Mihaela Petrila, Ioana Crăciun, Adelina Cojocariu, Irina Dorneanu, Mădălina Bereş, Andreea Boghian and Daniela Druncea failed to secure qualification to the Rio Olympics. Our girls didnt get to qualify to the A final. In the qualifying heat they finished the race in 3rd place, after Canada and New Zealand, while the re-qualifying heat they were outranked by the UK and Russia. On the competitions final day they won the B final in 6, minutes, 5.72 seconds, by 0.7 seconds less than the time obtained by the United States in the A final. However, the B final didnt offer any tickets to Rio, and therefore the last chance of qualifying to Rio will be in next years competition.



    The biggest disappointing for the Romanian delegation in this years rowing championships was the failure of qualifying any crew to the final. 21 countries obtained medals at Aiguebelette, of which 8 grabbed at least one gold medal.

  • A review of the match pitting Romania against Greece

    A review of the match pitting Romania against Greece

    Romanias football team on Monday missed another opportunity of securing qualification to the 2016 European Championship to be held in France. Romania couldnt beat Greece at home, as the match ended in a blank draw. This is the third tie for Romania in three matches, after Anghel Iordanescus trainees drew against Northern Ireland in June and against Hungary last Friday.


    Coach Anghel Iordanescu prepared a safe tactic ahead of the game. Although they only had two points before Mondays match, Greece still had the most valuable squad in the group. Romanias coaches didnt take this into account, and mistakenly played up the offensive. Even so, Romania dominated the game, had a few important opportunities to score, but our strikers lack of effectiveness produced little chance on the scoreboard. One explanation could the absence of some first-team regulars, such as strikers Ciprian Marica or Raul Rusescu. The performance of Claudiu Keseru or Lucian Sanmartean was below expectations. After the game, Coach Anghel Iordanescu admitted his team lacked the offensive will and blamed the blank score on the performance of players playing in foreign competitions, who are still trying to make their way into their clubs first team.



    Let us also note that in other fixtures scheduled on Monday, Finland grabbed a narrow 1-nil win over the Faeroe Islands at home, while Northern Ireland grabbed 1 point in the last minutes of the game against Hungary at home.



    Top of the group tables is now Northern Ireland with 17 points, followed by Romania with 16 points and Hungary with 13 points.



    Romanias next matches are scheduled on October 8 against Finland at home, and on October 11 against the Faeroe Islands away from home.

  • RRI Sports Club – Canoeing

    RRI Sports Club – Canoeing

    Romania obtained two important results at the World Rowing Championships that came to a close in Milan on Sunday. The biggest achievement came from the four-skull crew, which won the 1,000-m race. Made up of Leonid Carp, Petre Condrat, Iosif Chirila and Stefan Andrei Strat, the Romanian crew dominated the race ever since the start. The silver went to Ukraine while Hungary grabbed bronze.



    Additionally, the Romanian kayak-four has qualified directly to the Olympic Games to be held next year after finishing the 1,000-m race. Made up of Traian Neagu, Catalin Turceag, Daniel Burciu and Petrus Gavrila, the team finished the qualifying heat in the 7th place. The first 10 teams qualified to the Rio Olympics.



    Unfortunately, the four-skull 1,000-m race is not an Olympic event, and thus our Romanian crew will not be able to compete in Rio.



    Other Romanian rowers enrolled in the World Championships had sub-par performances. The defending world champions in the double-canoe 1,000-m race, Liviu Alexandru Dumitrescu and Victor Mihalachi finished the semi-final in the 4th place, missing the opportunity to compete in the finals. Dumitrescu and Mihalachi however won the B final, which only secured them the 10th place in the final standings. That was not enough to allow them to qualify to the Rio Olympics, as only the first six crews will be allowed to compete.



    There is only one more spot left free in the 1,000-m double-canoe race, reserved especially for European countries. The European Championships next year will be the last chance to get this ticket to Rio. The competition will however be fierce, as powerful countries, such as Germany, are yet to secure qualification.


  • Athlete of the Week on RRI – Tennis player Simona Halep

    Athlete of the Week on RRI – Tennis player Simona Halep

    The Flushing Meadows Grand Slam tournament is due to kick off. Meanwhile, also in the United States, the Cincinnati tournament came to a close last week. The mens competition had 3.8 million dollars in prize money, while the womens event offered 2,4 million dollars in prize money.



    Romanian tennis player Simona Halep was seeded second in the competition. She made it all the way to the events final, where she faced Serena Williams of the United States. For her achievement, we have designated Simona Halep Athlete of the Week on RRI for the second week in a row, after last week we rewarded her good run in the Toronto tournament.



    At Cincinnati, first Simona knocked out Kristina Mladenovic of France, a player whom she had never defeated before. She then moved to play Andreea Petkovic of Germany, whom she defeated 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. In the quarterfinals, Simona eased past Anastasia Pavliucenkova 7-6, 6-2, while in the semi-finals she won against Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, 6-1, 6-2. In the finals, Serena Williams won 6-3, 7-6.



    Her performance in this tournament has earned Halep 585 WTA points and a 240-thousand-dollar check. With this win Simona Halep has climbed one position in the WTA hierarchy, now ranking 2nd. The series of uninterrupted games however has wore down the Romanian player, who decided to withdraw from the New Haven tournament, totaling 689 thousand dollars up for grabs. The tournament, where Halep was seeded first, kicked off on Sunday.



  • Athlete of the Week on RRI – Tennis player Simona Halep

    Athlete of the Week on RRI – Tennis player Simona Halep

    The Flushing Meadows Grand Slam tournament is due to kick off. Meanwhile, also in the United States, the Cincinnati tournament came to a close last week. The mens competition had 3.8 million dollars in prize money, while the womens event offered 2,4 million dollars in prize money.



    Romanian tennis player Simona Halep was seeded second in the competition. She made it all the way to the events final, where she faced Serena Williams of the United States. For her achievement, we have designated Simona Halep Athlete of the Week on RRI for the second week in a row, after last week we rewarded her good run in the Toronto tournament.



    At Cincinnati, first Simona knocked out Kristina Mladenovic of France, a player whom she had never defeated before. She then moved to play Andreea Petkovic of Germany, whom she defeated 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. In the quarterfinals, Simona eased past Anastasia Pavliucenkova 7-6, 6-2, while in the semi-finals she won against Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, 6-1, 6-2. In the finals, Serena Williams won 6-3, 7-6.



    Her performance in this tournament has earned Halep 585 WTA points and a 240-thousand-dollar check. With this win Simona Halep has climbed one position in the WTA hierarchy, now ranking 2nd. The series of uninterrupted games however has wore down the Romanian player, who decided to withdraw from the New Haven tournament, totaling 689 thousand dollars up for grabs. The tournament, where Halep was seeded first, kicked off on Sunday.



  • Sports Club – Tennis

    Sports Club – Tennis

    The Black Sea resort of Mamaia played venue for the Davis Cup matches pitching Romanias men side against Slovakias, while the capital city hosted BRD Bucharest Open.



    The Romanian tennis players didnt live up to expectations last weekend in Mamaia and Slovakia secured a 3-2 win against Romania. In the singles, Marius Copil secured a four set win against Norbert Gombos, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, while Adrian Ungur of Romania lost to Martin Klizan. The points were sealed in the doubles on Saturday when Andrej Martin – Igor Zelenay outperformed Romanian pair made up of Horia Tecau and Florin Mergea in three sets, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. On Sunday Klizan defeated Marius Copil 7-6, 6-3, 6-3, while Adrian Ungur won the competitions last game against Norbert Gombos.


    After these games Romania will be playing in the Euro-African zones Group One while Slovakia will be playing in the World Groups qualifying play-offs.



    The trophy of the BRD Bucharest Open, a WTA tournament with more than 226 thousand dollars in prize money, went to seventh-seeded Slovakian player Anna Schmiedlova. We recall that Schmiedlova didnt lose a single set in the Bucharest tournament.


    Anna Schmiedlova: “I had a good day, a good week here. I am happy I managed to win. It wasnt easy, it was a long competition. I didnt have time to think what would happen in the next game. I focused on every point and that worked out. I didnt want to go into the third set and I did all I could to avoid that.



    Monica Niculescu obtained the best performance in the BRD singles; she made it to the semis from where she was eliminated by Italian Sara Errani.


    In the doubles, a pair made up of Oksana Kalasnikova of Georgia and Dutch Demis Shuurs outperformed Romanian pair Andreea Mitu – Patricia Tig in the finals.



    Mitu and Tig joined the main board thanks to a wild card. The main question after their good performance at BRD Open was that whether they would like to play together from now on.


    Andreea Mitu: “That remains to be seen. We dont have anything planned yet. Patricia has yet to go up in the standings so that she could play with me in the same tournaments. I will be playing more often in WTA tournaments. It depends on the schedule and she should synchronize in order to do that.

  • RRI Sports Club – Top-level sporting events in Bucharest

    RRI Sports Club – Top-level sporting events in Bucharest

    On Sunday, the International Swimming Championships came to an end in Bucharest. Romanian athletes grabbed 222 medals, of which 69 gold, 76 silver and 77 bronze. Romanian swimmers broke 16 national records, of which one in the seniors competition, one in the seniors relay event and the rest in the under-18 competitions.



    Taking part in the championships were a number of worldclass swimmers, such as Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands or Katinka Hosszu of Hungary. Sharon van Rouwendaal managed to win medals in outdoor and indoor competitions at the European championships in 2014. She is also the holder of the best performance of 2015 in the 400 freestyle race.



    Weve asked Camelia Potec, the president of the Romanian Swimming and Modern Pentathlon Federation to tell us more about the event:



    “I believe this event is very important, first of all for the public in Romania, and to the same extent for our athletes, who are given an opportunity to break world and Olympic records, here, at home, in front of their families and fans. I believe its also important that Romania hosts an event recognized at world and European level, and that swimmers can come here and see Romania, changing their opinion about our sports bases and see that we have worldclass standards and are able to host an international competition.



    Next its news from tennis. Bucharest is also hosting the WTA Bucharest Open tennis tournament, totaling 227 thousand dollars in prize money. Monica Niculescu advanced to the second round, after sweeping aside Ana Bogdan, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2. Niculescu, who this year made it all the way to the round of 16 in Wimbledon, said she was very happy to play at home. Monica Niculescu:



    “I very much like playing here. The public was always good to me and supported me. I hope more people will come to this tournament and of course, I hope they will cheer for me.


    The BRD Bucharest Open will come to a close on Sunday.


  • Athlete of the Week: Tennis Player Horia Tecau

    Athlete of the Week: Tennis Player Horia Tecau

    The Romanian-Dutch team Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien Rojer have won the mens doubles final at Wimbledon, in a three set match, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 against Jamie Murray of the UK and John Peers of Australia.



    This is the first time that Tecau wins at Wimbledon, and not for lack of trying. He got to the finals three times in a row, in 2010, 11 and 12, playing alongside Swedish Robert Lindstedt. Tecau thus becomes the second Romanian to win a mens title in a Grand Slam in the doubles, after Ilie Nastase won in the US Open in 1975, playing alongside Jimmy Connors. Tecau and Rojer have played 13 finals since they paired up in 2014, winning ten of them. For his accomplishments, Horia Tecau is RRIs choice for Athlete of the Week.



    As he himself said upon returning home after the competition, the Wimbledon title was the loftiest dream. He said: “I have to come back to my senses, enjoy this trophy and find the next dream. I think the next dream for me will be the US Open title. I have to have another dream, another motivation, to go forward.



    Horia Tecau and Jean Julien Rojer have now reached the top of the ATP Race standings, published on Monday, for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Tecau and Rojer have gone up three places, and have more than 600 points over their closest competitors, Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Marcelo Melo of Brazil. The best eight pairs of the year take part in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals between November 15 and 22, played on a hard court.



    Horia Tecau was born in Brasov on January 19, 1985. He started tennis when he was seven. In 2002 he won the Wimbledon title in the junior doubles, next to Florin Mergea. He turned pro in 2003. Since July 2008 he has been in the top 100 players in the world in the doubles, moving to the top 50 in November 2009. In the summer of 2012, he reached the top five of players in the world, the best placed Romanian player in the double formula in the history of the ATP, before this last great accomplishment.