SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS 2014

A review some of the highlights of the athletic year 2014.

România Internațional, 01.01.2015, 12:20

SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS 2014

It is time to review some of the highlights of the athletic year 2014. We start, of course, with January, dominated by tennis on the international scene. In Sydney, seventh seed Simona Halep, was eliminated in the first round by American player Madison Keys, and Sorana Carstea lost against Bulgarian player Tsvetana Pironkova. Then the Australian Open followed, where Simona Halep got to the quarterfinals, when Dominika Cibulkova defeated her.

The best result in Melbourne was Horia Tecau’s qualification to the mixed finals. He played alongside Sania Mirza of India. The two, however, missed the qualification, being ousted by the pair Daniel Nestor of Canada and Kristina Mladenovic of France, 6-3, 6-2.

Also in January, boxer Lucian Bute suffered the second defeat of his career, in Montreal, against Haitian Canadian Jean Pascal. The Haitian had the better score, and gained the NABF belt.

In February, the biggest news was Romania’s qualification to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, scheduled to take place in Britain. Thanks to victories against Portugal, Russia, Spain and Belgium, the Romanian Oaks secured the second place in the European Nations Cup and a place in the World Cup, where they will play in Group D, alongside France, Ireland, Italy and Canada. The Romanian rugby players will make their debut in the World Cup in September 2015, playing against France on the Olympic Stadium in London.

Also in February, in the first round of the Euro-African Group of the Davis Cup, Romania’s tennis team lost against Ukraine in Dnepropetrovsk, 1-3.

Further south, in Soch, Russia, the Winter Olympics unfolded in their 22nd edition, and Romania was represented by 24 athletes, which unfortunately managed only modest achievements.

After winning the Doha tournament in February, Simona Halep in March reached the semi-finals of the Indian Wells tournament, with total prizes worth 6 million dollars. She missed the qualification for the finals, losing against Polish player Agnieszka Radwanska 3-6, 4-6.

In April, in the weightlifting championships in Tel Aviv, Romania’s representative in the 56 kg category, Florin Croitoru, got two gold medals. In the jerk event, he won lifting 122 kg, with a total of 259 kg. The pair made up by Romanian Horia Tecau and Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer in the doubles in Casablanca won one other notable victory. The two have won against the pair made up of Polish Tomasz Bednarek and Czech Lukas Dlouhy, 6-2, 6-2, in only 57 minutes. Tecau and Rojer also won in the Bucharest open, playing against the Polish pair Mariusz Fyrstenberg/ Marcin Matkowski 6-4, 6-4. In the singles, the winner was Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov, 16th seed. He won against Lukas Rosol 7-6, 6-1.

In May, the senior and junior teams from Romania won nine medals in the European women’s rhythmic gymnastics championships, in Sofia, Bulgaria. Two of them were gold, five silver, and two bronze. The best performer was Larisa Iordache, who won a gold medal in the floor event, a silver in the beam event, and a bronze in the vault event. Add to that her decisive contribution to Romania’s victory in the finals by countries. It was the seventh European triumph for the Romanian women’s team.

Also in May, Simona Halep qualified for the tennis finals in Roland Garros, where she lost against Maria Sharapova. In June she reached the semifinals in Wimbledon, where Canadian Eugenie Bouchard halted her advance.

Also in June, the women’s 8+2 team won the gold medals in the European Rowing Championships in Belgrade. In the coxless pair event, Cristina Grigoras and Laura Oprea got the silver medals.