Sports roundup

The latest from gymnastics, rugby, swimming and football

Florin Orban, 09.10.2023, 13:45

The World Gymnastics Championship have recently
drawn to a close in Belgium’s Antwerp. In the last day of the competition on Sunday, Sabrina Maneca Voinea came in 4th in
the floor final. Also, at the recently-held edition of the World Cup, gymnast Andrei Muntean and Romania’s national women
team secured their ticket for the 2024 edition of the Olympic Games in Paris.

This past Sunday, Romania’s national rugby team played their last
fixture as part of the World Cup in France. In Lille, the Romanians sustained a
24-45 defeat by Tonga. It was the Romanian team’s best performance at the
recently-held edition of the World Cup. However, it was not enough to
outperform Tonga. Romania managed to score three tries, through Cristi Boboc, Florin Surugiu and Marius
Simionescu, all three converted by Alin Conache, who also scored from a penalty
kick. Also, it was the farewell game for two leading Romania rugby players in
the last decade, Florin Surugiu and Andrei Gorcioaia. In France, Romania was the bottom-of-the-table
team in Group B, with no points on their record sheet. In the first three
fixtures, head coach Eugen Apjok’s trainees were trounced by Ireland, South Africa
and Scotland.

At the international swimming competition in Switzerland’s Nyon, the Romanian
swimmer David Popovici won all short-course events he competed in. On Saturday,
Popovici won the 400m and 200m freestyle events, while on Sunday, the Romanian
yet again won the 100m and 50m freestyle events, David’s participation in the Switzerland
contest was part of the preparation stage ahead of the European Short Course
Swimming Championships, to held in Romania’s Otopeni in December.

Matches counting for the Romanian Football Super League’s 12th
round were held at the weekend. On the former team’s turf on Friday, FC U
Craiova 1948 and Hermannstadt drew, 1-all, then in Bucharest, Rapid defeated Politehnica
Iaşi, 3-2. Three games were played on Saturday. In Ploiesti, guest team UTA Arad held the local side Petrolul to a blank draw. FC Voluntari’s home game against Universitatea
Craiova also ended in a blank draw. Also on Saturday, FCSB won their away game
against FC Botosani, 1-nil. On Sunday in Galati, the local team Otelul sustained
a nil-1 defeat by Farul Constanta, while in Bucharest, Dinamo and CFR Cluj drew,
1-all. FCSB are at the top of the table, with 29 points. CFR Cluj are the
runner-up team, with 26. Rapid and Universitatea Craiova are 3rd and 4th-placed,
respectively, with 22 points each.