Sports roundup

News from football, handball, judo and gymnastics.

Florin Orban, 16.10.2023, 13:45

Romanias national football squad ranks first in Group I of the EURO 2024 qualifiers. On Sunday, in Bucharest, coach Edward Iordănescu’s players beat Andorra 4-nil, with goals scored by Nicolae Stanciu, Ianis Hagi, Răzvan Marin, from from penalty kick, and Florinel Coman. Romania took advantage of the wrong step made by the former leader of the group, Switzerland, which ended in a tie, 3 – 3, the match played at home, with Belarus. At present the Romanians have 16 points from eight games, while Switzerland has 15 points from 7 games. Israel is in 3rd place, with 11 points from 6 matches. Romania, which has not been defeated in these preliminaries, has two more matches to play – on November 18, in Israel, and on November 21, at home, against Switzerland. The first two teams from each group qualify for the final tournament of the European Championship.

Handball. Romania had a good start in the preliminaries of next year’s European Championship. After, on Wednesday, in Mioveni, they beat Bosnia Herzegovina (49 – 17), the Romanians also defeated Greece on Saturday, away (32 – 20). Alexandra Dindiligan scored most goals for the Romanian team (5). Romania will play the next match on February 28, at home, against Croatia.

Judo. The young judoka Alexandru Matei won the European Cup in the 60-kg category. At the competition held over the weekend in Malaga, Spain, he outrun Dutchman Bart Weling in the final, and scored important points in the race to qualify for next year’s Olympic Games in France. This was the first major result in the seniors for the 20-year old athlete. 355 athletes from 35 countries took part in the competition.

Gymnastics. Romania won two gold medals, one silver and one bronze at the Aerobic Gymnastics World Cup, a competition that ended on Sunday in Bucharest. The gold medals were won in the group event and in aerobic dance. In the trio, Romania won the silver, while the bronze came from the mixed pairs event.

Marathon. Moroccan athlete Mohamed Chaboud won the Bucharest International Marathon on Sunday. The Ethiopian athlete Mekkonen Serkalem Mengiste won the women’s category. Approximately 16,000 runners participated in the six races of the Marathon.

Tennis. The most important professional tennis competition hosted by Romania this year started in Cluj – the Women’s Transylvania Open Tournament. First on the list of favorites is Sorana Cîrstea, number 26 in the world.

(EE)