Sports Roundup

The latest in handball, athletics, rugby, and football

Steliu Lambru, 04.03.2024, 13:45

Romania’s women’s handball team has qualified for the 2024 European Championships hosted by Austria, Hungary and Switzerland. On Sunday night, in Group 1, Romania, missing its star players Cristina Neagu and Crina Pintea, defeated Croatia away from home 25-23. Romania, which tops the group standings with 8 points, is yet to play against Bosnia-Hertegovina away from home and against Greece at home. The top 2 teams in each group qualify into the final tournament, along with the best 4 teams having ranked 3rd in each group.

The Kenyan-born Romanian athlete Joan Chelimo Melly won Sunday’s semi-marathon race in Paris, and set a new national record on this occasion. Coached by Carol Şanta at the Dinamo Bucharest club, Joan Chelimo Melly has qualified to the Paris Olympics marathon event this summer. She finished the race in one hour, 6 minutes and 57 seconds, followed by the Kenyan athletes Veronica Loleo and Jesphine Jepleting, respectively. Romania’s previous semi-marathon record, 1 hour 7 minutes and 45 seconds, had been set by another Kenyan-born athlete, Stella Rutto, on 21 February 2021.

At the Glasgow World Athletics Indoor Championships, the Romanian athlete Alina Rotaru-Kottmann finished 8th in the long jump finals. Two other Romanians, Diana Ion and Andreea Taloş, came out 9th and 10th in the triple jump final.

Romania’s rugby team played on Saturday against Georgia, away from home, in the semi-finals of the 2024 Rugby Europe Championship. Georgia won the match, 43-5. In the other semi-final, on Sunday, Portugal defeated Spain, 33-30. The finals are scheduled on the 17 March in Paris, with Romania and Spain playing for the 3rd place, and Georgia and Portugal competing for the trophy.

This past weekend also saw matches counting towards the 29th round of the Romanian football SuperLeague. On Friday, Poli Iaşi drew against Dinamo Bucharest, 0-0. On Saturday, UTA Arad beat FCU Craiova 3-2, FC Hermannstadt defeated Oţelul Galaţi 4-1, and Farul Constanţa drew against CFR Cluj, 1-1. On Sunday, Universitatea Cluj defeated FC Botoşani 1-0 while FCSB outplayed Petrolul Ploieşti 1-0, with two other matches, Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe vs FC Voluntari and Universitatea Craiova vs Rapid Bucharest scheduled for Monday. FCSB rank first in the current standings, with 64 points, followed by Rapid (51) and CFR Cluj (50). (AMP)