Sporting Highlights 2013 (2)
Welcome to a new installment in our series devoted to the best performances obtained by Romanian athletes in 2013.
România Internațional, 31.12.2013, 12:00
After the wins in Nuremberg and Hertogenbosh, Romanian tennis player Simona Halep went to Wimbledon, but sadly she was eliminated in the second round by sixth seeded Na Li from China. The Romanian player clinched a win in Budapest, which hosted a tournament with 235 thousand dollars in prize money. Halep won the finals against Austrian Yvonne Meusburger to become the second player in the world in terms of tournaments won in 2013 after Serena Williams.
August was a good month for the Romanian fencers, who walked away with three medals from the World championships in Budapest. Tiberiu Dolniceanu from the Romanian delegation stepped onto the third step of the podium in the individual competition and our women’s team also reaped bronze in the team contest. Romania became world vice champion in men’s competition.
The following major competition was the World Athletics Championship in Moscow, where Romania was represented by a 15-athlete delegation, who sadly didn’t live up to expectations. The best Romanian performance in Moscow was a sixth place in the triple jump contest won by Marian Oprea.
Also in August, Simona Halep ranked among the world’s first 20 tennis players. She was seeded 19th in the WTA rankings after winning the tournament in New Haven, Connecticut with prizes of 690 thousand dollars. Halep outperformed third seeded Petra Kvitova from the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-2.
September started with medals for the Romanian athletes who stepped onto the podium twice at the World Rowing Championships in South Korea. The Romanian double, made up of Nicoleta Albu and Roxana Cogianu came second in the finals after Great Britain. Silver medals also were won by the Romanian eight, who came after the United States.
Also in September, Romania’s vice champions, the women’s handball side HCM Baia Mare, managed to qualify for the Champions League. Baia Mare won the qualifiers, which it hosted and involved the participation of Danish sides Viborg and Holstebro, and Dutch team Dalfsen.
In early October, Antwerp in Belgium hosted the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships from where Larisa Iordache, from the Romanian delegation walked away with bronze from the floor event.
New performances were obtained by the Romanian tennis players in October as well. The Romanian-Byelorussian pair Tecau-Mirnii won the finals of the ATP tournament in Beijing against the Italians Fabio Fognini and Andreas Seppi, 6-4, 6-2.
Later in Moscow, Simona Halep won the fifth WTA tournament in her career by beating Australian Samantha Stosur 7-6, 6-2 in the finals. The Romanian — Czech pair Mergea-Rosol clinched a win in the finals of the ATP tournament in Vienna, against Julian Knowle from Austria and Daniel Nestor from Canada. Florin Mergea thus obtained his first ATP title.
November spelt another victory for Halep, who won the Champions Tournament, an event hosted by Bulgarian capital Sofia with prizes of 750 thousand dollars. Halep again defeated Stosur in the finals, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 ending up on the 11th position in the WTA standings.
Unfortunately November wasn’t a good month for Romania’s women handball side HCM Baia Mare in the Champions League. Our players came close to a surprising result in the season but eventually lost the match against Hungarian side Audi ETO and had to leave the competition. The most important sporting event of December was the World Women’s Handball Championship in Serbia, a competition where players from Romania failed to obtain the desired results and had to leave in the round of 16, following a defeat from Poland.
