Sports Flash

Romania's women's tennis team will compete for a medal on Friday at the World Championships in London

Florin Orban, 07.05.2026, 13:45

Romania’s women’s team dramatically advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Table Tennis Championships in London on Wednesday after defeating Egypt 3–2. Bernadette Szőcs secured Romania’s first point with a 3–0 victory over Dina Meshref. In the second match, Andreea Dragoman lost a close match, 2-3, to Egyptian player Hana Goda, ranked 20th in the world. Elizabeta Samara put Romania back in the lead after defeating Farida Badawy 3-0. In the fourth match, Bernadette Szőcs lost 1-3 to Hana Goda. Thus, the final match, between Andreea Dragoman and Dina Meshref, became decisive. The Egyptian led 1-0 and 2-1 in sets, but Andreea Dragoman turned the score around and won 3-2. In the quarterfinals on Friday, Romania will face France. The Romanian team also qualified for the quarterfinals in the 2024 edition, but was stopped on its way to the semifinals by Japan, which subsequently lost the final to China. Now, qualifying for the semifinals would automatically secure a bronze medal, which would be a first in the new millennium. Romania’s last medal at the World Team Table Tennis Championships was the bronze won by the women’s team in 2000 in Kuala Lumpur.

Romania’s men’s team was eliminated on Wednesday in the round of 16 by China, the reigning world and Olympic champion, with a score of 3-1. A notable performance was the 3-0 victory by young Eduard Ionescu over multiple World Championship medalist Liang Jingkun in the opening match. Romania’s squad consisted of Eduard Ionescu, Iulian Chirița, Ovidiu Ionescu, Darius Movileanu, and Andrei Istrate. The World Championships in London featured 64 men’s teams and an equal number of women’s teams from around the world, in an anniversary edition marking 100 years since the first World Championships and the founding of the International Table Tennis Federation.

Romanian players will enter the competition directly in the second round of the WTA 1000 women’s tennis tournament in Rome, which offers a total prize pool of $7,228,000. On Thursday, Sorana Cîrstea will face Tatjana Maria, and on Friday, Jaqueline Cristian will take on Karolína Plíšková.

We wrap up with men’s volleyball. In the second game of the Romanian championship final, Dinamo Bucharest defeated Arcada Galaţi at home with a score of 3-2. The series is tied at 1-1. The final is a best-of-five series, with the next two games scheduled for Galaţi on May 11 and 12. (MI)