Sports Flash
Romania kicked off its EuroBasket Women 2029 pre-qualifying campaign with a victory.
Florin Orban, 12.11.2026, 13:45
Romania’s women’s national basketball team defeated North Macedonia 73–52 on Wednesday in Bucharest. This marked the Romanian squad’s opening game in Group C of the first pre-qualifying round for the 2029 European Championship. The next group fixture takes place on November 14 between North Macedonia and Estonia, while Romania returns to action on November 17 away against Estonia in Tallinn. Only the group winner advances to the second pre-qualifying stage.
Turning to men’s basketball, U-BT Cluj-Napoca suffered another defeat in EuroCup Group B. The Romanian champions fell 89–81 at home to Türk Telekom Ankara and sit at the bottom of the group standings with two wins and five losses. Meanwhile, in the FIBA Europe Cup, CSM CSU Oradea beat Swiss side Fribourg Olympic Basket 86–80. The Romanian runners-up currently hold third place in Group H, just one point behind group leaders Mykonos of Greece.
Moving on to handball, Gloria Bistrița continued its unbeaten run in the Romanian women’s domestic league, securing a 34–24 away victory over CSM Târgu Jiu on Wednesday. In the capital, CSM Bucharest, playing its first match under new head coach Iulia Curea, claimed a 38–26 win against Corona Brașov. Both Gloria and CSM will be in Champions League action this weekend, marking the final round of Europe’s premier club competition before the break for the European Championship.
In fencing, Romania’s Ștefan Popa came close to winning bronze in the men’s individual épée event on Wednesday at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar. He lost the bronze-medal bout 15–12 to Belgium’s Wout van Laecke, finishing fourth overall. Romania sits 22nd in the Games’ medal table with two gold and two silver medals. Swimmer Daria Silișteanu has captured three of those medals, gold in the 50-meter and 100-meter backstroke, and silver in the 100-meter butterfly, while track and field athlete Amelia Ioana Negulescu earned silver in the triple jump. (VP)
