Sports Roundup

The latest from tennis, fencing and football

Florin Orban, 15.07.2019, 12:52

The BRD Bucharest Open is the only
WTA tournament hosted by Romania. Underway in the capital city Bucharest, the
tournament has 250,000 USD in prize money. In the women’s singles, 1st-seed
is Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova. The pair made of Irina Begu and Raluca Olaru
of Romania is 1st-seed in the doubles event. We recall that in 2017,
Begu and Olaru won the BRD Bucharest Open. In 2018, Begu was also 1st-seed
in the doubles, but at that time she was pairing up with Andreea Mitu.

At the 2019 edition of the World
fencing Championships in Budapest, the Romanian delegation is made of 23
fencers, of whom 12 compete in men’s and 11 in the women’s version of the
competition. 2nd-placed according to the women’s version of the
world’s epee rankings, Olympic champion Ana Maria Popescu stands the greatest
chance to winning a medal. We recall that in 2018 Popescu walked away with
silver at the World Championships in China’s Wu Xi. Ana Maria Popescu’s record
can only be complete if she wins gold in the individual event. We recall Ana
Maria won two gold medals in the 2010 and 2011 editions of the World
championship, but she won both medals in the nations’ competition. In the
women’s version of the epee, foil and saber events, Romania has put forward
complete teams. Also complete are the teams fighting in men’s saber and sword
events.

This past weekend saw the beginning
of a new edition of Romanian League One’s football season. On Friday, the match
pitting FC Voluntari against Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe ended in a blank draw. On
Saturday, Astra Giurgiu and FC Botosani drew 2-all. The match pitting CFR Cluj
against Poli Iasi also ended in a draw, 1-all this time. On Sunday,
Universitatea Craiova defeated Academica Clinceni, 3-2, while in the southern
Romanian town of Pitesti, FCSB defeated FC Hermannstadt, 4-3.

Just like in the previous season,
teams placed 1 to 6 in League One’s regular season are part of Group 1, while
the teams placed 7 to 14 continue in Group 2. Group 1’s first-place team will
book its ticket for the preliminaries of the Champions League, while 2nd
and 3rd-placed teams will compete in Europa League preliminaries. The
6th-placed team in Group 2 will play a playoff game with the 3rd-placed
team in League two, according to the final rankings. 7th and 8th-placed
teams in Group 2 are relegated from League One.