Sports Roundup

News from bodybuilding, gymnastics, women's handball, and football

Florin Orban, 07.05.2024, 13:45

At the IFBB European Fitness & Bodybuilding Championships held last week in Santa Susana, Spain, Romania won 105 medals, of which 53 gold, 32 silver and 20 bronze. In the final medal table, Romania had 119 points in the bodybuilding category, 111 in fitness, 161 in the masters category and 148 in the junior contest. Overall, the athletes from the Romanian Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation totalled 539 points and became European champions, followed in the teams’ standings by Slovakia and Ukraine.

At the European Gymnastics Championships in Rimini, Italy, Romania won 2 silver medals, thanks to Sabrina Maneca Voinea, who came out second in the beam and floor finals. In the team competition, Romania finished 4^th.

CSM Bucharest failed to qualify for the final tournament of the women’s handball Champions League. In the quarter-finals, the Romanian champions were outplayed by the French club Metz. In the first leg, in Bucharest, the French side won 27 to 24, and in the second leg in France the Romanians were defeated 23 to 29. The other 3 participants in the final tournament in Budapest are Esbjerg (Denmark), Győr (Hungary) and Bietigheim (Germany).

Romania’s football SuperLeague continues, with FCSB already mathematically a champion. In the 8^th play-off round, on Friday, Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe beat Farul Constanţa 4-1, away from home. On Sunday, CFR Cluj won 3-2 on home turf against Rapid Bucharest, and on Monday Universitatea Craiova outplayed FCSB 2-0. Craiova and CFR rank 2^nd and 3^rd, with the same number of points.

In the play-out competition’s 8^th round, FC Botoşani drew on home turf on Saturday against Voluntari, 0-0, with another draw, 3-3, at the end of the match pitting Universitatea Cluj against Dinamo Bucharest. On Sunday, Petrolul Ploieşti defeated Oţelul Galaţi, 2-1. On Monday, Poli Iaşi won 1-0 against Hermannstadt, and UTA Arad won 3-1 at home against FC U Craiova, securing the top position in the play-out one round before the end of the competition. Dinamo and FC U Craiova, with 22 points each, are facing relegation into the second league.