Sports roundup

The latest from gymnastics, rowing, water polo and domestic football

Eugen Nasta, 29.07.2024, 13:45

Attention-grabbing this past weekend was the kick-start of the Olympic Games in Paris. A couple of Romanian athletes have already entered the competition and their results so far are honorably above par.

Romanian women’s gymnastics team have qualified to the Olympic finals, an absolute first after a disappointing 12-year gap. The Romanian gymnasts came come in 8th in the qualifiers, also succeeding several positions in the individual events. Ana Maria Bărbosu and Amalia Ghigoarţă will compete in the all-around finals. Sabrina Maneca Voinea has advanced to the beam and floor finals. Ana Maria Barbosu has also qualified to the floor final.

In rowing, Romania’s women’s four crew made of Adriana Adam, Maria Lehaci, Magdalena Rusu and Amalia Bereş has qualified straight to the A Final. The Romanian crew came in second in the second heat, being outclassed by the Netherlands. The first two crews in the heats have secured their participation to the finals, while the following teams, in descending order, will prove their mettle in the repechage. Other Romanian crews have also qualified to the semifinals, such as the women’s pair and the women’s lightweight double sculls, as well as the men’s and women’s pair crews.

In table tennis, Bernadette Szőcs and Ovidiu Ionescu were unable to go past the mixed doubles quarterfinals Szocs and Ionescu were defeated by South Korea’s Jonghoon Lim and Yubin Shin, 4-nil. In the individual event, Bernadette will carry on competing, having made it to the round of 32.

In water polo, in their debut game in Paris, the Romanian national team sustained a 7-14 defeat by Greece. The latter team had the upper hand all throughout the game, succeeding a fairly laid-back win.

In the other Group A matches, Croatia defeated Montenegro, 11-8, while Italy outperformed the United States, 12-8. Romania will next play the United States on July 30. The first four teams in descending order qualify to the quarterfinals.

Matches counting towards the third round as part of the Romanian football Super League’s were played at the weekend, On Friday, Hermannstadt FC and Unirea Slobozia, drew, one-all, in a fixture hosted by Sibiu team, while FCSB sustained a nil- 2 defeat by Oţelul Galaţi. On Saturday, Gloria Buzău grabbed a 2-1 away win against Poli Iaşi cu 2-1, while in Sfântu Gheorghe, the local side Sepsi and Dinamo Bucureşti drew, 1-all.

On Sunday, FC Botoşani snatched a 1-nil away win against Farul Constanta, in Ovidiu, while in Cluj, Universitatea succeeded a 2-nil away win against CFR. With a similar number of points, 7, Universitatea Craiova, Oţelul Galaţi and Sepsi are leaders according to the current standings.