Sports weekend

The latest from men's handball, rugby, ice-hockey and football

Florin Orban, 18.03.2022, 13:45

Romania ‘s men’s
national handball team in Skopje on Thursday sustained a 22-30 defeat by North Macedonia.
The match counted towards the second round of the 2023 World Men’s Handball
Championship preliminaries. The second leg of the playoff tie is scheduled on
March 19 in Bucharest.

In a fixture counting towards
the semi-finals of the Erste Liga regional ice-hockey competition, in Budapest
on Thursday Ferencvaros defeated ACSH Gheorghieni, 4-2, 1-all on aggregate, as also
in the Hungarian capital city Budapest ACSH won the first leg of the tie on Wednesday,
1-nil, in extra time. The semi-finals are played according to the best-in-seven-games
system. The next two fixtures are to be played on March 20th and the
21st, in Gheorghieni. In the other semi-final, defending champion team
Sport Club Miercurea Ciuc go against DEAC Debrecen. The
first two fixtures of the tie are scheduled on Friday and Saturday, in
Miercurea Ciuc.

Romania’s national rugby team this coming Saturday
play an away game against the team of the Lower Countries. The confrontation counts
towards the last round of the Rugby Europe Championship 2022. The Romanians are
in dire need of a win if they want to gain the 3rd position in the Rugby
Europe Championship 2021 and 2022 editions combined, which entitles them to advancing
to the repechage ahead of the 2023 edition of the World Cup in France. According
to the as-it-stands table, Romania has 23 points and its game against Portugal
is a must-win one, since Portugal has 26 points but no pending fixtures. The
first two teams in descending order, Georgia and Spain, have secured their
direct qualification to the World Cup. The repechage matches are scheduled in November. Representative teams from
Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia/Pacific play according to the round-robin
system. The winner will book the last ticket to the World Cup.

Romanian domestic League
One football matches, counting towards the second round of the Group 1/Group 2
stage are scheduled at the weekend. In Group 1 on Friday, FC Voluntari face Universitatea
Craiova. On Saturday, in Ovidiu, in the south-east, CFR Cluj take on Farul
Constanţa. On Sunday, FC Argeş are pitted against FCSB in Pitesti. CFR Cluj are
at the top of the table, with 41 points. FCSB are 2nd-placed, with
34.

In Group 2 on
Friday, FC Botoşani take on UTA Arad. On Saturday, FC U Craiova travel to Mediaş
for their fixture against the local team Gaz Metan. Academica Clinceni face
Rapid on the Dinamo stadium in Bucharest. On Sunday, Dinamo play a home game
against Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe. On Monday, CS Mioveni receive the visit of Chindia
Târgovişte. FC Botoşani are at the top of the table, with 26 points. Following
in descending order are UTA, Rapid and Sepsi, with 23 points each.

(EN)