Romania sends a 101-strong delegation to the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Quite a few of the
\nathletes are former Olympic medalists, world or European champions. At home,
\nall hopes are pinned on them for top-flight performance and medals. We won’t
\nfail to say that some of Romania’s great names in world sports have not been
\nincluded in the delegation. The greatest Romanian woman tennis player of all
\ntime, Simona Halep will not be travelling to Japan. We recall Simona has been
\nWTA number 1 tennis player for 64 weeks. Halep won two Grand Slam tournaments,
\nin Roland Garros, in 2018, and in Wimbledon, in 2019. Simona Halep compelled
\nrecognition in 22 WTA tournaments. Simona participated in the London Olympics,
\nin 2012, where she was eliminated from the competition’s very first round. Fears
\ncaused by the ZIKA virus kept Ms Halep away from the Rio Olympics, in 2016. Simona is currently 9th-placed, according to WTA rankings. We recall the Romanian
\nsustained an injury during the Rome tournament in May this year. Simona Halep has
\nnot recovered fully recovered, so she is set on letting everybody know she
\nshall not be putting too much stretch on herself. Halep will not have her
\ncomeback on court earlier than August 2021, when she will be participating in
\nthe Cincinnati tournament, most likely.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Romanian
\ntennis cannot rely on Horia Tecau either. Tecau is one of the world’s best men’s
\ndoubles tennis players. For the Olympic Games in Japan, Horia does not have a partner
\nwith whom he can team up in the men’s doubles or in the mixed doubles, In the men’s
\ndoubles, Tecau should have teamed up with Florin Mergea, but the latter tennis
\nplayer’s too low WTA ranking, 165th, officially denies Mergea
\nparticipation in the Tokyo Olympics. In the mixed doubles, Simona Halep should
\nhave been Tecau’s partner. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Also
\nabsent from the Romanian delegation travelling to Japan is one of the world’s
\ngreatest handball players, Cristina Neagu. Romanian’s women’s handball team has
\nfailed to secure a place in the Olympics. We recall that the national team of Norway
\nand Montenegro outclassed Romanian at the pre-Olympic tournament held in May
\nthis year. The International Handball Federation designated Neagu the world’s
\nbest handballer four times, in 2010, 2015, 2016 and 2018, an absolute first for
\na woman handballer. Cristina Neagu has been the captain of the national team
\nsince 2016. In 2010, Cristina walked away with bronze at the European
\nChampionships jointly hosted by Denmark and Norway. Cristina Neagu also won
\nbronze in 2015, at the World Championships held in Denmark, The Romanian has
\nalready participated in two editions of the Olympic games, in Beijing, in 2008
\nand in Rio, in 2016. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Weightlifter
\nLoredana Toma is another absentee from the Romanian delegation. One of the best
\nweightlifters of the moment, Loredana was given a one-year ban by the
\nRomanian Weightlifting Federation, as a result of numerous anti-doping
\nviolations. Practically, the ban has officially denied Romanian weightlifters’
\nparticipation in the Tokyo Olympics. In the 64-kilogram category, Loredana Toma
\nis at the top of the world rankings, so her chances to winning a medal would
\nhave been undoubtedly high. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(Translation by Eugen Nasta)<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Tokyo-bound Romanian delegation and its absentees<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":121901,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40940],"tags":[42041,35156,29572,28939,30722],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-120966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-absentee","tag-delegation","tag-handball","tag-tennis","tag-weightlifting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n