Today we continue our roundup of the sporting
\nhighlights of 2020, a year impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. After numerous
\ncompetitions were postponed or cancelled in March, in the second half of the
\nyear athletes resumed their sports activities, most competitions being held
\nwithout the physical attendance of sports fans.<\/p>\n
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In July, Romanian fencer Ana-Maria Popescu won
\nthe 2020 edition of the World Epee Cup. The title was awarded by the
\nInternational Fencing Federation as several competitions could not be held due
\nto the COVID pandemic. The international body ruled that the winners of the
\n2020 annual competitions should be designated depending on the position they
\nheld in March, when sports competitions were suspended. Ana-Maria Popescu was
\nfollowed in the women’s standings by Nathalie Moellhausen of Brazil and Sun
\nYiwen of China. Let us further note the Romanian won the World Epee Cup also in
\n2008, 2009 and 2013. After winning the 2020 edition, Ana-Maria Popescu became
\nthe fencer with the most wins in the World Cup, outranking Laura Flessel of
\nFrance and Emese Sz\u00e1sz-Kov\u00e1cs of Hungary, both with three wins overall. Also in
\nJuly, the International Olympic Committee introduced new qualifying criteria in
\nall sports events included in the Tokyo Olympic Games, postponed for 2021.
\nMajor adjustments were made in athletics, cycling, weightlifting, basketball
\nand judo. The age eligibility for the Olympic football tournament changed from
\n23 to 24. Qualification to the Olympic Games will complete by June 29, 2021.
\nAll athletes need to enroll by July 5. The Olympic Games will officially start
\non July 23. <\/p>\n
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Also in July, FCSB won the Romanian Football
\nCup, defeating Sepsi Sf\u00e2ntu Gheorghe 1-nil in the final. CFR Cluj won the
\n2019-2020 domestic championship in early August. In the last round of the Group
\n1, CFR won 3-1 against runner-up Universitatea Craiova. CFR then had the
\nlongest run in European inter-club competitions, reaching the Europa League
\ngroup phase. Also in August, Simona Halep, world no. 2, won the WTA tournament
\nin Prague, totaling $202,250 in prizes, after defeating Elise Mertens of
\nBelgium, 6-2, 7-5. This was the 21st title in Halep’s career and her
\nsecond in 2020, after the tournament won in Dubai in February, before the
\nCOVID-19 outbreak started. Also in August, the city of Cluj hosted the 65th
\nedition of the International Athletics Championships. The list of top
\nperformers included Florentina Iu\u015fco, an athlete already qualified to the long
\njump event in the Olympic Games. Iu\u015fco won the triple jump event, with a jump
\nmeasuring 13.66 meters, then won the long jump event as well, with a jump
\nmeasuring 6.43 meters. <\/p>\n
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In September, Patricia \u0162ig won the WTA
\ntournament in Istanbul, Turkey, totaling $225 thousand in prizes, after
\ndefeating Eug\u00e9nie Bouchard of Canada, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 in the final. \u0162ig climbed
\nto the 58th position in WTA standings, becoming the second Romanian
\nlisted in the WTA standings apart from Simona Halep, world no. 2 A week later,
\nHalep won the third tournament in 2020, winning the \u20ac1.7 million tournament in
\nRome, defeating Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the final. <\/p>\n
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In October, at the European Rowing Championships
\nin Poznan, Poland, Romania ranked third in the medal standings. Our athletes
\nwon six medals, four gold, one silver and one bronze. The women’s double-skull
\ncrew, the men’s double skull crew, the women’s pair and the women’s 8+1 crew
\nwon the gold medals. The men’s 8+1 crew won silver, while the women’s
\nlightweight pair won bronze. <\/p>\n
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The European Judo Championships were held in
\nNovember in Prague. Romania’s hopes at a medal were pinned on Andreea Chi\u0163u, a
\nformer European champion and world vice-champion, and our athlete didn’t
\ndisappoint. She won silver in the 52-kg category, which was the only medal won
\nthe Romanian delegation. <\/p>\n
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The month of December featured three European
\nchampionships involving Romania’s participation. At the European women’s
\nHandball championship hosted by Denmark, Romania ranked 12, its worst standing
\nin the history of this competition. At the men’s European Gymnastics
\nChampionships in Turkey, our veteran Marian Dr\u0103gulescu ranked 4th in
\nthe vault event. But the end of the year came with a remarkable performance. At
\nthe women’s gymnastics championships, also hosted by Turkey, Larisa Iordache
\nwon two gold medals, in the beam and floor events, and silver in the vault
\nevent. Romania ranked second in the team event. <\/p>\n
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And that concludes our roundup of the sporting
\nhighlights of 2020, the toughest year for sports since World War II. (V. Palcu)<\/p>\n
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