2021 saw a return of sports events, after an almost complete
\nshutdown caused by the Covid pandemic in 2020. For Romanian sports, this year
\nwas fairly good compared with the expectations of fans and athletes themselves.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The first big event of 2021 was the Dakar Rally held
\nin Saudi Arabia. Romania’s Emanuel Gyenes was also in competition, finishing in
\n23rd place in the general classification, up 6 places from the
\nprevious edition. He was in 2nd place in the Malle Moto and Marathon
\nclass. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Next came the Australian Open in February, when all of
\nRomania’s hopes were pinned on Simona Halep, who was seeded second in Melbourne
\nand who had reached the final here in 2018 and the semifinals in 2020. This
\ntime, however, she only made it as far as the quarterfinals, where she lost to
\nSerena Williams in straight sets. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
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<\/p>\n
In March, Romania took part in the European Under-21 Football
\nChampionships hosted by Hungary and Slovenia, but didn’t advance past the group
\nstage. Despite this, they had a decent run, drawing against The Netherlands and
\nGermany and winning against Hungary. Also in March but in tennis, the
\nRomanian-Latvian doubles pair Monica Niculescu and Jelena Ostapenko reached the final of the Doha tournament, while Horia
\nTec\u0103u and Germany’s Kevin Krawietz played the final of the Rotterdam tournament
\nin men’s doubles.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In April, at the European Weightlifting Championships
\nin Moscow, Romanian athletes won 13 medals, including 7 gold, 4 silver and 2
\nbronze. Monica Csengeri won 3 gold medals in the 49 kg category, Loredana Toma 3
\ngold medals in the 64 kg categpory, Raluca Olaru won a gold and a silver medal
\nin the 71 kg category and Mihaela Valentina Cambei won a silver medal in the 49
\nkg category in the clean and jerk event. In the men’s competition, Valentin
\nIancu-Ionadi won two silver medals in the 55 kg category in the clean and jerk
\nevent and in the general classification. April was a good month for Romania,
\nits rowing team picking up 6 medals at the European Rowing Championships in Italy,
\nnamely two gold in the women’s eight and women’s double sculls; and four silver,
\nin the lightweight women’s single sculls and women’s pair and the men’s coxless
\nfour and men’s eight.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
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<\/p>\n
In May, the women’s handball side Minaur Baia Mare
\nfinished the EHF European League in third place, defeating the Danish side Herning-Ikast
\nin the game for the third place. The French side Nantes won the competition,
\ndefeating the Hungarian side Siofok. Also in May, the Romanian city of Baia
\nMare hosted the European League handball semifinals and finals, but the
\nhighlight of the month came from swimming, with Robert Glin\u0163\u0103 winning gold in
\nthe 100 m backstroke final at the European Swimming Championships in Budapest. This
\nwas Romania’s first medal in the men’s senior European swimming championships. In
\nBudapest, Glin\u0163\u0103 also won the silver in the 50 m backstroke race. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
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<\/p>\n
In June, Romania’s C\u0103t\u0103lin Chiril\u0103 and Victor
\nMihalachi won the bronze medal in the men’s canoe double 1,000 m race at the Canoe
\nSprint European Championships held in Poznan, in Poland. In tennis, Irina Begu had
\nthe best run of all Romanian players in competition, reaching the women’s doubles
\nsemifinals together with Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska. Also in June, Elizabeta
\nSamara won the bronze medal in the women’s singles at the European Table Tennis
\nChampionships in Warsaw. (CM)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A look back at the year in Romanian sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":119726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40940],"tags":[147629],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-122271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-sport-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n