Sports Round-up

Romanian teams score historic wins at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in London and other news from football.

Florin Orban, 04.05.2026, 13:45

The Romanian women’s table tennis team have qualified for the knockout phase of the World Team Table Tennis Championships under way in London. Made up of Bernadette Szőcs, Elizabeta Samara and Andreea Dragoman, the Romanian team took second place in Group 1, having lost to China, the defending world and Olympic champions, but managed to defeat the formidable teams of South Korea and Taiwan. The Romanian men’s team are also advancing to the next stage, after winning qualifying Group 9, which also included Argentina, Peru and Benin.

Cristian Chivu became the first Romanian football manager to win one of Europe’s top leagues on Sunday. His team Internazionale Milano won its 21st league title with three matches still to play, after a 2-nil home win over Parma. Inter now have 82 points, 12 more than second-placed Napoli. Chivu also won the league three times as a player for Inter. He becomes the third man in the history of the Milanese club to win the league both as a coach and as a player, after Virgilio Fossati, in the 1909-1910 season, who was both player and coach, and Armando Castellazzi, who won as a player in 1930 and as a coach in 1938.

Let’s move on next to domestic football. This weekend saw Super League matches counting for the seventh leg of the final phase. In the play-off, which decides the future champions, Universitatea Cluj defeated FC Argeș 1-0 at home on Saturday, while Universitatea Craiova won against Dinamo Bucharest 2-1 at home on Sunday. Monday sees Rapid Bucharest take on CFR Cluj. Craiova lead the standings with 45 points, followed by Universitatea Cluj with 42.

In the play-out, where teams are struggling to avoid relegation to the second tier, Csikszereda beat FCSB 1-0 in Miercurea Ciuc on Friday. Saturday saw two draws: 2-all between Oțelul and Metaloglobus Bucharest, and 1-all in a match between Farul Constanța and FC Botoșani. Sunday’s match in Ploiești, between Petrolul and UTA Arad, also ended in a draw, 1-all. In the last match on Monday, Unirea Slobozia are facing FC Hermannstadt. The first team to be relegated to the second tier is Metaloglobus. I