Sports Roundup

News from tennis, handball and football

Florin Orban, 22.01.2024, 01:45

All the Romanian players taking part in the Australian Open have left the competition. Victor Cornea, the last of the Romanians to be outplayed, lost the second round of the mens doubles, in which he partnered with Indias Nsriram Balaji. They were defeated on Saturday 6-3, 6-3 by Marcelo Arevalo (El Salvador) and Mate Pavic (Croatia), seeded no 10. On Friday, the last Romanian in the womens doubles had also been left behind: Ana Bogdan (Romania) and Rebeka Masarova (Spain) lost to seed no 6 Desirae Krawczyk (USA) / Ena Shibahara (Japan), 6-3, 6-1, in the second round. The other Romanian players in the womens doubles, Sorana Cîrstea and Monica Niculescu, had lost in the first round.

In the womens handball Champions League, Group A, CSM Bucharest Sunday defeated the Swedish side Sävehof, 35 to 26. The Romanian champions are placed 3rd in the group and are due to play away from home against group leader Györ, in two weeks time. In Group B, Rapid lost away from home to the Danish team Ikast, 29 to 30. Three rounds before the end of the group stage, the Bucharest-based team is ranked 7th, and their next game is at home against Hungarys Ferencváros. The top 2 teams in the group go straight into the quarter-finals, while the teams ranking 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th in each group move into the playoff stage.

In the EHF European Leagues Group C on Saturday, Gloria Bistriţa drew 19-all at home against Nantes. The French side tops the group ranking with 5 points, on a par with second-ranked Gloria, but with a better goal average. Also on Saturday, in Group D, CSM Târgu Jiu took on Sola (Norway). The Scandinavian team won 40 to 29, with CSMs third defeat in a row sending them to the bottom of the group ranking. On Sunday in the competitions Group B, Dunărea Brăila defeated Lokomotiva Zagreb in Croatia, 30 to 29, and stays second in the group ranking, 2 points behind the group leader Thüringer (Germany).

This past weekend saw matches counting towards the 22nd round of the Romanian football Super League. On Friday in Sfântu Gheorghe, Sepsi beat Politehnica Iaşi 6-0, and in Bucharest Rapid outplayed FC U Craiova 4-3. On Saturday, Universitatea Cluj won at home against Hermannstadt 2-1, and Petrolul defeated Dinamo Bucharest 1-0. On Sunday, bottom-ranking FC Botoşani managed a surprising 1-0 win against second-placed CFR Cluj. It was the Botoşani clubs second victory this championship, and the match cost the CFR Cluj coach Andrea Mandorlini his post. Also on Sunday, Farul Constanţa defeated Universitatea Craiova 2-1 away from home. The rounds last 2 matches take place on Monday: FC Voluntari vs Oțelul Galați and FCSB vs UTA Arad.

Bucharests FCSB tops the current standings with 44 points, 8 points ahead of the runner-up CFR Cluj. (AMP)