Athlete of the Week on RRI – Fencer Ana-Maria Popescu

Ana-Maria Popescu has won the World Championships in Doha

Florin Orban, 28.01.2020, 13:45

Romanian fencer Ana-Maria Popescu
on Sunday won the women’s epee singles at the World Cup in Doha. In the final
she defeated Mara Navarria of Italy, 15-9. For her remarkable performance, we
have designated Ana-Maria Popescu Athlete of the Week on RRI.

In Doha, Ana-Maria ousted Camille
Nabeth of France, 15-10 in the first round. In the second round she won 15-9
against Estonian Katrina Lehis. In the round of 16 she knocked out Hyo-jung Jung
of South Korea, 15-6. In the quarterfinals she won 10-9 against Katharine
Holmes of the United States, while in the semis she defeated Tatyana
Andryushina of Russia.

Ana Maria Popescu, better known to
fencing lovers as Ana Maria Branza, was born on November 26, 1984. For the
first time ever Ana Maria Popescu compelled international recognition in 2001,
when she won the title at the World Cadets Championships held in Poland. A year
later, Ana Maria Popescu reaped the world juniors title at the world
championships in Turkey. 2002 turned out to be a special year for Ana Maria
Popescu, who walked away with silver from the World Seniors Championships held
in Lisbon.

In 2008 in Bejing, Ana Maria
Popescu won the silver medal, the highest distinction for Romanian fencing at
the Beijing Olympics. At the Rio Olympics of 2016, she won the gold medal in
the team event with Romania’s national team.

Let us further note that this
season Ana-Maria Popescu won the Tallinn Fencing Championships in 2019, ranking
second in the Havana World Championships earlier this year. She is the leader
in the World Cup general standings, being very close to securing qualification
to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo this year.

(Translated by V. Palcu)