Sports weekend

Florin Orban, 05.03.2021, 13:49

The Romanian-German pair made of Horia Tecau and Kevin
Krawietz has qualified for the men’s doubles semifinals as part of the ATP
Rotterdam tournament, an event with 980, 580 Euros up for grabs all told. On
Tuesday, Tecau and Krawietz grabbed a 6-3, 6-4 win against the all-Russian pair
made of Karen Hachyanov and Andrey Rublev.
We recall that in 2015 Tecău, jointly with Dutch tennis player Jean-Julien
Rojer, won the men’s doubles title in Rotterdam. In 2014 and 2019, Tecau and
Rojer played the final in Rottterdam. In 2012, Horia Tecau had also reached as
far as the final, also in Rotterdam, pairing up with Sweden’s Robert Lindstedt.

Monica Niculescu and Jelena Ostapenko play the women’s
doubles final in the WTA tournament in Doha, an event with 565.530 USD up for
grabs all told. In this past Thursday’s semifinals, the Romanian-Latvian pair
outclassed the all-Czech pair made of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Sinyakova,
2-6, 6-3, 10-8.

A Grand Slam judo tournament will kick off in Tashkent
this coming weekend. According to a message posted on the International Judo
Federation’s webpage, six judoka will fight for Romania. Proving their mettle
in the women’s version of the tournament are Alexandra Monica Ungureanu, in the
48-kilogram category and Loredana Ohâi, in the 57-kilogram category. Joining
them is Ștefania Adelina Dobre, in the 63-kilogram category. In the men;s
version of the tournament tin Tashkent, Alexandru Raicu in the 73-kilogram
category and Marcel Cercea, in the 81-kilogram category, will make an attempt
to win a medal. Joining them in the competition is Vladut Simionescu, in the
plus 100-kilogram category.

SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea Romanian women’s handball team this
coming Sunday plays a home game against CSM Bucharest. The fixture counts
towards the Champions League’s round of 16’s first leg. The return leg is
scheduled in Bucharest on March 13. In the National League, CSM Bucharest fare
better than the other teams in the echelon, being 8 points clear from the
runner-up team, Minaur Baia Mare, and 9 points clear from SCM Ramnicu Valcea.

In news from football, Viitorul Pandurii Târgu Jiu,
Astra Giurgiu, Universitatea Craiova and Dinamo București are the four Romanian
teams that have got through to the semifinals of Romanian Cup. In a
quarterfinals fixture hosted by a stadium in Buzau this past Tuesday, Universitatea
Craiova secured a 1-nil win against Chindia Târgoviște. On Wednesday,
second-league team Viitorul Pandurii Târgu Jiu, grabbed a 3-1 away win against
another second league team, Universitatea Cluj. In the southern Romanian town
of Ploiesti, the local side Petrolul, also playing in the second league
sustained a nil-3 defeat by Astra Giurgiu. On Thursday, Dinamo Bucharest
grabbed a 3-1 away win against another second-league team, Dunarea Calarasi.

Matches counting towards League One’s 26th
round are scheduled at the weekend. On Friday, Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe go against
Chindia Târgoviște, while Viitorul Constanța face Academica Clinceni. On
Saturday, Universitatea Craiova play a home game against FC Botoșani, in the
western Romanian town of Arad, UTA receives the visit of CFR Cluj. In the
southern Romanian town of Giurgiu, the local side Astra are pitted against FC Hermannstadt on Sunday, while in Bucharest, FCSB play Gaz Metan Mediaș. The 26th
leg’s last two fixtures are scheduled this coming Monday, when FC Argeș are pitted
against Poli Iași, while FC Voluntari take on Dinamo. FCSB and CFR Cluj have a
laid-back advantage according to the as-it-stands-table, with a similar number
of points, yet FCSB have a better goal average.