Sports weekend
The latest from tennis, women's boxing, swimming ang gymnastics
Radio România Internațional, 31.05.2024, 13:45
Two tennis players from Romania, Ana Bogdan and Irina Begu, this coming weekend will compete for a place in the round of 16 as part of the Roland Garros tennis tournament. Begu has advanced to the third round as on Thursday she defeated Czech opponent Linda Noskova, 6-4, 6-1. Begu will then go against French tennis player Varvara Gracheva, who in the second round outclassed US challenger Bernarda Pera, 6-1, 6-2.
In the second round, Ana Bogdan defeated Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-4, 6-4. In the third round Ana Bogdan will take on 15-seeded player, Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina. In the second round, Svitolina outclassed French challenger Diane Parry, 6-4, 7-6. Bogdan and Svitolina have had one single direct confrontation so far; we recall that in April 2024, as part of the Billie Jean King Cup in Florida, Ana Bogdan grabbed a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win against Svitolina.
Romanian boxer Claudia Nechita this past Thursday advanced to the round of 16 as part of the pre-Olympic boxing tournament in Bangkok. In the 57-kilogram category, Nechita defeated Japan’s Satsuki Yoshizawa on points. In the tournament’s round of 16 this coming Saturday, Nechita takes on German challenger Canan Tas. In order to qualify for this coming summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, Nechita will have to reach as far as the semifinals and for that, the Romanian needs two more wins in Bangkok.
Swimmer David Popovici this past Thursday has won the final of the 100m freestyle event as part of Mare Nostrum reunion in Barcelona. David clocked 48 seconds and 49 hundredths of a second. With a mere two hundredths of a second, David Popovici thus outclassed South-korean swimmer Sun-woo Hwang. We recall David had also defeated Sun-woo Hwang on Wednesday in 200m freestyle final. David Popovici will next compete in the e Swimming Championships in Belgrade, over June 10th and 23rd. The event in Belgrade is the last testing competition ahead of this coming summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Later this week the Slovenian city of Koper will play host to a new leg as part of the World Gymnastics Cup circuit. Competing in this stage of the tournament will be Andrei Muntean, the only Romanian gymnast who secured his qualification to the Olympic Games in Paris.
