Sports flash

We begin with the latest from women's volleyball. In the semifinals of the CEV Cup, Europe's second-tier competition, Romania's title holders CSM Volei Alba Blaj grabbed a first-leg 3-nil semifinal win against vice-champions CSM Târgoviște. It took Volei Alba Blaj one hour and 23 minutes to win the game, grabbing a 25-15 win in the first set. The second set was a little bit more balanced, yet Alba Blaj also won the set, 25-18 this time. The third set was a cliffhanger as Volei Alba Blaj won by the narrowest of margins, 25-23. The return leg is scheduled on March 23rd. In the second semi-final, the Italian team Palazzo Wanny Florence grabbed a 3-nil home win against Turkish opponents THY Istanbul.

21-year-old gymnast Gabriel Burtănete came in 8th, the last position, in the vault final as part of the World Cup held in Azeri capital Baku, with 13. 249 points. The gold medal went to the 2021 world champion, Carlos Edriel Yulo of the Philippines, with 14.933 points. Representing Romania at the World Cup in Baku were brothers Gabriel and Robert Burtănete, and Nicholas Ţarcă.

In the Singapore Smash 2023 table tennis tournament's round of 16, Elizabeta Samara sustained a nil-3 defeat by Austrian challenger Sofia Polcanova. In the previous stage, Samara provided a surprise, defeating Olympic champion, China's Meng Chen, 3-2.

Romania' s women's rifle team came in 11th at the European seniors' and juniors' Shooting Sports Championships held in Estonia's Tallin, in the 10 meter-air rifle event. Romania succeeded 937.7 points all told in the qualifiers yet failed to earn a position among the competition's first 8 teams. The gold medals went to Norway, silver went to Serbia, while Poland and Germany won the bronze medals. However, Romania won a silver medal, through junior Luca Joldea, in the pistol event.(EN)