Sports Roundup

Romanian football club CFR Cluj has won the eighth domestic championship title in its history and the fifth won in a row. CFR won the trophy one round ahead of the end of the season, after defeating Universitatea Craiova 2-1 on Sunday at home. The team in runner-up position, FCSB, drew 2-2 against FC Voluntari. Also in Group 1, Farul Constanța won 1-0 against FC Argeș.

In Group 2, on Friday, Chindia Târgoviște won 3-0 against Gaz Metan Mediaș in Ploiești, while in Bucharest, Dinamo drew 1-1 against UTA Arad. On Monday, FC U Craiova is playing Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe, Academica Clinceni will play FC Botoșani while CS Mioveni will take on Rapid Bucharest. The teams at the bottom of the table in Group 2, Gaz Metan Mediaș and Academica Clinceni, were relegated to the second division. Petrolul Ploiești and FC Hermannstadt got promoted to the first league. The teams in 13th and 14th position, respectively, Dinamo Bucharest and Chindia Târgoviște, will play playoff matches to remain in the first league. The team from Bucharest will play Universitatea Cluj, ranking 3rd in the second tier league, while Chindia will play Concordia Chiajna, ranking 5th. The team from Târgoviște was originally scheduled to play CSA Steaua, ranking 4th, but the army club did not get the permit to play in the first league.

Maxime Vachier-Legrave of France on Saturday won the 2022 edition of the Superbet Chess Classic Romania, the first stage in the Grand Chess Tour hosted by Bucharest. He ranked 1st in the final standings with 5.5 points, and was awarded a 77-thousand USD check. Ranking second and third were Wesley So and Levon Aronian, both of the USA, also with 5.5 points. Romania's top chess player, grandmaster Bogdan Deac, ranked 4th with 4.5 points, the same as Fabiano Caruana and Leinier Dominguez Perez of the USA.

In news from handball, the women's club Minaur Baia Mare ranked 4th in the Final Four tournament of the EHF European League, hosted by Viborg in Denmark. The tournament was won by Bietigheim of Germany, which defeated Viborg in the final, 31-20. In the bronze final, Minaur lost to Herning-Ikast of Denmark, 29-28, at the penalty shootout. In the first games on Saturday, Minaur lost to Viborg 24-28, while Bietigheim won 34-33 the match against Herning-Ikast.

In men's handball, let us note that Dinamo Bucharest won the Romanian Cup on Sunday after defeating the Bucharest rivals Steaua, score 24-23. This was the seventh cup for Dinamo and the third won in a row. Xavi Pascual's trainees last week also celebrated the 18th domestic championship title won by the club. (VP)