Sports Roundup

Romanian women' s handball team CSM Bucharest have made a giant leap forward, towards the Champions League's quarterfinals. In an 11th-round, Group A fixture, head-coach Adrian Vasile's trainees grabbed a comfortable 40-31 win against Danish champions Odense. CSM Bucharest's most efficient scorers were Cristina Neagu, with 10 goals, followed by Elizabeth Omoregie and Crina Pintea, with 6 goals each. Holders CSM Bucharest are at the top of the table in Group A, with 19 points. The winner of the Champions League's previous edition, Norway's Vipers Kristiansand, is the runner-up team, with 17 points. In order to secure their qualification to the Champions League's quarterfinals, CSM needs one more point in the team's next three scheduled fixtures. Cristina Neagu and her teammates will travel to Germany for an away match against Bietigheim.

Rapid Bucharest is the other Romanian team playing in the Champions league. Rapid sustained a 30-35 defeat by Danish challengers Esbjerg, away from home. With 9 goals scored, Rapid's most efficient scorer was Spanish handballer Jennifer Gutierrez Bermejo. In Group B, Rapid are 4th-placed, with 16 points, on a par with 3rd-placed team, Esbjerg. French team Metz Handball are at the top of the table, with 19 points, followed by Hungary's Gyor, with 18. This coming Sunday, on January 22nd, Rapid play a home game against Turkish champions Kastamonu. Advancing straight to the Champions League's quarterfinals are the 1st and 2nd-placed teams in each group. 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th placed teams will prove their mettle in the playoff fixtures according to a round-robin system.

In Europe's second-tier competition, the EHF European League, SCM Ramnicu Valcea sustained a 22-24 Group D away defeat by a Paris 92, in Issy-Les-Moulineaux. With 6 goals scored, SCM's top scorer was Ukrainian handballer Irina Glibko. In Group D, with 4 points in two games, German team Thüringer are at the top of the table. In descending order, CSM Ramnicu Valcea and Paris 92 follow, with 2 points each. Bottom of the table are the Hungarian team Vac, with zero points on their record sheet. This coming Sunday, CSM Ramnicu Valcea play an away fixture against Thuringer.

In news from tennis, main draw matches have already been played as part of the year's first Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open in Melbourne. Romania is represented only in the women's version of the competition. 3rd-seeded tennis player, Jessica Pegula of the USA, defeated Jaqueline Cristian, 6-nil, 6-1, while Hungary's Ana Bondár defeated Ana Bogdan 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. On Tuesday, Irina Begu will face China's Saisai Zheng. Patricia Tig will take on Shuai Zhang, also from China, while Sorana Cîrstea is pitted against Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.(EN)