Sports Roundup

The Romanian women's handball team SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea qualified into the quarter-finals of the EHF European League. The Romanian side finished 2nd in Group D, after the German team Thüringer but ahead of the French side Paris 92 and Hungary's Vác. In the last match in the group stage, on Saturday, Vâlcea defeated Vác away from home, 28 - 26. The best scorer for the Romanians was Iryna Glibko (Ukraine), with 6 goals. In the quarter-finals, SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea will face the Danish team Nykøbing Falster, on March 18 at home and one week later in Denmark.

In rugby, Romania Sunday lost their away match with Portugal in Group B of Rugby Europe Championship. The Portuguese team won 38 - 20, with 5 tries compared to only 2 for the Romanians. Portugal finished top of the group with 15 points, followed by Romania with 10 points, Poland with 4 points and Belgium with 1 point. In the semis, Romania will take on Georgia away from home on March 4, and Portugal face Spain at home.

In the WTA 500 tournament in Dubai, which has USD 2.8 million in prize money, Irina Begu was defeated in the first round by Barbora Krejcikova. The Czech player won in 2 sets, 6-4, 6-2. For her participation in the first round, Begu will get a check for USD 12,848 and 1 WTA point.

This weekend saw matches counting for the 26th round of the Romanian football Super League. The 2 matches played on Friday ended in draws, with Chindia Târgoviște vs Universitatea Cluj - 2-2 and CS Mioveni vs Rapid Bucharest 0 - 0. So did the match pitting Hermannstadt against UTA Arad on Saturday. Also on Saturday, Farul Constanța beat Petrolul Ploiești 2-0. On Sunday, CFR Cluj outplayed FC Argeș 3-1, and FCSB drew against Universitatea Craiova 1-1. The last matches (FC Botoșani vs Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe and FC U Craiova vs FC Voluntari) were scheduled for Monday. Top of the tables at this point are Farul, with 55 points, followed by CFR, with 53. (AMP)