Sports weekend

The Romanian-German pair made of Horia Tecau and Kevin Krawietz has qualified for the men's doubles semifinals as part of the ATP Rotterdam tournament, an event with 980, 580 Euros up for grabs all told. On Tuesday, Tecau and Krawietz grabbed a 6-3, 6-4 win against the all-Russian pair made of  Karen Hachyanov and Andrey Rublev. We recall that in 2015 Tecău, jointly with Dutch tennis player Jean-Julien Rojer, won the men's doubles title in Rotterdam. In 2014 and 2019, Tecau and Rojer played the final in Rottterdam. In 2012, Horia Tecau had also reached as far as the final, also in Rotterdam, pairing up with Sweden's  Robert Lindstedt.

Monica Niculescu and Jelena Ostapenko play the women's doubles final in the WTA tournament in Doha, an event with 565.530 USD up for grabs all told. In this past Thursday's semifinals, the Romanian-Latvian pair outclassed the all-Czech pair made of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Sinyakova, 2-6, 6-3, 10-8.

A Grand Slam judo tournament will kick off in Tashkent this coming weekend. According to a message posted on the International Judo Federation's webpage, six judoka will fight for Romania. Proving their mettle in the women's version of the tournament are Alexandra Monica Ungureanu, in the 48-kilogram category and Loredana Ohâi, in the 57-kilogram category. Joining them is Ștefania Adelina Dobre, in the 63-kilogram category. In the men;s version of the tournament tin Tashkent, Alexandru Raicu in the 73-kilogram category and Marcel Cercea, in the 81-kilogram category, will make an attempt to win a medal. Joining them in the competition is Vladut Simionescu, in the plus 100-kilogram category.

SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea Romanian women's handball team this coming Sunday plays a home game against CSM Bucharest. The fixture counts towards the Champions League's round of 16's first leg. The return leg is scheduled in Bucharest on March 13. In the National League, CSM Bucharest fare better than the other teams in the echelon, being 8 points clear from the runner-up team, Minaur Baia Mare, and 9 points clear from SCM Ramnicu Valcea.

In news from football, Viitorul Pandurii Târgu Jiu, Astra Giurgiu, Universitatea Craiova and Dinamo București are the four Romanian teams that have got through to the semifinals of Romanian Cup. In a quarterfinals fixture hosted by a stadium in Buzau this past Tuesday, Universitatea Craiova secured a 1-nil win against Chindia Târgoviște. On Wednesday, second-league team Viitorul Pandurii Târgu Jiu, grabbed a 3-1 away win against another second league team, Universitatea Cluj. In the southern Romanian town of Ploiesti, the local side Petrolul, also playing in the second league sustained a nil-3 defeat by Astra Giurgiu. On Thursday, Dinamo Bucharest grabbed a 3-1 away win against another second-league team, Dunarea Calarasi.

Matches counting towards League One's 26th round are scheduled at the weekend. On Friday, Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe go against Chindia Târgoviște, while Viitorul Constanța face Academica Clinceni. On Saturday, Universitatea Craiova play a home game against FC Botoșani, in the western Romanian town of Arad, UTA receives the visit of CFR Cluj. In the southern Romanian town of Giurgiu, the local side Astra are pitted against FC Hermannstadt on Sunday, while in Bucharest, FCSB play Gaz Metan Mediaș. The 26th leg's last two fixtures are scheduled this coming Monday, when FC Argeș are pitted against Poli Iași, while FC Voluntari take on Dinamo. FCSB and CFR Cluj have a laid-back advantage according to the as-it-stands-table, with a similar number of points, yet FCSB have a better goal average.