Sports weekend

The year's first Grand Slam tennis tournament, the Australian Open, is still underway this coming weekend. Romania is represented only in the women's version of the competition. In the women's singles Irina Begu was eliminated from the competition this past Thursday. Begu lost to Germany's Laura Siegemund in three sets, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3. In the women's doubles, the Romanian-Swiss pair made of Monica Niculescu and Viktorija Golubic defeated the Romanian-German pair made of Jaqueline Cristian and Tamara Korpatsch in the first round, 6-4, 6-4. Also on Thursday, Gabriela Ruse and the Ukrainian Marta Kostiuk defeated the US-British pair made of Danielle Collins and Heather Watson, 6-4, 6-2. In 2022, as part of the Roland Garros tournament, Ruse and Kostiuk jointly reached as far as the tournament's quarterfinals.

In the Champions League in women's handball, this coming Sunday, in a Group A fixture, CSM Bucharest take on German opponents Bietigheim, away from home. CSM are at the top of the table in the group, with 19 points. Following in descending order is the winner of the League's 2022 edition, Norwegian team Vipers Kristiansand, with 17 points. In their next three matches, CSM need one more point to secure their qualification in the Champions League's quarterfinals.

In Group B, Rapid Bucharest play a home game against Turkish champions Kastamonu. With 16 points, holders Rapid are 4th-placed in the group, on a par with 3rd-placed Esbjerg of Denmark. French Metz Handball are at the top of the table, with 19 points. Hungarian team Gyor are 2nd-placed, with 18 points. Playing straight in the Champions League's quarterfinals are the 1st and the 2nd placed teams in each group. 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th-placed teams will play their playoff fixtures, according to a round-robin system.

The Romanian football Super League is to be resumed at the weekend. Fixtures counting towards the 22nd-round will see Universitatea Cluj taking on FC Voluntari, while Rapid face Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe on Friday. On Saturday, Petrolul Ploiești travel to Mioveni, while Universitatea Craiova are pitted against FC Botoșani, away from home. On Sunday FC U Craiova play a home game against UTA Arad, while in Sibiu, the local side Hermannstadt ply FCSB. On Monday in Ploiești, Chindia Târgoviște play a home match against FC Argeș, while in Ovidiu, in the south-east, Farul Constanța play CFR Cluj, in the 22nd round's derby. Farul Constanța are at the top of the table, with 45 points. With 44 points, defending champions CFR Cluj are 2nd-placed in the rankings. With 38 points each, FCSB, Rapid Bucharest and Universitatea Craiova follow, in descending order.(EN)