The 30th edition of the
Summer Universiade is underway in Naples, Italy. Romania is represented by 86
athletes in 10 events. Two of them have already grabbed medals, Razvan Ursachi
in the saber event and Malina Calugareanu in the foil event, both winning
bronze. Since Razvan was the first to win a medal for Romania, we have
designated him Athlete of the Week on RRI.
In the round of 16 Ursachi knocked
out Italy’s Dario Cavaliere, 15-14. In the quarterfinals he ousted Mikhail
Mardaleishvili of Georgia. He lost however in the semi-finals to Germany’s
Frederic Kindler, 15-10. The gold went to Oh Sanguk of South Korea, while
Kindler won silver.
At the Summer Universiade Razvan
Ursachi was also part of Romania’s saber team, alongside Sorin Eftimie, Razvan
Stanescu and Madalin Bucur. Romania first defeated Kazakhstan, 45-35, then
Hungary, 45-43, but lost in the semi-finals narrowly, 44-45. In the bronze
final Romania lost to France, 45-37.
Razvan Ursachi was born on June 6,
1998. He is a second-year student with the Sports Faculty in Iasi. He is
arguably one of the most promising saber fencers of the young generation. A
recent notable performance was at the European Under-23 Championships held in
May in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where Ursachi helped Romania’s team win the gold
medal.
(Translated by V. Palcu)