Sports Flash
A roundup of the latest performances obtained by Romanian athletes

Florin Orban, 24.04.2025, 13:45
On the first day of the European Judo Championships underway in Podgorica, Montenegro, Romanian athlete Alexandru Matei was stopped in his tracks in the round of 16 of the 60 kilogram category. He started off on the right foot though with a win against Luis Barroso Lopez of Spain, but later conceded defeat to Ahmad Iusifov, of Azerbaijan, who would later become the bronze medalist. In the aforementioned competition, Romania has been represented by five athletes, three in the men’s contests and two in the women’s competition. In the men’s competition in Podgorica, Lucian Borş Dumitrescu and Ioan Dziţac are to be competing in the 73 kilogram category while in the women’s contest, the Romanian athlete of Cuban origin, Amanda Zuaznabar-Torres, will be up against her opponent in the 63 de kilogram category and Serafima Moscalu also from Romania in the 70 kilograms.
Three Romanians conceded defeat on Tuesday in the first round of the tennis tournament WTA 1000 in Madrid, a competition with more than 7 million Euros in prize money. On Tuesday, Sorana Cîrstea lost to US challenger Hailey Baptiste, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6. A day later, Diane Parry of France secured a two setter against Irina Begu, 6-3, 6-4, while Sonay Kartal of Britain outperformed Jaqueline Cristian in a two-setter 6-2, 7-5.
In Romania’s basketball championship CSM CSU Oradea and U-BT Cluj-Napoca have ensured the first two places in the standings at the end of the regular season after the victories they clinched on Wednesday in the competition’s 29th leg, which is also the last but one. Oradea, the first in the ranking, clinched a 75-71 win against SCM Timişoara, while the entitre champions U-BT Cluj-Napoca secured a 92-88 away win against Vâlcea 1924, in the injury time.
FC Hermannstadt is the first finalist of Romania’s Football Cup, the 2024 – 2025 edition. The side from Sibiu on Wednesday secured a 2-1 win against Rapid Bucharest in a dramatic match. Portuguese Tiago Goncalves put the hosts in the lead on the 16th minute, but Rapid’s Serbian player Borisav Burmaz leveled the scoring four minutes from time. Sergiu Bus managed to get the upper hand for Hermannstadt in the injury time. The other semifinals game will be pitching CFR Cluj against Farul Constanţa.
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