Sports Roundup

The latest from rugby, boxing, swimming, judo and football

Florin Orban, 04.07.2022, 01:45

Romania’s national rugby team took on Italy in a test match this past
Sunday in Bucharest. Romanians were buoyant for the early start of the game. Romania’
s Florin Vlaicu even successfully scored from two penalty kicks. However, the Oak
Leaf Knights ran out of steam, physically, were overpowered, and the Italians emerged
in control of the game completely. The latter team eventually trounced Romania,
45 to 13. In the coming preparation stage, the Romanian national squad will travel to South America, with two test matches on schedule. Romania faces Uruguay in Montevideo, on July 10 and 17.

Romanian
heavyweight boxer Cristian Ciocan this past Saturday wasted the opportunity to
win the WBO International and the WBC Silver belts. In the fourth round of the
match against British challenger Joe Joyce, Ciocan sustained a defeat by
knock-out. 34-year-old Ciocan is a German resident and competes as Christian
Hammer. It was Cristian Ciocan’s 10th defeat as a pro. The Romanian-born boxer’s
record includes 27 wins, of which 17 through knockout. 36-year-old Joe Joyce succeeded
his 14th win. The British boxer boasts a win-all record so far.

At the
European Open in Cluj-Napoca this past weekend, Romanian judokas won 11 medals, of
which two gold, four silver and five bronze. Stepping onto the first step of
the podium on Saturday was Florentina Ivanescu in the 63-kilogram category. Then
on Sunday, in 100-kilogram category, Cuban-born judoka Asley Gonzalez also won gold.

The European
International Juniors’ Swimming Championships kick-off this coming Tuesday in
Otopeni, nearby Bucharest., with 1,600 swimmers of 42 countries participating. For Romania, 14
swimmers compete in the women’s version of the event, while 12 other prove
their mettle in the men’s version of the championships. Star swimmer David Popovici
will be among the participants. We recall Popovici walked away with gold in the
100m and 200m freestyle events as part of the recently-held World Seniors’
Championships in Budapest.

In news
from football, Romanian title holders CFR Cluj this coming Tuesday play their
debut fixture as part of the Champions League’s first preliminary round, taking
on Armenian champions Piunk Yerevan away from home. The return leg
is scheduled in Cluj-Napoca on July 13. Until then, CFR Cluj will be playing a domestic
opener against Sepsi Sfantu-Gheorghe, counting towards Romania’s Supercup. We
recall Sepsi are this year’s winners of Romania’s Cup in football.

(EN)