Sports Roundup

Florin Orban, 24.02.2020, 11:52

Romanian tennis player Simona Halep
on Saturday won her first tournament in 2020. She prevailed in Dubai, where
total winnings stood at 2.6 million dollars. In the final Halep defeated Elena
Rybakina of Kazakhstan, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6. For her win in the United Arab Emirates,
Halep will be awarded 700 thousand dollars and 470 WTA points.

We move on to news from handball.
After matches played this weekend, Romanian clubs playing in Champions League still
hold chances of qualifying to the quarterfinals. In Group 1, CSM Bucharest
defeated Ferencvaros Budapest 27-24 on home turf. Cristina Neagu’s team is
ranked 4th in the group tables with 9 points, which secures
qualification to the next phase. Ranking 5th is Vipers Kristiansand
of Norway with 5 points, followed by Ferencvaros with 3 points. Metz of France
and Team Esbjerb of Denmark are in first and second place respectively, each with
11 points. Ranking 3rd is Rostov-Don of Russia with 9 points, the
same as CSM Bucharest, although with a better goal-average ratio. On Sunday,
CSM will take on Metz away from home. In Group 2, SCM Ramnicu Valcea drew
28-all against Krim Mercator Ljubljana of Slovenia. Gyor of Hungary ranks first
with 15 points, followed by Brest Bretgane of France with 13 points and
Buducnost Podgorica of Montenegro with 10 points. SCM Ramnicu Valcea is in 4th
place with 5 points. Krim ranks 5th with 3 points, followed by
Savehof of Sweden with 2 points. On Saturday, Valcea will play Savehof.

In men’s handball, let us note that
Dinamo Bucharest has made an important step towards qualifying to the Champions
League round of 16. In the first leg of the playoffs, Dinamo defeated Sporting
Lisbon of Portugal 26-25 away from home. The return leg is scheduled for Sunday
in Bucharest.

Romania’s rugby team on Saturday
grabbed its first win in the 2020 edition of Rugby Europe Championship. The
Oaks defeated Spain 24-7 at home. After three rounds, Romania is ranked 5th
with 4 points, the same as Russia. Romania will go up against Russia on
Saturday, March 7.

In news from football, matches
counting towards the last round of the domestic championship’s regular season were
played this weekend. On Saturday, FC Voluntari won 2-nil against FC
Hermannstadt. FCSB drew 1-all against Chindia Targoviste. On Sunday, Viitorul
Constanta drew nil-all against Academica Clinceni, while in Medias, Gaz Metan
won 1-nil against Dinamo Bucharest. Astra Giurgiu drew 2-all against Sepsi
Sfantu Gheorghe. In the round’s highlight match, CFR Cluj won 2-nil against
Universitatea Craiova. On Monday, FC Botosani will play Politehnica Iasi. Cluj,
Craiova, FCSB, Gaz Metan, Astra and FC Botosani will play in Group 1, while
Viitorul, Dinamo, Sepsi, Chindia, Hermannstadt, Iasi and Voluntari will play in
Group 2.

(Translated by V. Palcu)