Sports Roundup

Florin Orban, 16.03.2020, 11:10

Romanian
boxers Paul-Andrei Aradoaie and Maria Claudia Nechita on Sunday won the first matches
for Romania in the pre-Olympic boxing tournament hosted by London. In the 81-kg
category, Paul-Andrei Aradoaie, a former youth European champion, defeated
Blagoi Naidenov of Bulgaria in the first round by technical KO in the third bout.
On Tuesday the Romanian will take on the top favorite, Benjamin Whittaker of
England, who did not compete in the first round.

In
the women’s 57-kg category, in the first round, Maria Claudia Nechita won by
technical KO in the third bout against Szabina Szucs of Hungary. Her next
opponent will be Ornella Wahner of Germany, who will also compete straight in
the round of 16. The match is slated for Tuesday.

Also
on Sunday, Cristian-Razvan Filip lost on points to Emmanuel Reyes Pla of Spain
in the first round of the 91-kg category. The three Romanian boxers who
competed on Saturday, the first day of the tournament, Robert Jitaru in the
57-kg category, Daniel Burciu in the 91+-kg category and Cristina Cosma in the
women’s 60-kg category, were knocked out. To qualify to the Olympic Games,
boxers in the 52-kg category and 69-kg category, respectively, need to reach
the quarterfinals, therefore to win at least two games. In the 75-and 81-kg
categories the first six athletes will qualify, namely all boxers reaching the
semi-finals and quarterfinals. In the 91 and 91+-kg categories the top four
boxers, namely those playing in the semi-finals, will qualify to the games in
Tokyo. In the women’s competition, athletes need to reach the top 8 in each
category.

On
Tuesday UEFA will decide whether or not the 2020 European Championship will be postponed,
a competition slated to take place over June 12 and July 12 in 12 countries,
including Romania. On Sunday, the Italian Football Federation announced it would
call for a delay of the competition due to the coronavirus pandemic. The
opening game for the EURO 2020 is scheduled for June 12 in Rome. The Sunday Telegraph writes that UEFA
might decide to postpone EURO 2020 for December. The decision would allow
domestic championships and inter-club competitions across Europe to reach the
end of the season in summer. This option also favors television stations, considering
broadcast rights for televised competitions.

(Translated
by V. Palcu)