Sports roundup

The latest from women's handball, tennis and football

Eugen Nasta, 07.10.2024, 13:45

Romanian women’s handball team CSM Bucharest this past Sunday have added yet another win to their bracing record. In a Champions League Group A fixture, CSM Bucharest defeated Danish challengers Nykøbing Falster on home turf, 27-26. CSM’s top scorer Cristina Neagu, with ten goals. Neagu has thus become the top scorer in the history of Champions League in women’s handball, with a record of 1,155 goals. Neagu outclassed the former record holder, Montenegrin handballer Jovanka Radičević. CS Bucharest are 4h placed in Group A, with a record of three wins and one defeat.

Another Romanian team, Gloria Bistritsa-Nasaud, are 5h placed, having sustained a 28-32 away defeat by Hungarian opponents Ferencváros Budapest. Rapid Bucharest, competing in the league; a Group B, on Sunday sustained a 32-39 away defeat by Danish opponents Team Esbjerg. Rapid Bucharest is 6th-placed in group B.

In news from women’s tennis, Monica Niculescu and Gabriela Ruse have won the women’s doubles event as part of the WTA 125 tournament in Hong Kong, a tournament with 115, 000 USD in prize money. In the final, Niculescu and Ruse defeated the all-Japanese pair made of Nao Hibino and Makoto Ninomiya, 6-3, 5-7, 10-5. Niculescu and Ruse will most likely go against Hibino and Ninomya for a second time around, in the Billie Jean King Cup inter-countries competition on November 14 in Malaga in the round of 16, when Romania is pitted against Japan. For Niculescu and Ruse, this was the second women’s doubles title they have won pairing up with one another. We recall in 2021 Niculescu and Ruse won the ITF lawn tournament in Nottingham, an event with 100, 000 USD up for grabs.

Matches counting towards Romanian football Super League’s 12th round were played this past weekend. In Arad on Friday, the local side UTA defeated Petrolul Ploieşti, 3-1. In Ovidiu, Farul Constanţa and Dinamo Bucharest drew, 1-all. In Clinceni on Saturday, Unirea Slobozia and Universitatea Cluj drew, 2-all, while in Cluj, CFR defeated Politehnica Iași, 2-1. Also on Saturday, in Galati, the local side Otelul and Universitatea Craiova drew, 1-all.

The 12th round’s last three games were played on Sunday. In Sibiu, Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe trounced FC Hermannstadt, 4-nil, then on home turf FC Botoşani outclassed Rapid Bucharest, 2-nil, while in Bucharest, FCSB grabbed a 3-2 win against Gloria Buzău. Universitatea Cluj are still at the top of the as-it-stands table, with 23 points, followed by Universitatea Craiova, with 20 points.