Sports Roundup
The latest news from tennis, table tennis and football
Florin Orban, 04.10.2021, 13:45
The Romanian-German pair Monica Niculescu and
Anna-Lena Friedsam on Saturday won the Astana Open doubles title held in
Kazakhstan’s capital Nur-Sultan and worth more than 235,000 dollars in prize
money. Seeded third, they defeated the all-Russian pair Angelina Gabueva and
Anastasia Zakharova in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 10-5. The match lasted one hour
and 31 minutes. This was Niculescu’s 10th WTA doubles title.
The Romanian women’s table tennis side won the silver
medal at the European Table Tennis Team Championships hosted by the Romanian
city of Cluj Napoca. They lost to Germany 3-1 in Sunday’s final. Daniela
Dodean-Monteiro brought the only point for Romania as she defeated Chantal
Mantz 3-2. In the other matches, Bernadette Szőcs lost to Nina Mittelham 2-3; and Elizabeta Samara lost to Sabine Winter nil-3
and to Mittelham 2-3. Romania won the two previous continental titles: in 2017
in Luxembourg, defeating Germany 3-2, and in 2019 in France, defeating Portugal
3-nil.
Two Romanian international players scored goals in the
8th leg of the Turkish championship. Midfielder Olimpiu Moruţan
scored the winning goal for his side Galatasaray Istanbul against Caykur
Rizespor 3-2, away. He scored on the last minute of extra time and this is his
second goal for Galatasaray in six matches played in Super Lig, the Turkish
domestic league. Another Romanian international, midfielder Alexandru Maxim
scored his first goals this season for Gaziantep against Altay Izmir, 4-1, at
home. Maxim opened the scoreline 52 minutes into the match and then scored his
second goal on minute 61, when his side were leading 2-nil.
And now the results of the 11th leg matches
of the Romanian First League. On Friday, CS Mioveni and FC Argeș drew nil-all
and FCSB defeated Chindia Târgoviște 1-nil. On Saturday, Dinamo Bucharest and
UTA Arad drew 2-all, as did Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe and Rapid Bucharest. On
Sunday, FC Voluntari defeated Farul Constanța 1-nil, CFR Cluj defeated Gaz
Metan Mediaș 2-1, and Universitatea Craiova defeated FC U 1948, another local
side, 2-nil. The last leg match is played on Monday, between Academica Clinceni
and FC Botoșani. CFR Cluj are currently leading in the general classification with 30 points,
followed by FCSB and Botoșani in second place, both with 21 points. (CM)