Sports Roundup

The latest from volleyball, women's and men's, women's tennis, women's boxing and football

Eugen Nasta, 03.06.2024, 13:45

Romania’s national women’s volleyball team has qualified to the Golden Four European Competition’s Final Four tournament. In the last fixture as part of the competition’s preliminary stage, in Gijon on Sunday, the Romanian sustained a 1-3 defeat by Spain. Joining Romania for the final tournament are the teams of Belgium, The Czech Republic and Ukraine. Fixtures are scheduled on June 15 and 16 in Ostrava, the Czech Republic.

With two wins and four defeats in the preliminaries, Romania’s men’s national volleyball team has failed to qualify to the Golden League’s final tournament. In their last match this past Sunday, in Karlovy Vary, in the Czech Republic, the men’s national volleyball team sustained a 2-3 defeat by the Czech Republic.

As part of the year’s second Grand Slam event, the Roland Garros tennis tournament, Monica Niculescu has advanced to the women’s doubles round of 16, jointly with Spanish tennis player Cristina Bucsa. In the second round this past Sunday, Niculescu and Bucsa defeated the all-American pair made of Sofia Kenin ans Bethanie Mattek-Sands 2-6, 6-4, 11-9. Niculescu and Bucsa will fight for a place in the quarterfinals taking on the US-Russia pair made of Emma Navarro Diana Şnaider. For their access to the round of 16, Niculescu and Bucşa were each handed a cheque worth 43, 500 Euro and were granted 240 WTA points according to the women’s doubles rankings.

In the boxing competition as part of the Olympic Games in Paris, only one Romanian will take part in the competition, Lacramioara Perijoc in the 54-kilogram category. The other Romanians who competed in the last pre-Olympic tournament in Bangkok, all of them wasted the opportunity to qualify for Paris. In the 57-kilogram category Claudia Nechita was that close to qualifying, yet in the decisive confrontation this past Sunday Nechita was defeated by China’s Zichun Xu on points.

Also competing in Bangkok were Robert Jitaru, in the 63.5 category, Paul Aradoaie, in the 80-kilogram category, Mihaela Badescu, in the 50-kilogram category, Loredana Marin in the 60 and Andra Sebe in the 66-kilogram category.

Romania’s national football team in Bucharest on Tuesday will play a friendly game against Bulgaria. The match is part of the final phase of the training stage of the national football team ahead of the final tournament as part of the European Championship in Germany. On Friday, also in Bucharest, Edward Iordanescu’s trainees go against the Duchy of Liechtenstein’s team. At the European Championship, Romania’s debut game is the match against Ukraine, scheduled on June 17 in Munich.