Sports weekend

The latest from tennis and football

Florin Orban, 17.05.2019, 12:52

The main draw of the
WTA tennis tournament in Rome, an event with 3, 452, 538 USD in prize money,
does not include any Romanian tennis player. In the second round, the world’s
number 2 tennis player, Simona Halep, was defeated by the Czech challenger
Markéta Vondroušova, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3. 19-year old Vondroušova is 44th-placed
according to the as-it-stands WTA ranking. For the second time in the ongoing
competition season Vondroušova has outclassed Halep, having defeated her in the
round of 16 at the Indian Wells, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

The other Romanian competing in the Rome tournament, Mihaela
Buzărnescu, was unable to go past the round of 16. Buzarnescu sustained a 6-3,
6-3 defeat by the top-seed tennis player, Japan’s Naomi Osaka. Previously
Mihaela Buzarnescu overpowered Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko and the German Julia
Goerges.

We continue with news from football, as the coming weekend
sees matches being played, counting towards Romanian League One. In Group 2,
fixtures count towards the 11th round. On Friday, FC Botosani take
on Gaz Metan Medias. On Saturday, Poli Iasi receive the visit of FC
Hermannstadt, while in the southern Romanian locality of Chiajna, the local
side Concordia face Dinamo Bucharest. On Sunday, FC Voluntari are pitted
against Dunarea Calarasi on home turf. If they win, FC Voluntari stand real
chances to snap out of the hot area of the current classification. At the
moment, Voluntari are 5th-placed in Group 2, with 26 points. FC
Hermannstandt have 23 points on their record sheet and since they are 6th-placed
in the current standings, the team from Sibiu will have to play a play-off
fixture in order to avoid relegation. 7th-placed are Dunarea
Calarasi with 21 points, while 8th-placed are Concordia Chiajna,
with 16 points. The aforementioned positions lead straight into the domestic
season’s League Two.

In Group 1, matches are scheduled, counting towards the 10th-round,
which is also the last one. On home turf, Universitatea Craiova take on
Viitorul Constanta. The fixture will decide the 3rd-placed team
according to the final rankings. We recall that the 3rd-placed team
will secure a ticket for the Champions League. The other matches are scheduled
on Sunday. 2nd-placed team FCSB take on holders CFR Cluj in
Bucharest. The closing game of the 10th-round will see host team
Astra Giurgiu facing Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe.