Sports Weekend

Florin Orban, 19.10.2018, 12:04

The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, number
1 in the world, has pulled out of the Singapore WTA Finals due on October 21 to
28. She hurt her back ahead of the Wuhan tournament in September, and was
subsequently diagnosed with a herniated disc. The Romanian abandoned the
Beijing tournament in the first round, withdrew from the Moscow tournament this
week and flew to Singapore, hoping that she would still be able to play the WTA
Finals. On Thursday, however, she announced she would not be able to play.

2018 has been Simona’s best season so far, beginning
with the title in Shenzhen and a dramatic loss in the Australian Open finals,
which nonetheless paved the way for her first Grand Slam win, at Roland Garros.
The Romanian player has been the only one to take part in the WTA Finals every
year since Singapore started hosting the tournament in 2014. The Dutch player
Kiki Bertens, no 9 WTA Race, will be replacing Simona in Singapore. The other
participants in the tournament are Angelique Kerber (Germany), Naomi Osaka
(Japan), Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova (the Czech Republic), Caroline
Wozniacki (Denmark), Sloane Stephens (USA) and Elina Svitolina (Urkaine).

We move on to handball. This weekend games are
scheduled in the European women’s handball cups. In the Champions League, CSM
Bucharest plays on Saturday in Norway against Vipers Kristiansand. In the
second leg of the EHF Cup second preliminary round, SCM Ramnicu Valcea takes on
the Turkish side Kastamonu, away from home, after a 35-26 win at home. Handbal
Club Zalau also play away from home, against Borussia Dortmund, after a draw in
Romania. Both matches are scheduled for Sunday.

In the national football League One, the second
round is played this weekend. Two games are due on Friday, FC Voluntari
vs. Concordia Chiajna and CFR Cluj vs. Politehnica Iasi.

On Saturday, FC Hermannstadt take on Astra
Giurgiu on home turf, while Viitorul Constanta face Sepsi Sfantu Gheorge. On
Sunday, Gaz Metan Medias meet AFC Botosani at home, and Universitatea Craiova
receive FCSB on home turf. The last match of this round, pitting Dinamo
Bucharest against Dunarea Calarasi, will be held on Monday.

Prior to this round, top of the standings is
FCSB with 21 points, followed by CFR Cluj and Gaz Metan Medias, with 20 points
each.