Sports Roundup

Florin Orban, 08.02.2021, 11:14

Romania’s
national rugby team has been granted a walkover 28-nil win over Belgium in the
last round of the 2020 Rugby Europe Championship. The decision was taken by the
Rugby Europe board of directors after the match scheduled for February 7 in
Craiova was cancelled because the Belgian team couldn’t get to Romania. Romania
was ranked 3rd in the final standings in the 2020 edition of Rugby
Europe Championship, after Georgia and Spain.

This weekend
saw a new round in European inter-club handball competitions. In Champions’
League Group A, CSM Bucharest won 28-26 against Team Esbjerg of Denmark at home
on Saturday and thus climbed to 4th place in the group standings. On
Sunday, in Group B, SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea won 26-25 against Odense of Denmark. The
Romanian champions are ranked 6th in the standings with good chances
of moving past the group phase. In Europa League, Group C, Minaur Baia Mare on
Saturday won 30-27 against HC Astrakhanochka of Russia. The Russian club,
Minaur and Storhamar of Norway are each in top position with 4 points, although
separated by the goal-average. Finally, on Sunday, in Europa League Group D,
Dunărea Brăila lost 24-31 to Siófok of Hungary away from home. Dunărea remains
in second place.

The
Australian Open has kicked off in Melbourne. 6 Romanian players made it to the
women’s main draw: Simona Halep, Patricia Ţig, Sorana Cîrstea, Irina Begu, Ana
Bogdan and Mihaela Buzărnescu. The latter on Monday was ousted by Bianca
Andreescu of Canada in the opening round. In the men’s doubles, Horia Tecău and
Marcelo Melo of Brazil are seeded 7th in the competition.

This weekend
saw a new round of matches in the domestic football championship. On Friday,
Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe drew 3-all against Poli Iași at home. On Saturday, FC
Argeș defeated Astra Giurgiu 2-nil away from home, while Universitatea Craiova won
1-nil against Dinamo Bucharest on home turf. On Sunday, UTA Arad drew 1-all
against FC Hermannstadt. In Mediaș, Gaz Metan won 1-nil against Chindia
Târgoviște. Finally, on National Arena Stadium in Bucharest, Academica Clinceni
won 1-nil against FCSB. On Monday, Viitorul Constanța is playing FC Voluntari and
FC Botoșani will take on CFR Cluj. FCSB tops the league tables with 48 points,
followed by CFR Cluj, with 47. (V. Palcu)