Vlad Constantinescu

Romanian cyclist Eduard Novak, the current Minister of Youth and Sports, won the Paralympic silver medal in the men's C4 4000 m individual pursuit on Friday, at the Izu Velodrome in Tokyo. Despite a better start, Novak was defeated in the gold-medal race by Slovakia's Jozef Metelka.

Chairman of the Romanian Cycling Federation (FRC), Alex Ciocan told a news briefing on Wednesday that he and his team "have moved mountains" in order to organize the Tour of Romania, this year in its 54th edition. "A lot of work has been done on this Tour, because in the spring there were some changes inside the federation; until we managed to get organised time passed very quickly.

Romania got excellent results at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, two gold and one bronze medal, says Chair of the Romanian Rowing Federation Elisabeta Lipa. "For juniors, this is the first major competition this year, still dominated by pandemics and numerous restrictions. The results are excellent; we have a generation with very good potential for the future.

Romanian swimmer David Popovici (16 years of age) has qualified on Tuesday for the semifinals of the men's 100m freestyle event in the Olympic Games in Tokyo, with the eighth time of the heats, 48 seconds 03/100. Popovici was fourth in his heat, heat 9, and Italian Thomas Ceccon scored the best timing of the day, 47 sec 71/100.

Romanian tennis player Raluca Olaru paired up with Ukrainian Nadiia Kichenok progressed to the women's doubles quarter-finals of the 189,708-euro Bad Homburg Open WTA tournament on Monday after beating Andreea Mitu (Romania)/Oksana Kalashnikova (Georgia) 6-1 6-4. Second-seeded Olaru- Kicenok cruised to victory in 67 minutes.

Romania's vice-champion in women's handball, CS Minaur Baia Mare, has requested a wildcard for the next season of the Champions League, according to the club's official website. Romania could thus have two teams in the strongest European interclub competition, considering that CSM Bucharest, the national champion, is one of the teams that will play in the League groups.

Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea qualified on Monday for the second round of the WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, United Arab Emirates, with total prize money worth 1,835,490 dollars, after she defeated Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko, 6-4, 6-4. Cirstea, (30 years of age, WTA's 67th) won in one hour and 24 minutes to an opponent coming from qualifiers (31 years, WTA's 142nd).

Romanians Monica Niculescu, Patricia Tig and Simona Halep won doubles matches at the Gippsland Trophy (WTA 500) tournament in Melbourne on Tuesday, with total prizes of 565,530 dollars. The pair Monica Niculescu / Patricia Tig won 6-3, 6-3 versus 4th seeds Andreja Klepac (Slovenia) / Elise Mertens (Belgium), in just 66 minutes.

Romanian tennis player Andreea Amalia Rosca has won the ITF doubles tournament in Antalya (Turkey), equipped with prizes worth 15,000 US dollars, but lost the singles final. Rosca and Andreea Prisacariu defeated their opponents, Romanian Cristina Dinu and Ukrainian Viktoria Dema, 3-6, 6-4, 10-6.

Romanian-German duo Florin Mergea/Andre Begemann qualified on Wednesday for the quarterfinals of the men's doubles event at the challenger tournament in Koblenz (Kolenz Open), Germany, with prizes worth 46,600 euro, after defeating Indian pair made up of N. Sriram Balaji/Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, with a score of 7-6 (6), 4-6, 10-6.