Sports flash

We begin with news from women's volleyball. In the first leg as part of the CEV women's volleyball cup final this past Wednesday in Targu Mures, Volei Alba Blaj sustained a 1-3 defeat by Italian opponents Scandicci. The return leg is scheduled this coming Wednesday in Florence. For Voli Alba Blaj, the fixture is the fourth European final they have played in the last six years. CSM has played the final confrontation in all European interclub competitions: in the Champions league, in 2018, in the CEV Cup, in 2019 and in the Challenge Cup, in 2021

Romanian tennis player Irina Begu has advanced to the round of 18 of the IWTA 500 tournament in Charleston, the USA, an event with 780, 637 USD in prize money. In the tournament's round of 32, this past Wednesday Begu defeated US challenger Sofia Kenin, 6-1, 6-4. Begu will be given a cheque worth 9,340 USD and will be granted 55 WTA points. In the round of 18, Irina Begu takes on the tournament's top-seeded tennis player, Jessica Pegula, also from the US.

In the debut day of the World Swimming Championships held in Otopnei, the many-time world champion David Popovici on Wednesday won gold in the 50m freestyle event and thin the 100m backstroke event, The competition draws to a close on Sunday. The world's best swimmer at the moment, Popovici, will also compete in the 50m backstroke event, the 50m butterfly event and in the 100m freestyle event. David Popovici will also compete in the 400m freestyle event and in some of relay events.

Romanian Cup in football's quarterfinal fixtures are played this week. On Tuesday, UTA Arad grabbed a 1-nil home win against FC U Craiova. On Wednesday, Universitatea Cluj secured a 2 - 1 away win against FC Hermannstadt of Sibiu. The two winning sides will play each other in the semi-finals, on April 26. The last two quarterfinal fixtures are scheduled on Thursday: Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe take on Mioveni, while CFR Cluj play FC Argeş.