Sports Flash

Romania's men's handball team was defeated in Bucharest on Wednesday by Austria, 35 - 30. It was the last but one game for Romania ahead of the 2024 European Championship qualifiers, Group 4. In its last match, Romania will face Ukraine in Gummersbach, Germany on Sunday. At the time being, Austria is top of the group standings with 10 points out of 10, followed by Romania and the Faroe Islands with 4 points each, and Ukraine with 2 points. The top 2 teams in each group qualify to the final tournament, alongside the best 4 teams ranking 3rd. The European Championships will be hosted by Germany between January 10 and 28, 2024. Romania last played in a men's European Championship in 1996.

The Romanian tennis player Jaqueline Cristian Wednesday qualified into the second round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid, with EUR 7,700,000 in total prize money. In the first round she beat Sloane Stephens of the US, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Her next opponent will be Anastasia Potapova of Russia, seed no 21. Also on Wednesday, Gabriela Ruse lost to Alizé Cornet (France), 6-7, 6-4, 6-4. Also playing in the second round of the Madrid competition are Ana Bogdan, Sorana Cîrstea and Irina Begu.

Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe is the first finalist of the Romanian football Cup. On Wednesday, the team from Covasna defeated CFR Cluj in the semis, 3 - 0. Sepsi, the current cup holders, scored 10 minutes into the match, thanks to Nicolae Păun, 19 minutes later through Marius Ştefănescu, and on 81 minutes through Venezuelan Mario Rondon. Defending champions CFR played more than half of the match with only 10 men on the pitch, after defender Andrei Burcă was sent out on 43 minutes over a foul on Pavol Šafranko. The referee granted a penalty kick, but Cosmin Matei failed to score. The final is scheduled on May 24 in Sibiu. (AMP)