Mihai Tenea

Romanian swimmers David Popovici and Robert Glinta on Sunday qualified for the semifinals of the Men's 200m Freestyle and Men's 50m Backstroke events in the Tokyo Olympic Games. David Popovici (16 years of age) qualified for the Men's 200m Freestyle with the fourth time, 1:45.32, after he won Heat 2. He will compete on July 26 for the qualification for the final (July 27).

Romania's football team set off on the right foot at the Tokyo Olympic Games, scoring a 1-0 (1-0) own goal win against Honduras on Thursday at the Kashima Stadium, in Group B of the Olympic tournament.

Chairman of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee (COSR) Mihai Covaliu tells AGERPRES in an interview that he is convinced Romanian athletes will stop in Tokyo the decline in the tally of Olympic medals that started in Sydney 2000. He says that in order to bring joy to Romanians, COSR needs the support of the government and its partners.

Romanian tennis player Jaqueline Cristian qualified for the quarterfinals of the WTA tournament in Palermo (Italy), equipped with total prizes of 189,708 euros, after defeating Chinese Qinwen Zheng, in two sets, 6-1, 6-4, on Wednesday evening. Cristian (23 years old, WTA's 159) sealed her victory after an hour and 26 minutes of playing, against an opponent who had defeated seed no.

The Romanian athletes participating in the Tokyo Olympics are treated to spartan conditions in the Matsudo pre-Olympic camp, where they have to observe a total quarantine and strictly follow the organizers' Covid-19 rules. "We arrived in Matsudo around midnight, after a stopover in Istanbul and another 11 hours of flight.

The Romanian-Dutch pair Andreea Mitu/Rosalie van der Hoek on Tuesday evening qualified for the quarterfinals of the doubles event of the tennis tournament in Palermo (WTA), equipped with total prizes worth 189,708 euros, after scoring 4-6, 6-4, 10-7 against Lara Arruabarrena (Spain)/Beatrice Gumulya (Indonesia). The 2nd seeded sealed their victory after an hour and 29 minutes of playing.

Romanian-American pair Irina Bara/Varvara Lepchenko on Tuesday qualified for the quarterfinals of the doubles event of the WTA 250 tennis tournament in Gdynia (Poland), with total prizes of 235,238 dollars, after defeating 7-6 (3), 7-6 (6) Polish Ania Hertel/Martyna Kubka. Bara and Lepchenko sealed their victory after almost two hours of playing (1 h 53 min).

Romanian-German pair Horia Tecau/Kevin Krawietz qualified, on Wednesday, for the semifinals of the doubles' event of the 1,030,900-euro Hamburg ATP tournament, after 6-3, 6-2, with German pair Daniel Altmaier/Rudolf Molleker. Top seeds Tecau and Krawietz obtained a quick victory, in just 54 minutes, without losing service, although Altmaier and Molleker had two opportunities to go on break.

The multiple world and European champion in artistic gymnastics Marian Dragulescu said, in an interview granted to AGERPRES, commenting on the isolation that all participants will be subjected to at the Tokyo Olympic Games in the context of the pandemic, that he is willing to accept 2-3 weeks of "prison" for the gold medal.

Romanian boxer Amalia Nita grabbed the gold medal within the limits of the 63 kg weight category on Sunday at the European Junior Boxing Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, after finally defeating Poland's Karolina Kuhn on points (5-0). Two other Romanians won the silver medals. Angelo Teodosescu (cat.