Mihai Tenea

World No. 3 tennis player Simona Halep announced on Friday on social media that she was withdrawing from the 2021 Wimbledon Championships Grand Slam tournament, which she won two years ago. "It is with great sadness that I'm announcing my withdrawal from The Championships as my calf injury has not fully recovered.

Four of the five Romanian players lined up at the European Table Tennis Championships in Warsaw on Thursday advanced to the round of 32 women's singles.

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.

Romanian tennis player Patricia Tig qualified on Sunday for the round of 16 of the WTA tournament in Bad Homburg, Germany, with total prize money worth 189,708 euro, while Sorana Cirstea lost in the first round. Tig (aged 26, 61st in the WTA ranking) defeated German Mona Barthel (30, 187th in the WTA) 7-6 (4), 6-3, after one hour and 49 minutes.

The Romanian-German duo Horia Tecau/Kevin Krawietz on Friday progressed to the men's doubles final of the 1,318,605-euro Halle Open ATP 500 in Germany after beating Belgians Sander Gille Joran Vliegen, 7-6 (6) 7-5. Third-seeded Tecau-Krawietz prevailed in an hour and 28 minutes. Tecau- Krawietz are at their third final.

Minister of Youth and Sports Eduard Novak declared, on Monday, at the ministry's headquarters, that he was impressed by the first match hosted by Romania at UEFA EURO 2020, Austria - North Macedonia (score 3-1), stating that he felt like in another country on the National Arena in the Capital.

Romanian athlete Rares Andrei Toader broke the national record in weight throw on Sunday, at the international competition in Brno (Czech Republic), with a 21.29m toss that also earned him the qualification for the Tokyo Olympic Games. Toader had managed to equal the national record at the beginning of the month (21.06 m), at the National Championship in Cluj-Napoca.

Constantin Lupulescu, the best rated Romanian chess player, drew with the Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, world number 12, on Tuesday, in Bucharest, in the fourth round of the Superbet Chess Classic Romania 2021 tournament, from the Grand Chess Tour. The other Romanian in the tournament, Bogdan Deac (19 years old), got defeated by the Russian Aleksandr Grishciuk.

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 for the round of 16 of the Roland Garros tournament on Friday in Paris, after defeating the Russian Daria Kasatkina, 6-3, 6- 2. Cirstea (31 years old, WTA's 54) sealed her victory in one hour and 24 minutes of playing. Sorana's best result in Paris is a quarter-final in 2009, and since then she has not passed the third round.