Bronze medal in Weightlifting WC
Romanian athlete Valeriu Calancea won the Bronze Medal in the 94-kilogram category’s clean and jerk event last Friday at the Weightlifting World Cup in South Korea. Calancea won the medal after lifting 211 kilograms and after failing in his attempt to lift 218 kilograms. The Romanian athlete was outclassed by Vladimir Sedov (Kazakhstan) who won the Silver Medal and by Kim Seong-Jong (South Korea) who won the Gold Medal. In the snatch event Calancea failed all of his three attempts. Vladimir Sedov won the Gold Medal both in the snatch event and in the overall standings. Calancea’s medal was Romania’s second after Ninel Minulescu won the Silver Medal in the 69-kilogram category’s snatch event.
Rugby: Romania 18 – Fiji 29
Romania’s national rugby team lost its test-game against Fiji on Saturday, score 18-29 (11-7). ‘The Oaks’ scored two tries (Tonita and Balan), two conversions (Vlaicu and Dumbrava) and two penalties (Florin Vlaicu). Fiji scored three tries (Goneva, Naikadawa, Nagusab, Ratu), three conversions (Matavesi) and one penalty (Matavesi). Both teams had one of their players temporarily eliminated. Fiji played a man down in the first half after Samu Bola was booked for stepping on the head of an opponent. In the second half Romania played one man down for 14 minutes after Stelian Burcea was booked for high tackle.
Chess tournament at Palace of Parliament
India’s Viswanathan Anand, the holder of the chess world title, took part in a chess tournament within the Palace of Parliament’s I.C. Bratianu Hall. Dr. Constantin Balaceanu-Stolnici, politician Valeriu Tabara and six juniors took part in the tournament. The tournament lasted approximately two and a half hours, with Anand winning all of the 20 games. Anand was a FIDE world champion from 2000 to 2002 at a time when the world title was shared between two players. Anand became the world’s undisputed champion in 2007 and in 2008 he successfully defended his title against Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik. That victory made Anand the first player that won the World Championship in three different formats: knockout, tournament and games. He will defend his title in 2010 against Bulgaria’s Veselin Topalov.