Romanian women’s handball and gymnastics teams qualify for World Championships

The Romanian women's national handball team defeated Portugal on Wednesday, April 12, with a score of 28-24 (13-8) in the second leg of the playoff phase of the 2023 World Championship, qualifying for the final tournament for the 26th time in history.

The top scorers of the match were Santiago (5 goals) and Rodrigues (4 goals) for Portugal, Ostase (5 goals), Pintea (4 goals), and Laslo (4 goals) for Romania.

The Romanian team won with a score of 35-20 (19-12) in the first leg. The second victory secures their qualification for the final tournament of the World Championship.

The other European teams that have qualified for the playoffs are Ukraine, Czech Republic, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Poland, and Spain.

The World Championship will take place for the first time in three countries, namely Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, from November 29 to December 17, with 32 national teams participating. Europe has been allocated 16 spots, with six of them directly given to the host nations, joined by Montenegro, France, and the Netherlands based on their rankings in the 2022 European Championship.

Romania is the only nation in the world that has participated in all editions of the World Championship, and the 2023 tournament will be the 26th time, according to G4Media.

Romania’s gymnastics team was also in the spotlight after managing to qualify for the World Championship in Antwerp both in the women’s and men’s competitions.

The Romanian women's gymnastics team finished fifth in the team competition at the European Championships in Antalya on Wednesday, securing their qualification for the World Championships in Antwerp. The team consisting of Ana Maria Bărbosu, Sabrina Maneca Voinea, Amalia Ghigoarţă, Lilia Cosman, and Andreea Preda, obtained a total score of 156.297, according to News.ro.

The podium was dominated by Great Britain (164.428 points) in the first place, followed by Italy (161.629) and the Netherlands (158.896).

The main goal for the Romanian athletes, who are coached by Gina Groza Gogean, Camelia Voinea, Corina Moroşan, Ramona Micu, Cătălin Meran, and Patrick Kiens, was to finish within the top 13 teams, which secured their qualification for the World Championships in Antwerp.