Article by David Istrate – Published on Sunday, 26 April 2026 23:31 / Updated on Sunday, 26 April 2026 23:33
After 57 years, the women's basketball team of CS Rapid Bucharest managed to make the event again. On Sunday, April 26, the band coached by Alexandru Olteanu defeated CSM CSU Târgoviște 98-68, closed the series 3-1 and became the new champion of the National Women's Basketball League.
In the evening when FC Rapid Bucharest was losing 1-3 to its rival Dinamo Bucharestthe women's basketball team ticked off a performance it had not achieved for almost 6 decades: the event.
Rapid Bucharest, the new force of Romanian women's basketball, also won the Cup and the championship
CS Rapid Bucharest is the new force of women's basketball in Romania, taking advantage of the problems at CSM Constanța to build a strong team. The investments paid off and, two months ago, the group from Giulești managed to win the Romanian Cup, after a final with FCC Basketball UAV Arad: 81-52.
Rapid qualified for the playoffs from second place and, in the “quarters”, had no problems against Agronomy Bucharest. In the semifinals, Alexandru Olteanu's students got past FCC Basketball UAV Arad and secured a final with CSM CSU Târgoviște.
The first games were balanced: 68-63 for Rapid in game 1 and 78-74 for Târgoviște in game 2. Two games followed, dominated by the cherry-white formation, which prevailed 81-61 and 98-68, becoming national women's basketball champion.
Claudia Cuic, with 19 points, 3 rebounds and two assists in Game 4, was named the MVP of the LNBF final.
Rapid hadn't won a title in 48 years, since 1978. Thanks to the fact that it also won the Romanian Cup, the team from Giulești made the event for the first time since 1969. It quickly reached 10 national titles and 3 Romanian Cups.
Quickly, defeated by Dinamo in the second match of the LNBM “quarters”.
Also on Sunday evening, the second match of the quarter-finals between CS Dinamo Bucharest and CS Rapid Bucharest was played in men's basketball. In the first confrontation, Ionuț Bâscoveanu's players won 85-83.
Dinamo got its revenge in the second leg and won 94-85 in a match that it constantly controlledah. Now the series will move to Rapid's field, which hopes to close the series in Giulesti.
