Cosmin Radu

Cosmin Radu
Born	(1981-11-09) November 9, 1981 Bucharest, Romania
Height	6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight	231 lb (105 kg; 16 st 7 lb)
Position	Center
Shoots	Left
Jadranska Liga team Former teams	Primorje Rijeka HAVK Mladost Rari Nantes Florentia Rapid Bucharest
National team	Romania
Playing career	1997–present

Cosmin Alexandru Radu (born November 9, 1981) is a Romanian water polo player who is currently playing for Primorje Rijeka. He is also the captain of Romania's national team.^[1]

Club career

Radu was born in Bucharest where he started playing water polo for Rapid Bucharest in 1992.His first year at the senior level was 1997 and continued to play with the team until 2004.He has won 4 consecutive national championships from 2001 until 2004.In 2001 and 2004 has won the award for Top Scorer.

From 2004 until 2011 he played for the Italian team club Rari Nantes Florentia. From 2011 to 2013 has playedg with the Croatian waterpolo team HAVK Mladost. Has won The Croatian Cup that took place in Zadar in December 2011 and was named MVP of the competition, finished third in the 2011 Champions League and also third place in the Croatian Championship.

Starting 2013 has been playing for Primorje Rijeka. In December 2013 he won the Croatian Cup by beating 13-11 Jug Dubrovnik. In April 2014 he has won the Adriatic League at the Final Four played in Zadar by beating Jadran Herceg Novi 13-3 in the semifinals and 8-7 Jug Dubrovnik in the final game .

In May 2014 he won the Croatian Championship defeating in the Finals his former club, HAVK Mladost, with 3-0 at games (13-7 / 11-5 / 13-7 ). Later the same month he played the Final Six of The Champions League where he lost the semifinal against Barceloneta (10-8), who were to become champions that year, and won the bronze medal by defeating Partizan Belgrade with 12-6 .

In December 2014 he won the Croatian Cup after defeating in the final HAVK Mladost with the score of 12-7.

In April 2015 has played in Rijeka the Final Four of the seventh year of the Jadranska Liga (also known as Regionalna Liga) where in the final Primorje Rijeka won against Jug Dubrovnik (15-9). At the end of the game Radu was elected MVP of the Final Four. In the Croatian Finals in May 2015 that was played against Jug Dubrovnik, at the end of five games that finished 9-8 / 12-13(penalties) / 9-8 / 11-12(penalties) / 11-8 , he won the Croatian Championship for the second time in a row. At the end of the same month was played the Final Six of the Champions League. In the semifinal they met again against Jug Dubrovnik which they defeated 10-9 and went to the final game where they eventually lost against Pro Recco with the score of 8-7.

International career

The first selection in the national team came in 1999.Was selected captain of the team in 2009.
Finished 4th at the 2006 European Championships in Belgrade.
Has won the Top Scorer award at the 2011 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai with 20 goals.
Has qualified to the 2012 Summer Olympics London^[2] and finished 10th with the national team.

References