The first edition of the BCR Iași Open, a tournament with WTA 125 status, was officially opened, on Thursday, at the Ciric Sports Base, during a press conference attended by the organizers of the event, the mayor of Iași, partners, as well as one of the players, the former Andreea Prisăcariu.

The event, scheduled between August 1-7, is endowed with prizes worth
$115,000 and 160 WTA points, and the tournament director is Daniel Dobre.
To begin with, the communications director of the tournament, Maria Tudor, scored
some of the important milestones of the WTA contest from Iași: "The first edition of
of the BCR Iași Open tournament brings to the grounds of the Ciric 12 Sports Base
players from Romania. Eight of them, including Mihaela Buzărnescu, Ana
Bogdan and the dancer Andreea Prisăcariu are on the main table and we have more
four players in the qualifiers. There are three top athletes on the list of registered players
100 WTA, Viktorija Golubic, Clara Burel and Panna Udvardy, but also a player
winner of Grand Slam doubles titles – Kristina Mladenovic.

During the whole week we will organize several activities for the fans
tennis, on the tennis court, but also in the Fan Zone. Sunday, July 31, at 11.00 am
the qualifying matches will begin, and at 2:30 p.m. the draw will take place, in
the presence of WTA supervisor Mihaela Testiban".
Then, the mayor Mihai Chirica came up with an interesting proposal, that ca
the matches can also be watched in the neighborhoods of Iași by those who cannot come
at the tournament, on big screens.
Competition director Daniel Dobre emphasized the exceptional organization and manner
what the sports base looks like, and Andreea Prisăcariu promised to do a tour
very good at his home tournament.

Here are the main statements of the personalities present at the conference press from Ciric Sports Base:

Mihai Chirica, Mayor of Iași: "First of all, I would like to
thanks to Andrei Pavel for the way he handled the men's tournament, a
basically given the start for the women's tournament which starts now. It's an opportunity
very important for us, as Iași people, to put ourselves on the tennis map
international. I am convinced that Mr. Daniel Dobre will also be able to carry on
far this bar that Andrei Pavel has raised very high. Is a
opportunity not only for the image, but to make Iesian sport and from
Romanian sport an asset that, unfortunately, we lost. Sport is a form
of representation for Romania and should become a brand priority of
country for those who decide the fate of the country. Ciric Sports Base has transformed on
fast forward, I think we are an example of speed in investing in sports for
the entire country, we also managed to do nocturnal and everything you see here in just one month of
days. It was a big challenge for us. Thanks also to BCR, a bank
serious deals with serious things, and a WTA tournament is a very event
seriously. We hope to remain a future partner. I want to make Iași one
place loved by tennis players, whether Romanian or foreign. The WTA tournament is the icing on the cake
the cake started with the men's tournament and I thank Andrei Orita in this way.
I propose that every day we rebroadcast the matches in various areas of the city, on some
big screens so that we can publicize this tournament and make it as attractive as possible
and for the following editions".

Mircea Popovici, BCR Retail Group Director: "BCR Iași Open, alongside
Concord Iași Open, turned Iași into the capital of Romanian tennis in this
summer. It is a great joy for our community. Incidentally, in BCR there is one
strong vein for sustaining such projects and for sustaining
the local or regional entrepreneurial ecosystem. I think it's due to duty
companies to support such events and I invite others in this way
companies to join us, to transform Iasi into a pole of development
economic, educational and social. I invite all lovers from Iași and beyond
come with your soul to this tournament that will be fantastic. Good luck to the players!".

George Nisioiu, Inner Pride: "In November 2017 I was in London, at the final
Tournament of Champions. 20,000 people started cheering for a city too
very established and cosmopolitan as London is, the event managed to add
value. When we were invited to be a part of what was happening here, we were
impressed by the alignment of forces, by the fact that the local authorities understood to
supports. And we also tried, as far as possible, to make of
the image of this tour a thing on the level of value of the achievement itself. We
relative to what is happening internationally. The best tournaments have
identities made by the best agencies. The letters were inspired by the shape
the court, as a form of modernity, the identity is based on tennis animations.
We tried to create from this identity a framework in which it can be
showcase both tournament stars and partners and happening events
here. We thank the organizers and partners!".

Adriana Vârbanciu, Open Events: "We deal with a part of the anthill
this is what happens every day at the Ciric Sports Base. Thanks to the owner
degree, Andrei Orita, for his initiative to invest in sports, to the City Hall
Iași, for the effort and openness he showed, to the sponsors who have
actively involved and support performance sports. Our agency participated with
body and soul and I hope that was seen in everything I did. The organization of these
tournaments put Iași on the world tennis map in a professional and elegant way and
we want to grow the tennis community together with the residents. We prepare as much as possible
many tournaments and sports competitions with the help of sponsors and together we want to
we help athletes who practice tennis, in their ascent in the world ranking".

Daniel Dobre, Director of the BCR Iasi Open Tournament: "I would like to emphasize
the transformation of this place. If I'm talking about the first edition, from two years ago,
performed without spectators, the progress is incredible. At the moment this is the base
can secure even a bigger tournament, even a WTA of 500 points or a
ATP tournament. The players participating in the first 3 editions of the Challenger were very
impressed. From the point of view of participation, we are glad that the players from
Romania have responded positively and many of them are participating. We really hope, having in
seeing that Ana Bogdan plays very well, that Mihaela Buzărnescu is a player
with a lot of experience, who was at the level of the first 20 in the world, to play very
good. The base is incredible, people are totally getting involved here, I don't think it was a
problem that has not been solved quickly, and for this I want to them
thank you very much to the administrative director Gabriel Iftimoaie. I was at
many tours in the world and nowhere was achieved what was achieved in Iași in a while
so short. A nocturne with a very beautiful design. From experience I can tell you
I say that when you start so well, you can go very high. To stay
means these tournaments will evolve and become calendar highlights
international".

Andreea Prisăcariu, wild-card player on the main draw:
I am very happy to be here, I want to thank the organizers for
wild card granted, that means you trust me. Iasi is a
tourist attraction, culturally we are very developed, but the part was missing
sportswoman and I'm very glad that I changed that with the two tournaments.
The organization is Top and I am very happy to be here. I have emotions, probably
because I'm at home, I promise you a quality tournament with very good matches.
All my beginnings were in Iași and I hope it will also be my beginnings in the WTA as well
in Iasi".

Igor Ibrisbegovic, tennis coach, representative of Edge Agency: "I'm here too
from the Edge Tennis Agency. The reason I came to this town
it's wonderful to try to discover with Messrs. Daniel Dobre and Andrei Orita
young tennis players. And we will definitely find it. We, as a tennis agency,
we try to do everything we can to help these young players and their families,
to have the opportunity to reach this tennis environment. We offer female players
get a full package of services and we start with financing. Today we have 19 players
to 14 to 21 years old, from different countries, and the funding we offer reaches
150,000 euros per year per player. With this money, they have the opportunity to play
professional, they have the chance to travel around the world to different competitions, to
clubs, academies".

Andrei Orita, General Manager Concord Service Center, license holder
tournament: "Women's professional tennis is the highest paid sport in the world,
it is a profession. And, being the highest paid profession, it means the demands too
they are very big. I want to help the young Romanian tennis players, in particular
from the region of Moldova. There's a pre-qualifying tournament going on right now, I am
finals and juniors from Romania, applying on our partner's website
technically FRT, they can take possession of a wild-card in the qualifications, which means 1
WTA point. Basically, if you're totally unknown, you come and play this tournament, you are
also pursued by an agency, you are put in a mirror and given those chances that until
now they are missing. I gladly gave her a wild card, for her career, but also for
the fact that she was born in Iasi. From a technical point of view, the tournament offers in
national first an electronic line-calling system. Thus, the players who are
dissatisfied with a decision of the arbitrators have the possibility to challenge it, and a system
will automatically display the correct decision. Our desire is to finance with aid
viewers about 20 percent of this tournament. For boys I managed 5 percent,
but it is a step forward for the first edition with spectators and we trust that
we will progress with this women's tournament. I am honored that we manage to have such
partners, thank you to the mayor and the City Hall, the technical partner FRT and
To the Open Events Agency, BCR and all the sponsors for their involvement".

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Rezultatele traducerii
The schedule of matches will be displayed on the social media accounts and on the website
BCR Iasi Open.
On Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, the first matches of the day start at 11:00 and
the last match of the day no earlier than 19:00.
On Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, the first matches of the day start at 13:00 and the last
match of the day no earlier than 19:00.
On Saturday, August 6, the matches start at 13:00.
On Sunday, August 7, the matches start at 12:00.