【体育】Raul Lozano introduced as men's volleyball coach

Raul Lozano introduced as men's volleyball coach

In volleyball,

Raul Lozano has been formally introduced as the coach of China's men's team.

Lozano is the first foreign coach in the team's history.

The 60-year-old Argentine has a lot of work to do to realize his goals in China.

"Our goal is to compete in the Tokyo Olympic Games, this is the most important. I have led Spain, Poland and Iran at the Olympic Games and I hope to do so with China. Before that we have a lot of tough matches. What I need to do immediately is to know my players and learn how they play, what they think and how they train, if there are any injuries and what they need to improve physically."

China will have 3 big tournaments this year: the World League, the Asian Championship, and the qualifiers for next year's World Cup.

China's men team's only appearance at the Olympics was in Beijing where they qualified as hosts.

New coaches for Guizhou, Changchun

In football,

Chinese Super League club Guizhou Zhicheng has announced Gregorio Manzano as its coach.

Manzano posted on his Twitter account that he will be in the position until the end of this season.

His task is to help Zhicheng avoid relegation from the top division.

Manzano will take over from Li Bing who will focus on youth training instead.

Zhicheng is Manzano's 3rd Chinese Super League team. He was also coach for Beijing Guo'an and Shanghai Shenhua previously.

In news from other clubs,

Changchun Yatai has sacked coach Lee Jang-Soo over a poor run of results.

Lee took over Yatai last season and successfully guided the team to safety but has only managed one point from 5 matchdays this season.

They were also eliminated from the CFA Cup by a lower-division team.

Technical director Chen Jingang will fill in the position as head coach.

Chen Long to defend world title as only wildcard in Glasgow

In badminton,

Former world number one Chen Long has received the only wildcard for this year's World Championships.

The Badminton World Federation decided to grant Chen the wildcard based on his status as reigning Olympic and world champion.

Chen stood at number 9 in the world rankings at the qualifying deadline and was short of automatic qualification.

The wildcard will allow him to defend his title in Glasgow in August.

3 other Chinese men's players, Shi Yuqi, Tian Houwei and Lin Dan, will be competing in the championships.

Leonard's 34 points gives Spurs win over Rockets

In the NBA,

The San Antonio Spurs overcame the loss of Tony Parker to beat the Houston Rockets 121-96 to level the Western Conference semifinals at one game apiece.

Parker was carried off the floor in the 4th quarter with a knee injury.

He had 18 points before he left the court.

The man of the night was Kawhi Leonard who had a game-high 34 points.

Even Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni could not help praising the forward.

"I mean Kawhi (Leonard) was unbelievable and we expected all that. But we some opportunities, 50/50 balls they got, we didn't get and we have to have a little bit more fight in us to beat these guys two times at home. It's just, we just didn't do it tonight."

In the Eastern Conference,

The Cavaliers topped the Raptors 125-103 to extend their lead to 2-0.

This morning,

The Celtics are taking on the Wizards,

And the Warriors are against the Utah Jazz.

NHL, MLB roundup

In the NHL,

There is only one game today, as the Ottawa Senators visit the New York Rangers. The Sens lead the Eastern Conference semifinal series by two games to 1. The action in New York is just getting underway.

In MLB,

It's another typically busy day with 12 games in action. Seven of them are already done, including the Washington Nationals at home to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Nationals have had a great start to the year and won once again, 4-2 over the Diamondbacks. The Cincinnati Reds defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates by the same score. Elsewhere, it took 13 innings, but the Cubs ultimately defeated the Phillies 5-4... Colorado @San Diego...

Baltimore at Boston, Miami at Tampa Bay, Milwaukee at St Louis, and the New York Mets at the Atlanta Braves are all underway now, in the early innings.

The final game on the day will feature the LA Angels in Seattle to take on the Mariners.

Alonso happy at IndyCar; Rossi looks ahead to 3000th MotoGP race

In auto racing,

Two-time formula one world champion Fernando Alonso says he is happy about the conditions after he passed the IndyCar rookie orientation test.

"What I felt in the car it was more or less what I expected. Also, thanks to the simulator test that we did in the last couple of weeks, so I think it's quite realistic what you feel there, so more or less what I experienced today it was expected. What is different now is my excitement of the race itself. I am very excited about the race, but now that I tested the car, and drove the car, I am much more focused, and concentrate on the work in business than the whole thing. "

Alonso completed another 110 laps having passed the test.

He got very close to last year's pole position speed in those laps.

In MotoGP,

Drivers' Championship leader Valentino Rossi is back at one of his favorite tracks in Jerez for the Spanish Grand Prix.

"I know very well the track and also it is one of the best tracks of the season and one of the best weekends. For me the feeling that you have when you exit turn 8 and you enter in the stadium, especially Sunday with the good weather (and) full of people and you did good part of the track with a lot of noise so it's a great atmosphere and a great motivation also."

Rossi leads Yamaha teammate Maverick Vinales by 6 points.

The field will be celebrating a landmark at the Spanish Grand Prix which is the 3-thousands race in the World Championship.

Teams introduced ahead of Giro start

In cycling,

Teams have been introduced for the 100th edition of the Giro d'Italia.

This year's tournament will take a 3 thousand 6 hundred kilometer trek from Sardinia to Milan over the course of 3 weeks.

Among the contenders for the pink jersey is Movistar's Nairo Quintana who will race both the Giro and the Tour de France for an ambitious double this season.

Lotto rider Steven Kruijswijk cracked under pressure from challenges from Vincenzo Nibali in the last edition and is hoping to challenge for the title again.

"Of course I hope to keep the jersey until the end if I wear it. I'm confident after last year I can be up there with the strong riders who will start this year and hopefully I will stay fighting until the end for the pink jersey."

Home favorite and last year's winner Nibali lined up for Bahrain-Merida and has the whole team built around him.

Nibali's former team Astana was introduced without would-be leader Michele Scarponi who was killed while training last month.

The race will dedicate the prestigious Mortirolo clime to Scarponi and name it in his honor.

A minute's silence will be observed at the grand start later today.

Two Bardiani riders' Giro ended before it began.

Traces of growth hormones were found in the samples collected last month from Stefano Piazzi and Nicola Ruffoni.

The team has said it will proceed with the suspension and immediately dismiss the riders if the positive results are confirmed.