SOCCER

Van Bronckhorst defeated in R&F debut

Giovanni van Bronckhorst said his Guangzhou R&F side must move on quickly from "a very disappointing night" after a 3-0 defeat in the Dutch great's first match as a coach in the Chinese Super League.

Former Tottenham midfielder Mousa Dembele conceded a penalty, one of two given away by R&F, as they began the coronavirus-delayed season by losing to Roberto Donadoni's Shenzhen in Dalian.

Van Bronckhorst, a Champions League winner with Barcelona in 2006, will need to lift his R&F squad quickly for a derby clash with Fabio Cannavaro's reigning CSL champion Guangzhou Evergrande on Thursday night.

"Overall a very disappointing night for myself, for the team, for the club, not being able to start the league with that first win," said the 45-year-old former Netherlands captain following Sunday's defeat behind closed doors at Jinzhou Stadium.

OLYMPICS

Original drawing of rings sells for $216K

An original drawing of the Olympic rings by the founder of the modern Games, Pierre de Coubertin, has fetched 185,000 euros ($216,302) at an auction in Cannes.

"The drawing was sold to a Brazilian collector for a price of 185,000 euros plus 27 percent costs, or 234,950 euros," Alexandre Debussy, the associate director of auction house Cannes Encheres, told French media.

Coubertin created the interlocking rings, which are colored blue, yellow, black, green and red on a white field, in 1913. They officially debuted at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium.

The Olympic Manifesto, which was written by Coubertin in 1892 and led to the revival of the Olympic Games, sold for over $8 million at an auction in New York City in December last year.

SNOOKER

Crucible dream dies for three Chinese players

China's Lu Ning battled until the early hours on Monday but still lost to Liam Highfield 6-5 in the third round of the Snooker World Championships qualifiers in Sheffield, England.

Earlier on Monday, China's Tian Pengfei lost to Thai Sunny Akani 6-3, while Luo Honghao was defeated 6-4 by Stuart Carrington.

World No 51 Lu fought back from 1-3 down to lead 5-4, but the 60th-ranked Englishman Highfield held his nerve to narrowly win the 10th frame before taking victory in the decider 87-47.

Liang Wenbo is the only Chinese player who can still reach the main draw at the Crucible Theatre via the qualifying event. China's Ding Junhui and Yan Bingtao have already earned their places thanks to their top-16 rankings.

BASEBALL

Verlander denies he'll miss rest of season

Houston Astros' ace right-hander Justin Verlander has denied a local newspaper report that he will miss the rest of the season because of an elbow injury.

"The report that I'm currently missing the rest of the season is not accurate," Verlander tweeted. "There is a forearm strain... I'm hopeful that with some rest it will heal, and I'll be able to return soon. Thank you for all the well wishes."

Astros manager Dusty Baker also poured cold water on the Houston Chronicle report, saying Verlander will be "shut down for a couple weeks" and adding: "Then we'll reevaluate at that time."

Verlander is an eight-time All-Star and one-time AL MVP, to go along with his two Cy Young awards.

On Sunday, the Astros surrendered a tiebreaking two-run single to rookie Kyle Lewis in the eighth inning of a 7-6 loss to the Seattle Mariners.

Xinhua - Agencies