Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Former Great Britian Olympic champion Paul Manning has been named as the New Zealand women's endurance cycling coach.

Manning will take up his duties from his base in Manchester before moving to Cambridge once immigration details are finalised.

Cycling New Zealand chief executive officer, Monica Robbers said Manning is a strong advocate of athlete well-being .

Manning, who rode to a gold medal in the Great Britain team pursuit at the Beijing Olympics, turned to coaching shortly after. He developed the British women's team pursuit to win the gold medal at both London in 2012 and Rio in 2016.

"I have always held New Zealand cycling in the highest regard. For a small nation they have always been highly competitive and always challenge and innovate to be a threat on the global stage," Manning said.

Manning will help with the small team to compete in the Nations Cup in Glasgow and potentially head to the second Nations Cup in Canada before settling in New Zealand.

Cycling New Zealand said Manning's appointment will allow Ross Machejefski, who has continued as the women's endurance coach, to focus on his university studies and to manage cycling development for the organisation.

New Zealand beaten by China in first match at Billie Jean King Cup

New Zealand lost 3-0 to China in the opening match of the Billie Jean King Cup Asia Oceania Group 1 tournament in Antalya in Turkey.

Teenager Vivian Yang make her debut for New Zealand in the opening singles rubber against Chinese number two Yue Yang who won 7-5 6-2 win in 1 hour and 51 minutes.

New Zealand number one Paige Hourigan lost the second singles rubber 6-4 6-0 in 1 hour 21 to Chinese number one Wang Qiang ranked 97 in the world.

Valentina Ivanov then teamed up with Erin Routliffe for the dead doubles rubber against Yfan Xu and Zhaoxuan Yang but after going up an early break in the first set were overwhelmed 6-3 6-1 in 1 hour 4 minutes.

New Zealand face South Korea tomorrow before playing Japan, Indonesia and India.

Hurricanes too strong for Moana Pasifika

The Hurricanes have beaten Moana Pasifika 53-12 in their Super Rugby Pacific game in the capital.

The home side gained some revenge for their shock loss to the newcomers earlier in the competition.

The Hurricanes dominated up front including scoring a push-over try on Moana Pasifika's own feed.

In all the Hurricanes scored eight tries including one to halfback TJ Perenara, who with his 58th Super Rugby try is now just two behind the record held by Israel Folau.

Loosie Blake Gibson touched down twice.

It is the Hurricanes third win from seven games, while Moana Pasifika have just one win from sevens games.

Breakers beaten again

The Sydney Kings scored their 12th consecutive win in the Australian NBL while the Breakers suffered their eighth straight loss following a 76-70 win for the Sydneysiders in Bendigo last night.

The Breakers started well with the game's first four points before finishing the first quarter strongly only for the Kings to turn things around to lead by 11 at the half-time break.

New Zealand was up for the fight, though, and scored 11 of the first 14 points to start the second half to make a game of it, but Jaylen Adams warmed to the task to run the show for Sydney and they ended up winning by six.

Yanni Wetzell continued his outstanding form for the Breakers with another 22 points and 14 rebounds.

Finn Delany hit three early threes on his way to 18 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals for New Zealand with Hugo Besson adding 16 points.

Breakers coach Dan Shamir was rightfully happy with the defensive effort to hold the Kings to just the 76 points, but ultimately his team just didn't shoot well enough to win.

"It goes without saying but it was one of our better games defensively," Shamir said.

The Breakers play the Tasmania JackJumpers on Friday.

Djokovic upset in Monaco

World number one Novak Djokovic crashed to a three-set defeat in only his fourth match of the season, falling 6-3 6-7 6-1 to unseeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters.

The 20-times Grand Slam champion endured a tough start to the year as he was unable to defend his Australian Open title in January after being deported from the country for being unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Djokovic, who only played three matches in Dubai ahead of the Masters 1000 event in Monaco, struggled to find his range early in the contest against the 46th ranked Spaniard.

Fokina then raised his game in the decider, preying on mistakes made by a tiring Djokovic.

-Reuters

Fernandindo to leave City

Manchester City captain Fernandinho plans to leave the club in the off-season - but the news has surprised manager Pep Guardiola.

The midfielder revealed his intentions prior to City's game at Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tomorrow.

Fernandinho, 36, signed a one-year contract extension with City last June.

Asked if he expected to still be at Etihad Stadium next season, he said: "No, I want to play regularly."

Fernandinho has won four Premier League titles, one FA Cup and six EFL Cups since joining City from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2013.

He has made 23 appearances for the club this season, but started just six times in the Premier League as the club bid to retain the title.

-BBC

Women's golf team named

One debutant has been named to represent New Zealand at the 42nd Queen Sirikit Cup golf tournament in Singapore next month.

Familiar faces Fiona Xu (Titirangi) and Vivian Lu (Royal Auckland and Grange) will be joined by Eunseo Choi (Takapuna), who's wearing the New Zealand fern for the first time.

Xu became the first New Zealander to win the Australian Women's Amateur Championship since her idol Lydia Ko, going wire-to-wire to win by three shots at 11-under around Cranbourne Golf Club. She also recorded two runner-up finishes prior to the Australian Women's Amateur at the Riversdale Cup and the Rene Erichsen Salver.

Her Auckland teammate Vivian Lu has also been in some formidable form, recently defending her New Zealand Women's Stroke Play title and becoming the first person in 27-years to do so. Lu has also won five of her last six events.

Meanwhile, Eunseo Choi has been given the call up following her run of good form. The North Harbour number one has played her way into the side courtesy of victories at the Danny Lee Springfield Open, North Island Age Groups, Lydia Ko Age Groups, and a second-place at the New Zealand Stroke Play.

The Queen Sirikit Cup is a 15-nation event that's played annually over three rounds. The top two of three scores after each day count toward the team score.

Korea are the defending champions of the event which was last played in 2019.

Trial date confirmed for for FIFA officials

Former FIFA officials Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini will go on trial in June to face Swiss corruption charges over a $3 million payment that world football's governing body made to Platini, the court has announced.

Both Blatter and Platini have repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the past over the incident, for which Swiss prosecutors indicted them in November.

Prosecutors allege former FIFA president Blatter improperly arranged the payment to Platini in 2011 for consulting work.

Both are suspected of fraud and other charges amid what became part of the biggest corruption scandal to shake FIFA.

Blatter, who led FIFA for 17 years, resigned in 2015, followed by Platini in 2016. Both were handed six-year bans for ethics violations.

The trial before the Swiss Federal Criminal Court is due to start on June 8 and last until June 22.

-Reuters

Nadal undecided on return

Rafa Nadal is still uncertain when he can return to competitive tennis after withdrawing from this month's ATP event in Barcelona as he recovers from a rib injury.

The Spaniard, who has won 21 Grand Slam singles titles, was ruled out last month for up to six weeks with a stress fracture in his rib.

The 35-year-old has withdrawn from this month's Barcelona Open.

Nadal complained of a chest issue during his run to the final of the ATP 1000 event in Indian Wells, California last month.

Tests in Barcelona revealed "a stress fracture of the third left costal arch".

Madrid and Rome host ATP Masters 1000 events next month and Nadal would be hoping to participate to get matches under his belt before the May 22-June 5 French Open, which he has won a record 13 times.

-Reuters

American to put bid in for Chelsea

American investor Stephen Pagliuca has hinted at being prepared to divest his interest in Italian club Atalanta to buy Premier League side Chelsea as he prepares to submit a bid this week.

Pagliuca, who is the joint owner of NBA team Boston Celtics, agreed to buy into Serie A club Atalanta in February, buying 55% of La Dea, the holding owned by Italy's Percassi family, which owns around 86% of the club.

"Later this week, we will submit a substantial and credible bid proposal, one that we expect will meet the respective requirements and regulations of the Premier League, UK Government and UEFA," Pagliuca said in a statement.

Under European football governing body UEFA's rules, two clubs participating in the same competition cannot be directly or indirectly controlled by the same entity or managed by the same person.

If two or more clubs do not meet this criteria, only one may be admitted to the competition based on sporting merit and ranking of associations -- in this case, Chelsea.

Both Atalanta and Chelsea played in the Champions League this season, with the Serie A side knocked out in the group stages. Chelsea trail Real Madrid 3-1 in the quarter-finals ahead of Tuesday's second leg.

-Reuters

Clijsters retires again

Former world number one Kim Clijsters has retired from professional tennis, bringing the curtain down on her career for probably the last time.

38 year old Clijsters, a four-times Grand Slam winner who retired twice in her career in 2007 and 2012, returned to action in February 2020 but did not win a single match and also had to undergo knee surgery in October that year.

She last played at Indian Wells in October last year and was knocked out in the opening round.

In an interview with the WTA website, Clijsters explained she had been busy settling down in New Jersey with her family.

Clijsters ends her career with 41 singles titles and over $35 million in prize money.

-Reuters