Volleyball

Cuba and Japan men's volleyball teams, U-23 category, held a friendly match at the 19 de Noviembre Multipurpose Sport Room in Pinar del Rio city, as part of the preparation of both squads.

Cuba won 3 sets to 1 (17-25, 25- 21, 25-13 and 25- 12), and according to Ariel Sainz, Cuban volleyball national commissioner and president of the Cuban Federation of the sport, this was the 2nd match of this kind held in the country from a total of 3.

He added that these are match ups to train the athletes from the Asian nation with a view toward the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and Cubans to their next international commitments.

Meanwhile, Rodolfo Sanchez, Cuba's head coach, stressed the importance of these matches for the young team, and he asserted they aspire to obtain good results in the World League this year.

He also emphasized the collective work of local athletes for the sake of team victory, beyond individual results.

Australian City of Brisbane to Bid for 2028 Olympic Games

The mayor of Brisbane, Australia, Graham Quirk said Thursday the city is planning to host the Olympic Games in 2028. The official said that would be the natural choice for the next Australian candidacy. Quirk added he will propose the plan at a meeting of mayors of Australia's east coast in early March.

In November, Brisbane hosted the G-20 Summit, with thousands of participants from around the world, which is a kind of guarantee for the summer event returning to Australia, 28 years after Sydney's success.

The Australian city could face Berlin or Hamburg in the candidacy bidding process.

In addition to Germany's candidate cities, Doha (Qatar), Madrid (Spain) and Lima (Peru) have shown interest to host one of the greatest sports event in the world.

However, so far everything is at proposal levels, as the official announcements for the appointment of 2024 are expected to take place on January 2016, while the announcement for 2028 will happen four years later.

NBA's 1st African-American player Earl Lloyd passes away at 86

In the United States, the National Basketball Association, the NBA, lost one of its foremost pioneers and a Hall of Famer on Thursday.

Earl Lloyd - the first ever African-American who broke the race barrier to play in the NBA - passed away at the age of 86 on Thursday.

Lloyd suited up for the Washington Capitols on October 31, 1950, the first of three African-Americans to play in the NBA in the 1950-51 season.

Lloyd went on to play 10 seasons in the NBA, finishing with 4,682 points and 3,609 rebounds.

Lloyd was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.