Americas A2P SMS Market 2022 Depends Much on the Increasing ICT Spending

Jay Rooney ACE EAGLE - R7 (4) Narrowly beaten on debut last season and can go one better here   Owen Goulding HOT AIR BALLON - R4 (11) Finished full of run when held up on return and is capable of much better   Paul Lally JOYFUL JOY - R10 (7) Impressive when making a winning return and can repeat the feat   Phillip Woo KINGLY DEMEANOR - R1 (4) Nearly made all first up this season and can make amends on this occasion   Trackwork Spy PACKING FIGHTER - R10 (1) Broke the class record to win last...

Wang Wei-hsuan made sure lightning did not strike twice at the SJM Macau Open, winning in a play-off almost a year after a sudden death shoot-out shattered his hopes of taking the title. Just 364 days after a heartbreaking loss to Germany’s Dominic Foos, the Taiwanese golfer got the better of South Korea’s Im Sung-jae in a final-round battle that went right down to the 72nd hole and beyond. Trailing by a shot heading down the par-5 18th at Macau Golf and Country Club, Wang chipped in for an...

Bidding to bounce back from a heartbreaking The Everest defeat on Ka Ying Rising, Zac Purton has high hopes My Wish can take a step towards becoming Hong Kong’s top miler when he returns in Monday’s Group Two Sha Tin Trophy (1,600m). Purton will take his first race ride on the Mark Newnham-trained My Wish, who has trialled impressively under the champion jockey in preparation for his seasonal reappearance. Last season’s Group One Champions Mile victor has won each of his three dirt trials,...

An organisation registered as the Hyrox Association of Macau has admitted to having no affiliation with the global fitness brand, days after claiming it planned to stage an event in the city. The group, which held a dinner last week to launch its plans, issued a statement on Saturday clarifying its position following the company’s move to halt the unauthorised use of its name and trademark. As part of its launch, the group said it intended to hold a fitness challenge in February, with the format...

Former Chinese table tennis teammates Zhang Jike and Liu Dingshuo have become embroiled in a public feud online, trading accusations of clout-chasing across their respective live-streams, despite having once shared the same provincial training ground. The dispute erupted when 28-year-old Liu took aim at Zhang during a recent broadcast without naming him directly, accusing the decorated Olympian of spending recent years “riding on the national team’s coattails, pulling seniority and stirring up...

Brett Crawford has high hopes for his promising youngster Mr Incredible, but he will need to overcome barrier 11 when he makes his return in Monday’s Class Three Lek Yuen Handicap (1,200m) at Sha Tin. The Toronado galloper created a huge impression for Crawford last campaign, making a sparkling winning debut at Sha Tin in March before having excuses in a subsequent defeat one month later. He took another giant stride forward on his next start, however, when he raced clear of his rivals by three...

Mark Newnham will rely solely on Group One winner My Wish in Monday’s Group Two Sha Tin Trophy (1,600m) as last season’s Derby winner Invincible Ibis’ immediate future is uncertain after suffering a leg injury. Invincible Ibis was withdrawn from the Sha Tin Trophy on Thursday and is facing a long spell on the sidelines after sustaining a left fore ligament injury. It is almost certain he will now miss December’s Group One Hong Kong Mile and Newnham will be as patient as he needs to be as he...

On the face of it, Grand Slam Track should have worked. The brainchild of Michael Johnson, the four-time Olympic gold medal sprinter, the initiative was designed to give track and field a regular season narrative; to position track and field in the global spotlight and reward the world’s best athletes with the cash rewards and superstar profiles that their talents merited. Still, poor crowds for Grand Slam Track’s (GTS) April 2025 debut in Jamaica raised the first red flag. Attendances over the...

Top seed Alexander Zverev fell to a relentless Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the Shanghai Masters semi-finals on Saturday over three tense sets. Davidovich Fokina, ranked world No 26, fought back to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 and will play fellow Spaniard Rafael Jodar in the final on Sunday. The 20-year-old Jodar beat fifth-seed Daniil Medvedev, a decade his senior, 6-3, 6-4 to deny the Russian former world No 1 a chance to return to the championship match he won in 2019. Jodar, ranked 13th, started the...

New Zealand coach Dave Rennie said his team would be ⁠sticking to their expansive ⁠style at next year’s World Cup after ⁠the All Blacks thrashed the Wallabies for a second successive week with some sensational attacking rugby on Saturday. Two convincing wins over Australia have got the New Zealanders back to winning ways after they lost a four-match series against South Africa 3-1. Hong Kong will face both sides when they make their Rugby World Cup debut next year, playing hosts Australia in the...

New York have barely stopped celebrating their first NBA title in 53 years, and the Knicks are already chasing a repeat in a league that is built to stop one. The NBA has crowned a record eight different champions in the past eight seasons. Rules that make it tougher to ‌stack a roster with superstars have turned the league into a free-for-all. The Knicks, however, have a big edge: the band is back together. New York return their five best players – Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG...

Ka Ying Rising’s record winning streak came to an end in dramatic style in the world’s richest turf race on Saturday after the Hong Kong champion’s agonisingly close defeat in the Group One The Everest (1,200m) at Randwick. Bidding to win the A$20 million (HK$109.17 million) race for the second straight year, the David Hayes-trained galloper ran on strongly from midfield but fell half a neck short of Temped in second. Ka Ying Rising was caught wide from barrier 11 under Zac Purton and could not...