More Confidence for the African Region

Madonna, Bob Dylan and Jack White have banned phones from their concerts. An exasperated Adele once asked an audience member: “Can you stop filming me? … You can enjoy it in real life rather than through your camera.” In the sporting sphere, however, those bastions of decorum at Augusta National Golf Club are alone in waging war on mobile devices, employing a strict cell phone ban for patrons attending the US Masters. Mark Calcavecchia, the 1989 Open Championship winner and veteran of 18...

Jay Rooney DANICA'S CHOICE - R8 (8) Finished last season in top form and has trialled well ahead of his return   Owen Goulding JUMBO BLESSING - R6 (1) Dominant first up and can complete the hat-trick on the way to better things   Paul Lally DANICA'S CHOICE - R8 (8) Has won two trials ahead of his reappearance and looks ready to win tonight   Phillip Woo MATZDEN - R2 (4) Produced an eye-catching return and can go one better tonight   Trackwork Spy CLOUD NINE - R4 (6) Ended last season in good...

Plagued by controversy ranging from athlete accommodation and dining complaints to severe operational blunders including misrecorded scores and incorrect national anthems, Asian Games host Japan has faced criticism for deflecting blame onto delegations and foreign contractors rather than addressing its own shortcomings. And now some in the country are worried they could be landed with the label of hosting the “worst Asian Games ever”. On Tuesday, the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organising Committee...

Pan Zhanle admitted he had a “fire burning inside” during his successful title defence of the men’s 100m freestyle at the Asian Games. Motivated by a rival’s claim that he was not unbeatable, the 22-year-old “controlled his anger” to overturn two South Korean swimmers in the final 10 metres to snatch gold. A day later on Monday, swimming the third leg in a team with Xu Haibo, Fei Liwei and Zhang Zhanshuo, he led China to its first men’s 4x200m freestyle relay Asian Games gold in 16 years,...

Hong Kong’s Ryan Choi Chun-yin came with a whisker of winning Asian Games gold on Tuesday, and said after suffering a losing run in mahjong he felt his luck had been about to change. The 28-year-old former world champion had dominated for much of the day, and even when behind, launched a stunning fightback in the final of the men’s individual foil competition. Battling local hero Kazuki Iimura, Choi found himself in a hole early on at the Aichi Sky Expo, and slipped 4-2 behind quite...

Siobhan Haughey was already the best swimmer Hong Kong has ever produced, much more like this and she will easily be the best athlete in the city’s history. The Hongkonger stormed to her second gold inside 24 hours at the Asian Games on Tuesday, sweeping all before her in the women’s 100m freestyle. Haughey touched the wall at Tokyo Aquatics Centre in 52.45 seconds, with China pair Yu Yiting and Cheng Yujie grabbing silver and bronze in 53.21 and 53.47 respectively. “I’m pretty satisfied,”...

Andrea Atzeni is excited about his prospects of adding to his seasonal tally at Happy Valley on Wednesday night before turning his attention to his first ride on Helios Express in Sunday’s Group Three Celebration Cup (1,400m). Sitting on two wins from the first four meetings, the Sardinian jockey heads to the city circuit armed with eight rides before teaming up with John Size’s multiple Group One placegetter Helios Express. Hugh Bowman has been the consistent sprinter’s regular rider for most...

Ryan Choi Chun-yin will fight for individual foil gold at the Asian Games on Tuesday, after Cheung Ka-long’s early exit left him carrying the city’s hopes all on his own. Choi breezed through the knockout rounds of the tournament, displaying some sparkling form on the piste, and winning all five of his bouts in the pool stage. Alongside South Korean’s Lee Kwang-hyun and Youn Jeong-hyun, he was one of only three foilists to receive a bye straight to the round of 16. There, he quickly dispatched...

Having long ago agreed to coaching duties with Hong Kong this week, the interim Eastern head coach Cristiano Cordeiro has landed himself with a calendar clash. “It’s chaos,” he said, a light-hearted comment that would aptly describe Eastern’s embryonic campaign. Beaten in their opening match by newly promoted Supreme Sha Tin, who have since lost four straight games, Eastern then received two red cards in a 4–1 defeat by Tai Po. One of them went to Leung Kwun-chung, who duly resigned as...

The Asian Games is well under way, and for Hong Kong the belief that day three will bring more medals is largely guided by the fact that athletes who have been there and done that are back in action. Fencing starts at the Aichi Sky Expo on Tuesday, the swimming continues in Tokyo, and the women’s road cycling has the potential to serve up a surprise. Here there are five things to know as the region’s best get ready to do battle once again in Japan. Chasing gold Siobhan Haughey cruised to victory...

China’s Yu Zidi was less than a year old when Siobhan Haughey first made the world sit up and take notice of her talent in the pool, 13 years later they are both Asian Games gold medallists and young talent is the order of the day. On Monday, Haughey defended her women’s 200m freestyle title with a crushing victory, and Yu laid down an Asian record in winning the women’s 200m individual medley. Three years ago in Hangzhou, it was Haughey setting regional and Games records, and while not “as fast...

Hong Kong’s athletes had a Monday to remember at the Asian Games, picking up six medals, and if Siobhan Haughey’s gold was more expected than hoped for, the reverse was true elsewhere. Success across wushu, triathlon, karate and swimming took the city’s overall tally to eight, with the belief more should follow when the city’s fencers enter the mix for the first time on Tuesday. Lydia Sham Hui-yu got things started with victory in the women’s wushu changquan, and there were sighs of relief all...