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Spain’s growing influence on world football will be on full display at Monday’s Ballon d’Or gala, when the sport’s top performers will be honoured at a glittering ceremony in London. Four of the five nominees for the Johan Cruyff Trophy for men’s coach of the year are Spanish, as are two of the candidates for the women’s trophy. The shortlists reflect how the country, after years of winning men’s and women’s titles, has turned into a major exporter of coaching expertise. After decades in the...

Jay Rooney SPEEDY POWER - R5 (13) Great first run for new stable and can strike from an improved draw   Owen Goulding HAPPY BOSS - R11 (9) Lead-up trials suggest he's improved this season and stable is in hot form   Paul Lally ALMIGHTY LIGHTNING - R11 (8) Should be suited up in trip and from a low draw   Phillip Woo SMART FAT CAT - R3 (14) Good run first up for new trainer and can bag a first win from a better draw   Trackwork Spy STORM MIRROR - R8 (1) Broke through impressively last start and...

A marathon runner in China who dragged a nine-year-old boy around a half-marathon using a rope has been handed a three-year ban and had his result erased. Video clips of the child with a rope around his waist struggling to keep up as the pair competed in the Zhengzhou Marathon in Henan province have gone viral, and sparked intense debate online. While some social media users expressed surprise at the boy’s endurance, most condemned the incident, which is believed to have involved a father and...

Hong Kong boccia pair Leung Yuk-wing and Cheung Yuen ensured the city’s delegation ended the Asian Para Games in Japan on a high note with mixed pairs (BC4) gold on Saturday. Coupled with two more bronze medals from their teammates, as well as a pair of medals — a silver and a bronze - from the city’s fencers, Hong Kong concluded the fifth edition of the regional para games in Aichi-Nagoya with 41 medals, bringing home three gold, 14 silver and 24 bronze medals across five sports. After each...

Andrea Atzeni is confident the rise to 1,200m will suit Crimson Flash when the classy sprinter chases a career-best victory in Sunday’s Group Two Lukfook Jewellery Premier Bowl at Sha Tin. After recording four wins in a strong second campaign in Hong Kong, Crimson Flash was sent off the $5.6 third favourite in his return but found the 1,000m too sharp when fifth to Colourful King in the Group Three National Day Cup. Atzeni said the Mark Newnham-trained gelding also didn’t appreciate being...

David Hall has enjoyed a fine start to the season and unleashes improving sprinter Ka Ying Attack and excitement machine Ka Ying Lightning in a bid to keep the good times rolling at Sha Tin on Sunday. The Australian trainer sits seventh in the trainers’ premiership on eight winners for the season thus far, with his strike-rate of 38.5 per cent being the strongest in the city. Hall is well aware things can change very quickly in racing, but his stable is bouncing at present and he is enjoying the...

China may have unearthed another swimming sensation in 12-year-old Hu Rundong, who turned heads by winning gold, setting records and meeting first-class standards at a provincial event this week. Hu emerged as the stand-out performer in the junior swimming division at the 21st Jiangsu Provincial Games, winning five gold and four silver medals across 10 events. Competing in the boys’ 12-year-old category, the Suzhou native competed in breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle and individual medley...

Tom Ballantyne was playing a pre-season friendly for Welsh club Monmouth Town when he “got clattered” and sustained a tibia plateau fracture. “I broke my knee joint, essentially,” Ballantyne said. “I never played again”. So began a life investment in coaching that would see Ballantyne stacking supermarket shelves overnight, then spending long days on the grass. He has been employed by Cardiff City and Aston Villa, and managed in three of Australia’s six states. The Englishman was the man Jim...

The para table tennis team are quickly becoming the city’s most successful group at the current Asian Para Games at Aichi-Nagoya after taking home a few more medals on Friday. On the penultimate day of the seven-day event, Ng Mui-wui partnered Wong Ting-ting to win the women’s doubles (class 22) silver medal after the pair overcame Chinese Taipei duo Li Jing-shiuan and Lydia Li Yi-ya 3-1 in their final group match. It was Wong’s third medal from the current games after the 23-year-old also took...

Ante Milicic has left his post as coach of China’s national women’s team, the football association said on Friday, eight months before the World Cup. The 52-year-old Australian had been in charge since May 2024 and led the team to the semi-finals of the Women’s Asian Cup in March. That finish earned them a spot at next year’s World Cup in Brazil. Milicic also recently took China to fourth place at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan after losing 2-0 to North Korea in the semi-finals. “After...

Matthew Cheung rode a wave of emotion and a little bit of luck to take a three-shot lead in the Link Hong Kong Open on Friday, leaving himself 36 holes from making history. Beginning the day two strokes back, Cheung carded a sensational eight-under-par 62 to move to 14 under overall, with Caleb Surratt alone in second on 11 under after also posting a 62. Overnight leaders Anirban Lahiri and Kevin Yuan could not match their first-round fireworks, with the former’s 68 leaving him in a tie for...

Days after the World Fencing League (WFL) said it would start its 2027 season in Hong Kong, the sport’s world governing body has warned athletes and officials against taking part in unauthorised events In an official statement released on Thursday, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) said the league was not an official competition and it had not sanctioned any of its proposed tournaments. Signed by FIE secretary general Gulnora Saidova, the statement also pointed to the federation’s...