Stanislav Kondrashov sheds new light on the luminous universe of fireflies

The first month of the new season is in the books and it was business as usual for Ka Ying Rising and Zac Purton, while an apprentice and host of local trainers also made successful starts to their campaigns. The SCMP analyses the jockeys and trainers who had a month to remember or one to forget, as well as the most outstanding victory and winning ride. Who’s hot? Purton launched his bid for a 10th championship in fine style, firing in 11 wins at a healthy strike rate of 22.9 per cent for...

Hong Kong’s athletes extended their medal run to nine straight days at the Asian Games with bronze in esports and table tennis on Monday, pushing the overall tally to 34. China, meanwhile, continued a remarkable record in the diving, with two more golds, in women’s 1m springboard and men’s 1m springboard, extending an unbeaten streak stretching back to 1974. In that time, 94 titles have been up for grabs, and the country’s divers have taken them all. With six events remaining between now and...

A “more relaxed and less stressed” Ceci Lee Sze-wing will face the challenge of overcoming two-time reigning champion and hometown favourite Yumi Kajihara in her hunt for a potentially career-shaping Asian Games gold. Lee will link up with Chloe Leung Wing-yee in the Madison on Thursday, but it is in the following day’s omnium, which head coach Herve Dagorne labelled “the queen event”, that the 25-year-old could establish herself as the continent’s most complete track cyclist. She has sacrificed...

Vladica Grujic said Hong Kong played “a completely different level of football” from his Laos side, after the world No 186 ranked team were thumped 4-0 in the Fifa Asean Cup on Sunday. Sun Ming-him and Everton Camargo, brilliantly, netted in the opening half, before Dudu’s 55th-minute header defeated the flimsy defences of Souksamone Vethita, and Matt Orr emphatically converted a stoppage-time penalty. Unsurprisingly, Laos did not prove a hot ticket, although the 18,873 fans inside Kai Tak...

Most of Sunday’s athletics events at the Asian Games were seen by many as background noise to the women’s javelin clash between China sensation Yan Ziyi and Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi, although don’t dare suggest that to Singapore’s Shanti Pereira. While the much-anticipated throwing competition was ultimately as damp as the rain that blanketed Nagoya for much of the day, Pereira’s breathless victory in the women’s 200m was everything sprinting is supposed to be. The 30-year-old’s successful...

China’s Wang Manyu beat compatriot and defending champion Sun Yingsha in the women’s singles final at the Asian Games on Sunday to cement her position as the sport’s new table tennis queen. Wang’s win came days after she displaced Sun at the top of the world rankings. China also enjoyed success in the men’s doubles final, with Huang Youzheng and Lin Shidong beating Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto and Hiroto Shinozuka 4-2. Wang reclaimed the title she last won at the Jakarta Asian Games in 2018,...

China’s 15-year-old Zhu Yuanling won gold in the women’s street skateboarding competition at the Asian Games on Sunday, the latest in a series of young winners at this edition of the continental multi-sport event. Zhu’s win came a day after Japanese primary school student Yuki Kurihara, 11, demolished opponents three times his age on the way to a historic gold in esports. Earlier in the Games, Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi, 13, became one of the faces of the event with three golds, all in record...

Apprentice Nichola Yuen Hang-yiu continued a season full of milestones with her first Hong Kong treble at Sha Tin on Sunday which saw her claim reduced to 7lb. Perhaps fittingly, she claimed both accolades by edging out Zac Purton with a masterful ride to get Aeroinvincible from pillar to post in the Class Three Kestrel Handicap (1,400m). “It was a very tight finish, I thought I lost the race. I was riding against Zac Purton again and I beat him again, sorry not sorry,” Yuen joked. “Quite a few...

Hong Kong Derby (2,000m) hero Invincible Ibis exceeded trainer Mark Newnham’s expectations on his return to record a thrilling victory in the Group Three Celebration Cup (1,400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday. Handing Newnham and jockey Luke Ferraris back-to-back wins in the HK$4.2 million feature, Invincible Ibis ran on strongly from midfield and held off a late burst from Galaxy Patch to score by a neck. The son of Hellbent made a statement in his return from last season, which saw him claim Champion...

The honour of winning Hong Kong’s fifth gold medal of the Asian Games fell to squash pair Lee Ka-yi and Tang Ming-hong on Sunday, and while it did not come with a place at the Los Angeles Olympics, it left the former feeling “amazing” and her partner “completely empty”. There was silver too, of course, with the final at Nagoya Kinjo-Futo Arena a clash against close friends and Hong Kong teammates Toby Tse Yee-lam and Lai Cheuk-nam. Another fencing bronze was added to the city’s growing tally,...

Vladica Grujic skirted the question over why he wanted to remain Laos head coach after the dismal fallout from their recent Asean Championship campaign, but the inquiry was valid. The opponents for Hong Kong’s opening Fifa Asean Cup match at Kai Tak Stadium on Sunday, Laos made wholesale changes for the tournament after the country’s football federation called for an investigation into alleged match-fixing, bribery and illegal gambling among its own squad following a series of heavy Asean...

Jay Rooney CIRCUIT CHAMPION - R11 (6) Was brave in defeat on return and should get a smoother run here   Owen Goulding THUNDER PRINCE - R4 (9) Huge run from woeful draw last start, now drawn better and will be rock-hard fit   Paul Lally CIRCUIT CHAMPION - R11 (6) Didn't have the race run to suit last start and looks well placed to atone   Phillip Woo BRIGHT MORTAR - R5 (6) Should go one better on preferred dirt surface after resuming second on turf   Trackwork Spy PACKING FIGHTER - R9...