VAPORESSO Looks Back on a Bumper Year of Award Wins

Hong Kong tennis star Coleman Wong Chak-lam settled for second best in yet another ATP Challenger final after losing 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 to France’s Térence Atmane at the Seoul Open on Sunday. The defeat pushed Wong’s career ATP Challenger finals record to 1-7, with his only victory coming in Jiujiang in China in May, when he edged Adam Walton of Australia 7-5, 7-6 to become the first Hongkonger to ever win an ATP title. Last weekend, Wong lost to Australia’s Tristan Schoolkate in the final of the ATP...

The inaugural Heung Yee Kuk Northern Metropolis Marathon drew praise from elite and international runners for its novel route along the newly opened Fanling Bypass, even as unseasonal morning heat, rolling slopes and initial logistical hiccups pushed competitors to their limits. Concluding at midday on Sunday, the race drew roughly 15,000 mostly local entrants, with Hong Kong runners sweeping top honours across almost all divisions except the men’s half-marathon, which was won by a competitor...

Lewis Hamilton said his success in becoming Formula One’s oldest pole sitter since 1982 is down to a love of racing that helps keep him “young and fit” at 41. The seven-time champion claimed his maiden pole with Ferrari and his first since 2023 on Saturday, topping the qualifying times ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell at the Mexico City Grand Prix. It made him the oldest pole sitter since Mario Andretti’s final pole with Ferrari at the 1982 Italian Grand Prix – when the Italian-American was 42...

Darren Gough has thrown his weight behind plans to take the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes global in the image of rugby sevens’ world series. In the city to commentate on this year’s ongoing edition, former England fast bowler Gough also slammed the “lack of accountability” for his own country’s cricketing “demise over the past two years”. Ahead of the 2026 Sixes, local cricket chiefs established a partnership with giant Indian enterprise JSW Sports, intended to accelerate the introduction of a...

Jay Rooney GEORGIAN SIGMA - R4 (2) Tough second from a wide gate last start and can go one better here   Owen Goulding LUCK IS BACK - R2 (9) In-form sort should be able to cross and get a soft lead he can take to the bank   Paul Lally DANICA'S CHOICE - R10 (4) Very progressive type who looks set to continue his hot form at the Valley   Phillip Woo FALCON HUNTER - R1 (1) Racing well and has drawn ideally under an in-form rider   Trackwork Spy TURQUOISE VELOCITY - R7 (4) Can go one better after...

Two of the region’s rising stars could be on a collision course after Filipino sensation Alexandra Eala and Chinese teenage starlet Sun Xinran were picked on the same side of the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open draw on Saturday. Eala will take on Alycia Parks in the first round, while Sun, who is set to play in only her second WTA250 event in as many weeks, has Czech player Tereza Valentova in her way. The 46-year-old seven-time grand slam champion Venus Williams will play compatriot Mary...

The only weekend day meeting of the year at Happy Valley takes place on Sunday, with a competitive 10 races on offer for punters to get stuck into. Jay Rooney is in the hot seat to provide an extended rundown of his selections. Race 1 – Class Five Dongguan Handicap (1,200m) Falcon Hunter has run second in each of his two starts since joining the James Cummings stable and gets his chance to go one better with in-form apprentice Nichola Yuen Hang-yiu on board. Race 2 – Class Four Foshan Handicap...

Leylah Fernandez hailed her “mental fortitude” after setting up a Pan Pacific Open title clash against Russia’s Diana Shnaider on Saturday. The world No 23 from Canada defeated Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova 7-5, 6-3 in Tokyo to reach a second final in a row. Fernandez won her first title of the season in Singapore in September and followed that up by reaching the decider last week in Ningbo, where she lost to world No 1 Elena Rybakina. In Sunday’s final, Fernandez will face 13th-ranked Shnaider...

Andrea Atzeni will be looking to take advantage of some in-form horses and good barriers when he rides the likes of last-start winners Danica’s Choice and Absolute Honour at Happy Valley on Sunday. Chief among the Sardinian jockey’s chances is the improving Danica’s Choice, who has come to life since the fitting of blinkers and goes for local win number three in the Class Three Guangzhou Handicap (1,200m). The Swiss Ace galloper is not one of Atzeni’s rides blessed with a kind draw, having to...

Nonagenarian Japanese bodybuilder ⁠Toshisuke Kanazawa took to ⁠the stage on Spain’s Costa del ⁠Maresme on Friday, aiming to prove that age is no barrier to peak physical fitness. The 90-year-old travelled to the coastal town of Santa Susanna to compete against rivals decades his junior in the masters category for athletes aged 50 and older ‌in a competition held by the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation. Backstage, Kanazawa mirrored the preparations of younger competitors, warming...

More race experience has been the key to Jumbo Blessing’s impressive winning streak and Caspar Fownes is confident the progressive sprinter can continue his momentum at Happy Valley on Sunday. The Starspangledbanner bids for a fourth consecutive victory in the Class Three Zhaoqing Handicap (1,000m) at the Valley’s only day meeting of the season after a trio of barnstorming triumphs at the course and distance. After breaking through at the end of last season under Joao Moreira, Jumbo Blessing...

As one of the Indian Premier League’s greatest, and most innovative and recognisable bowlers, Krunal Pandya is appreciating an unusual opportunity to “live a normal life” during his whistle-stop visit to Hong Kong for this weekend’s cricket sixes. “I went for a walk outside after we arrived and it was pretty good,” Pandya told the South China Morning Post. “It’s a different experience, but India is India. I know how it is.” In cricketing terms, that reality is a level of competitiveness that has...