China basketball chief Guo warns national team, domestic league entering critical time

Ka Ying Rising has lost 10lb since his Randwick trial last week and David Hayes has declared his champion sprinter “10 per cent better” than last year as he prepares to defend his crown in Saturday’s Group One The Everest (1,200m). Hayes said Ka Ying Rising has improved significantly since his solid but unspectacular second on a soft Randwick track in last Tuesday’s trial, with the nine-time Group One winner impressing in his final main gallop at Canterbury on Monday morning. Bidding for a 22nd...

Enzo Maresca said Manchester City must “make their own noise” to drown out the distraction of the guilty verdict on over 100 charges of breaking Premier League financial rules. In their first match since the bombshell ruling, City showed they are unfazed by the uncertainty over potential sanctions as they ignored the hostile Anfield atmosphere to beat 10-man Liverpool 3-0 on Sunday. City boss Maresca has made a flawless start to the daunting task of replacing Pep Guardiola. The Italian has won...

Seira Kojima does not remember the karting crash that left her with metal plates and screws in places they have no business being in a 15-year-old girl, but she can describe it pretty well. She has seen video of her “rear tyre getting bumped” and the vehicle spinning through the air, and has the scars to back up the resulting injuries, which included a fracture of her right scapula, and a broken collarbone. The terrifying incident at the All Japan Kart Championship in April, which left her in an...

Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he will publish all details of his dealings with Manchester City in his previous mayoral role after his intervention in support of the football club’s owners raised eyebrows. Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch had urged him to publish “everything” related to his work with the club as Greater Manchester mayor. City have been found guilty of breaching Premier League financial regulations between 2009 and 2018. The club maintained their innocence and...

Zheng Qinwen became the first home winner of the China Open on Sunday as she beat Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-4, in front of a partisan crowd in Beijing. The former world No 4 and current Olympic champion was a wild-card entry, having struggled with form and fitness after elbow surgery in 2025. At one point this year she had dropped as low as 122nd in the world. It was the 54th-ranked Zheng’s first title in nearly two years, and her first ever at the WTA 1000 level, and tears filled...

He’s been “one of the hardest horses for me to train in my career”, but Caspar Fownes has high hopes for Megastar Heart finally fulfilling his potential after a stunning return at Sha Tin on Sunday. Restricted to three local starts after battling ongoing problems, the Australian import rewarded Fownes and the Good Time Syndicate’s patience with a dominant two-length win in the Class Three San Tin Handicap (1,200m). The performance was not a surprise to Fownes, who said Megastar Heart could...

David Hall rang up his 700th Hong Kong win at Sha Tin on Sunday after Ka Ying Attack capped his double with a barnstorming win the Class Two Yuen Long Handicap (1,200m). Ending last season with a pair of smashing front-running successes, the Too Darn Hot galloper made his return needing to overcome barrier 10 with a huge amount of pace drawn to his inside. Despite that, he was well backed into $5.5 behind fellow hat-trick seeker and favourite Jumbo Treasure and Turquoise Velocity, and was...

Cycling bosses issued a fulsome apology on Sunday after furious riders branded The Sun Hung Kai Properties Hong Kong Cyclothon a “bike-pushing festival” and the city “the international capital of embarrassing fails”. A chaotic end and mid-race route change in the 32km (19.9 mile) ride prompted myriad complaints from competitors, with most angry at being turned away from Ting Kau Bridge and then finding themselves forced to complete the course on foot. In a lengthy statement, the Cycling...

Cinemas across China will throw open their doors for a special showing on Sunday, but it isn’t the latest blockbuster fans are flocking to see – it’s tennis star Zheng Qinwen. The Olympic champion has finally broken her country’s China Open curse, and will be the first home player to compete in a singles final, men’s or women’s, since Chen Li lost to Chinese Taipei’s Wang Shi-ting in 1996. With the National Tennis Centre in Beijing selling out, cinemas across the mainland have opted to show the...

A new deal signed by NBA China and Shanghai Jiushi will see the league help the Chinese Basketball Association side with the development of its players, coaches and front office. The collaboration with the reigning CBA champions is the first of its kind, and comes as the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets clash in two pre-season friendlies in Macau. According to a statement released by the NBA, the agreement will cover four key areas: elite player development, competition opportunities, coach...

Manchester City have a puncher’s chance of successfully contesting the ruling that they were guilty of all charges relating to flagrant breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules, but should their argument fall flat, the 10-time English champions can expect to be clobbered with swingeing penalties. Those are the views of Luca Ferrari and Daniel Gore, specialists in sports and litigation law, respectively, after City were found guilty by a three-person independent commission of 80 charges...

A resurgent Zheng Qinwen charged into the China Open final on Saturday, beating Elise Mertens 7-5, 6-2, and will play Mirra Andreeva for the title at her home tournament. It is another step in the Olympic gold medallist’s injury comeback, following a gritty showing at last month’s US Open, where she reached the quarter-finals. Zheng, a former world No 4, had struggled with her form since needing elbow surgery in 2025 and is a wild-card entry in Beijing. “I had a great performance tonight,” said...