Hong Kong tennis chief eyes training centre in Spain to improve skills of young players

It was not just the “basic stuff” on the court: Wang Xinyu also wants to improve the mental side after her season ended on Thursday at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open. Tournament sixth seed Wang did not look at her best throughout the match as she lost 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to Antonia Ruzic, failing to get past the second round on her third appearance in the city. The world No 81 Croatian, who is ranked more than 40 places below Wang, will now play Philippines sensation Alexandra Eala, who beat the...

Sports experts and former basketball executives believe that the partnership between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and leading prediction-market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket could be a double-edged sword if not properly managed and supervised. While there was an obvious consensus that the deal was about money, the flip side was that it could drive fan engagement up or down and even pose reputational risks to the league. The agreement was announced late last month, but without...

Pierre Ng Pang-chi is hoping Le Zonda has toughened up since his last run as his promising stayer faces the biggest test of his career in the Group Three Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse (1,800m) at Sha Tin on Sunday. The two-time Irish winner pre-import made quite the impression to cap off last season, breaking through locally at the seventh attempt when sweeping from the back of the field for a comfortable success at Happy Valley over 1,800m. He followed up with a similar performance a month later,...

Harry Kane said he felt “right at home” after he signed a two-year extension at Bayern Munich, keeping the Ballon d’Or winner at the club until 2029, the German champions announced on Thursday. The 33-year-old England captain joined Bayern from Tottenham in 2023 and has scored 156 goals in 161 games in all competitions. “I feel right at home at FC Bayern. I love the club, the fans and the city of Munich. We have a fantastic team and, in Vincent Kompany, a fantastic manager,” Kane said in a...

Saffie Osborne will get her first taste of what she labels every jockey’s dream when she makes her Hong Kong debut with a stacked book of 10 rides at Sha Tin on Sunday. The groundbreaking British rider arrived in the city on Wednesday night bidding to continue her meteoric rise, fresh from becoming the first female jockey to ride a British Classic winner after booting home Highwayman in September’s Group One St Leger. Rated one of the best up-and-coming young jockeys in the world, the...

The Japan Swimming Federation on Wednesday banned world champion swimmer Tomoru Honda until August 2028 over a high-speed car crash last year. The 21-month suspension for the 24-year-old effectively rules him out of the Los Angeles Olympics, with federation officials stating the decision will not be changed. The two-week Olympics start on July 14. According to the indictment, on the morning of November 21 last year in Tama, western Tokyo, Honda drove at speeds between 88km/h (55mph) and 108km/h...

Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said on Wednesday that he would “accept reality” after the 2027 Asian Cup’s postponement from January to December probably cost him his last shot at winning the title before stepping down. The Asian Football Confederation said the tournament in Saudi Arabia would be pushed back almost a year because of “exceptional circumstances” in the region, following Houthi attacks on the host country. Moriyasu was due to lead Japan at the tournament early next year before being...

LIV Golf is expected to wind down operations after BC Partners ⁠Credit pulled its proposed US$300 ⁠million investment in the league, ⁠multiple media outlets reported on Wednesday. BC Partners was looking to replace Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund as the primary financial backer of a circuit that has been trying to emerge from bankruptcy. It had pledged as much as US$300 million for what was called “LIV 2.0”, which was planning at least 10 tournaments, with an emphasis on teams and equity...

One of the last women standing in an attritional Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open has labelled the sport’s relentless calendar “brutal and gruelling”, as 2023 champion Leylah Fernandez on Wednesday added her name to a list of high-profile withdrawals from the tournament. Claire Liu, who delivered a fine second-round performance on Victoria Park Tennis Stadium’s centre court to oust No 8 seed Katie Boulter, also disclosed that she recently deleted her Instagram account because of the hateful...

Zac Purton returned from a two-meeting suspension with a treble at Happy Valley on Wednesday night as Jerry Chau Chun-lok secured a valuable win in the race for a Longines International Jockeys’ Championship berth. Nine-time Hong Kong champion Purton was in vintage form when booting home the David Hall-trained Brownneedsfurther, Jamie Richards’ Storming Dragon and the Cody Mo Wai-kit-trained California Blitz, extending his lead at the top of the premiership to 12 over nearest rival Nichola Yuen...

Chinese basketball icon Yao Ming said children should find a hobby and not view sport as the way to manage stress, while speaking with local primary students in Hong Kong on Wednesday. The former Houston Rockets star took to the pitch at the Hong Kong Football Club alongside Olympic gymnastics champion Li Xiaopeng and table tennis legend Deng Yaping, leading about 25 schoolchildren through a session in non-contact touch rugby. The three Laureus World Sports Academy members were taking part in...

DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings has said he was not ready to throw the doors wide open and welcome back players from LIV ⁠Golf just yet. The remarks came at the same time former world No 1 Jon Rahm said on Tuesday he walked away from LIV Golf because ⁠he was unhappy with the proposed ⁠changes for the breakaway circuit’s next iteration, adding ⁠he had not talked with the PGA Tour about a potential return. The future of LIV is in ⁠doubt after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund cut ⁠off its...