Japan drop table tennis star Mima Ito, could axe Sora Matsushima-Miwa Harimoto partnership

The Six Kings Slam tennis tournament originally scheduled for ⁠October has been pushed back to late December, Fifa’s esports finals have been postponed, and officials are considering whether to move the Asian Cup to 2028, after the recent ⁠attacks on Saudi Arabia. A strike on Riyadh’s international airport on Saturday killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 300, with Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement claiming responsibility for the deadliest attack in the kingdom in more than a...

Mark Jackson was a good enough footballer to make 18 Premier League appearances for Leeds United; to play at Old Trafford, Goodison Park, Highbury and Anfield; and to keep the prolific Ian Wright off the scoresheet in an FA Cup victory over Arsenal. As a coach, he led Leeds’ under-18 and under-23 teams to league titles. None of that afforded Jackson a second crack at management in his native England, after his first chance with MK Dons lasted only 4½ months. Not for Jackson the mulligan that is...

Former Hong Kong Derby winner Massive Sovereign rolled back the years with a devastating turn of foot to win at Happy Valley on Wednesday night and has Frankie Lor Fu-chuen dreaming of Group One targets. A dual winner in Ireland pre-import, the No Nay Never galloper was a revelation in his opening local starts, using a Class Three success as a stepping stone to Derby glory when trained by Dennis Yip Chor-hong in 2024. Injuries have plagued the six-year-old since, however, and he had only run...

The chair of English football’s independent regulator has said he expects Manchester City’s appeal after being found guilty of more than 100 breaches of Premier League financial rules to be heard by January. City, who have repeatedly maintained they are innocent of the charges, are currently top of the Premier League table with six wins out of six following their 3-0 win over Liverpool last weekend. No sanction has yet been announced, but City could face a heavy points deduction leading to...

A table tennis team from Chinese Taipei have issued a formal apology on Wednesday after video footage confirmed two of their junior players accidentally triggered a camera flash that disrupted the men’s singles final at the WTT China Smash in Beijing. The incident had initially drawn heavy scrutiny on Japan’s newly crowned world No 1 Sora Matsushima, who was penalised with a yellow card for abruptly interrupting play to complain about the flash and subsequently accused by fans of using...

Fresh from a dominant showing at the Asian Games, teenage track star Chen Yujie is balancing professional training for next year’s world championships with preparations for the national college entrance examinations, setting her sights on a local university. At the recently concluded 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, the 17-year-old bagged four medals before returning home to resume life in the final year of high school. Chen won gold medals in the 100m and two relays, and a silver in the...

Chris Waller concedes “it looks a tough ask” to beat Ka Ying Rising as Sydney’s leading trainer bids to dethrone the Hong Kong champion with a dual-pronged assault on Saturday’s Group One The Everest (1,200m) at Randwick. New Zealand-born Waller will saddle top sprinter Joliestar and Angel Capital in the A$20 million (HK$109.87 million) feature, but he rates Ka Ying Rising as clearly the horse to beat despite the prospect of an unsuitable wet track. A sensational winner of 21 consecutive races,...

South Korea’s football association has told fans to stop “excessive personal attacks”, warning of the “psychological burden” they could inflict on national team players in the crosshairs since their World Cup flop. Hong Myung-bo quit as coach after the team failed to advance past the group stage in North America, and Spanish interim manager Robert Moreno is awaiting word on a possible extension. With the Asian Cup scheduled to take place in January in Saudi Arabia, the national side are engulfed...

It has been a busy start to the season for Andrea Atzeni and he is looking to continue some strong early momentum with the likes of Wukong Jewellery, Californiatotality and Red Brick Warrior at Happy Valley on Wednesday night. The Sardinian has ridden seven winners so far this season from 84 rides, the same number of mounts as champion jockey Zac Purton, and he is grateful for the support as looks to consolidate last season’s career-best tally of 63 winners. “The support is coming in and has...

Explaining his aversion to socialising, Vincent Ho Chak-yiu was suitably succinct. “When I have to talk, it’s a lot of effort,” he told the South China Morning Post. “Harder than riding a horse, for sure.” It is logical that one of Hong Kong’s greatest jockeys feels most contented on horseback. When Ho begins speaking, though, the personal takes and tales roll off his tongue. He relives the day in New Zealand that he “felt completely dead” after riding 39 horses, explains how he bounced back...

Explaining his aversion to socialising, Vincent Ho Chak-yiu was suitably succinct. “When I have to talk, it’s a lot of effort,” he told the South China Morning Post. “Harder than riding a horse, for sure.” It is logical that one of Hong Kong’s greatest jockeys feels most contented on horseback. When Ho begins speaking, though, the personal takes and tales roll off his tongue. He relives the day in New Zealand that he “felt completely dead” after riding 39 horses, explains how he bounced back...

Chinese Basketball Association president Guo Zhenming addressed the national team’s struggles on Monday afternoon, warning that the domestic league had reached a critical juncture in its bid to improve standards in the country. Speaking at the season launch press conference, Guo placed the burden of accountability squarely on the domestic competition as he discussed the state of the national squad. “We must clearly recognise that Chinese basketball is at a critical juncture of climbing a slope...