Local domination of Hong Kong International Races could come to an end this year

Lewis Hamilton said he and his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc had “squashed” the tension between them that followed their first lap tangle in Mexico. He said they had resolved to work together for the team in Sunday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The seven-time champion spoke after qualifying 11th in Saturday’s rain-hit qualifying at Interlagos where he will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid after taking a penalty for using two new engines. When asked if his relationship with Leclerc had...

World No 1 Elena Rybakina withdrew from the WTA Finals at Indian Wells on Saturday because of a viral illness. Defending champion Rybakina said in a statement that she was “not physically ready to compete” in the traditional season-ender, which starts on Sunday, and would focus on resting and recovering for her 2027 campaign. “I am really sad to inform all my fans and supporters that I unfortunately have to withdraw from the WTA Finals this year,” Rybakina said in a statement. “I’ve had an...

Local fan favourite Alexandra Eala had to dig deep amid stops and starts to earn a hard-fought 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Maria Sakkari on Saturday, booking her place in the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open final. The evenly matched semi-final between the two seeded players was filled with extraordinary shots from both players, and a lot of rainwater and match suspensions. “I think it was just blank [during those rain stops], it took a lot of patience, but a lot, a lot, a lot of people stayed,...

Jay Rooney HOT DELIGHT - R11 (4) Can stake his claim as the city's best four-year-old with a win here   Owen Goulding MR INCREDIBLE - R11 (14) No weight to carry from an improved draw and can get back on winning track   Paul Lally FIT FOR BEAUTY - R9 (5) Impressed in a recent trial and has won third up in the past   Phillip Woo TITAN PEGASUS - R7 (3) Resumed fifth with excuses and can secure a maiden local win here   Trackwork Spy HOT DELIGHT - R11 (4) Brave in defeat on return after a wide run...

He has scored in the Premier League, Champions League and La Liga, and now David Silva can boast about the day he netted in the Hong Kong Premier League. Making his debut for Supreme Sha Tin in their 1-1 draw against BC Rangers on Saturday, World Cup winner Silva rolled home a 56th-minute penalty in front of 4,593 supporters – a first sell-out for Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground in its 20-month history. Yakubu Nassam Ibrahim finished precisely across Supreme goalkeeper Bryan Lau Wai-hon 10 minutes...

David Eustace is looking forward to teaming up with fellow Briton Saffie Osborne when Silvery Breeze bids for a maiden Group success in the Group Three Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse (1,800m) at Sha Tin on Sunday. Third in the trainers’ championship on 12 wins, the in-form handler has already tasted Group Two and Group Three glory this season, and Silvery Breeze is another he has feature race aspirations with. The Dundeel galloper had some useful form to cap off last season, winning a pair of races at...

Bailee Brown said she retained her passion for “brutal and unforgiving” triathlon, but there were “things to sort out” after the Hongkonger’s subpar home World Triathlon Cup performance on Saturday. Managing a stress fracture of her left calf bone, Brown paid heavily for missing her bike in transition following the swim, losing touch with the main pack and coming home 50th in 59 minutes and 34 seconds. The reliably tenacious Hilda Choi Yan-yin placed 37th in 58:06, with Cade Wright 39th in...

A mouth-watering clash between Hong Kong’s two most exciting four-year-olds looms as the highlight of Sunday’s Sha Tin undercard in what will serve as a preview of January’s Classic Mile. Hot Delight and Mr Incredible will square off for the first time in the Class Two Santa Monica Handicap (1,400m), with connections of the rising stars predicting improvement second up after their seconds on return. Facing his first test at 1,400m, Francis Lui Kin-wai’s Hot Delight overcame a wide run without...

Former opener Usman Khawaja claimed on Saturday that the entire Australian team knew about the 2018 “Sandpapergate” scandal in Cape Town and said they also employed the tactic during the previous Test at Port Elizabeth. Captain Steve Smith, his deputy David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were sent home in disgrace and found by a Cricket Australia (CA) investigation to be the only three players with prior knowledge of the ball-tampering plot. Smith was banned for a year and sacked as skipper, Warner...

When Emeric Payer plunged into the pitch-black waters of Victoria Harbour at 4am on Monday, his coaches’ old jokes about his endurance were still fresh in his mind. A former competitive pool sprinter in the 50-metre freestyle, the 21-year-old was known to fade minutes into longer distance swimming events. But this changed when he completed a solo, unassisted 45-kilometre circumnavigation of Hong Kong Island in the record time of 10 hours, 22 minutes and 59 seconds. The Hong Kong-French swimmer...

Alexandra Shubladze’s mother and coach, Oksana, was overcome with emotion courtside after her daughter beat Sorana Cirstea into retirement on Friday to reach the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open semi-finals. Competing in a main WTA 250 draw for the first time, Shubladze, whose progress was stalled by a torn anterior cruciate ligament two years ago, blew away Cirstea, the shell-shocked No 1 seed, 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 27 minutes. Now, having achieved one “childhood dream” in Hong Kong when she...

Andrew Wright fears that leading triathletes could desert the sport to compete in “simpler and easier” Hyrox, which this week inched closer to Olympic recognition. Hong Kong head coach Wright, whose team are set for a World Cup leg on Central Harbourfront this weekend, did not, however, share the concerns of triathletes who have voiced concerns over Hyrox potentially ousting their sport from the Games programme, after it announced a strategic partnership with World Triathlon. Max Stapley, Great...