Siobhan Haughey stakes claim as Hong Kong’s greatest athlete after fourth Asian Games title

Having long ago agreed to coaching duties with Hong Kong this week, the interim Eastern head coach Cristiano Cordeiro has landed himself with a calendar clash. “It’s chaos,” he said, a light-hearted comment that would aptly describe Eastern’s embryonic campaign. Beaten in their opening match by newly promoted Supreme Sha Tin, who have since lost four straight games, Eastern then received two red cards in a 4–1 defeat by Tai Po. One of them went to Leung Kwun-chung, who duly resigned as...

The Asian Games is well under way, and for Hong Kong the belief that day three will bring more medals is largely guided by the fact that athletes who have been there and done that are back in action. Fencing starts at the Aichi Sky Expo on Tuesday, the swimming continues in Tokyo, and the women’s road cycling has the potential to serve up a surprise. Here there are five things to know as the region’s best get ready to do battle once again in Japan. Chasing gold Siobhan Haughey cruised to victory...

China’s Yu Zidi was less than a year old when Siobhan Haughey first made the world sit up and take notice of her talent in the pool, 13 years later they are both Asian Games gold medallists and young talent is the order of the day. On Monday, Haughey defended her women’s 200m freestyle title with a crushing victory, and Yu laid down an Asian record in winning the women’s 200m individual medley. Three years ago in Hangzhou, it was Haughey setting regional and Games records, and while not “as fast...

Hong Kong’s athletes had a Monday to remember at the Asian Games, picking up six medals, and if Siobhan Haughey’s gold was more expected than hoped for, the reverse was true elsewhere. Success across wushu, triathlon, karate and swimming took the city’s overall tally to eight, with the belief more should follow when the city’s fencers enter the mix for the first time on Tuesday. Lydia Sham Hui-yu got things started with victory in the women’s wushu changquan, and there were sighs of relief all...

A coming tropical storm could force the cruise ship housing athletes at the Asian Games to set sail from Nagoya to seek refuge out at sea, while some events have been postponed due to the expected heavy rain. Japan’s meteorological authorities forecast Typhoon Dujuan to hit the Izu Peninsula and Tokyo before reaching the coast of Nagoya on Monday. Heavy rain warnings have been issued across several regions, with maximum sustained winds of 90km/h and gusts reaching 126km/h, casting a shadow over...

David Hayes couldn’t be happier with Ka Ying Rising after the champion sprinter arrived in Sydney on Monday to prepare to defend his crown in next month’s Group One The Everest (1,200m) at Randwick. The world’s highest-rated galloper and winner of 21 consecutive races flew out of Hong Kong on Sunday night and settled in quickly at Canterbury racecourse, where he will spend two weeks in quarantine. Hayes had his farrier, vet, groom, track rider and assistant trainer in Sydney to make sure...

Jimmy Ting Koon-ho is hopeful a more calm Little Paradise can prove himself as a top Group One Hong Kong Mile contender when he returns in Sunday’s Group Three Celebration Cup (1,400m) at Sha Tin. Last season’s sensational Classic Mile winner and victor of the Group Three Premier Cup (1,400m) will launch his campaign in the HK$4.2 million feature, with December’s Hong Kong Mile his main target. Little Paradise overcame trouble in running to record a jaw-dropping triumph in February’s Classic...

Oscar Coggins said he had “mixed feelings” after Hong Kong claimed Asian Games triathlon mixed-relay bronze on Monday, as the Tokyo Olympian wrestled with self-recriminations over his flat individual performance 24 hours earlier. Fancied by head coach Andrew Wright to challenge for gold, Coggins came home in a “very disappointing” seventh place on Sunday. Described by teammate Bailee Brown as “the most dedicated person” in the city squad, the 26-year-old buried his angst long enough to summon a...

China’s Yu Zidi added another Asian Games gold to an already glittering resume on Monday, after Siobhan Haughey had defended her 200m freestyle title and Ian Ho Yentou grabbed silver in a fast 50m race. Yu moved through the gears in the women’s 200m individual medley at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, and her time of two minutes, 06.10 seconds, was an Asian record. That mark had been set by compatriot Yu Yiting when she won the race in Hangzhou three years ago, but the record holder was no match for...

Their adrenaline pumping in the immediate aftermath of competition, sportspeople can tend towards hyperbole. Mike Tyson took the biscuit, poleaxing Lou Savarese, then calling out future opponent Lennox Lewis with the immortal line “I want your heart, I want to eat your children.” Not remotely as graphic, but after unfancied Bangladesh had ended New Zealand’s 17-match home unbeaten streak in a gripping 2022 Test, their excited seamer Taskin Ahmed praised his side for “giving 110 per cent”, a...

The sky is the limit for Chinese swimming starlet Yu Zidi after the teenage girl stormed to her maiden Asian Games gold medal on her regional multi-sport games debut on Sunday. Yu powered to the women’s 200 metres butterfly crown, leading from start to finish at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre before touching the wall first in a Games-record time of two minutes and 5.08 seconds, taking over the honour from compatriot Zhang Yufei, who set the time in Hangzhou three years ago. Yu, 13, was already three...

Hong Kong’s women made Asian Games history on Sunday, winning silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay, while China’s contingent dominated the day in the pool from start to finish. Olympian Siobhan Haughey pushed her team, who were in fourth after Gilaine Ma’s opening leg, into second, and Li Sum-yiu and Natalie Kan Cheuk-tung held their position to finish in three minutes, 36.59 seconds, a new Hong Kong record. The previous best of 3:39.10 was set in Hangzhou, where they claimed bronze, as they had...