https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/515382/feed Paul joined the Post in July 2023 after writing freelance for multiple magazines and national newspapers in England. He covered the 2022 football World Cup for Fifa and was previously senior writer for Everton FC for five years, after reporting on a number of sports for regional newspapers in the south of England. en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Deprived of the player he called “the future of Hong Kong cricket”, and also without one of the city’s greatest batsmen for the beginning of a winding 2028 T20 World Cup qualifying campaign this week, Kaushal Silva looked forward to a time when key absences were covered by oven-ready replacements from a growing talent pool. Head coach Silva’s 14-man party for the first round of qualifiers in Malaysia features only four players from the last Hong Kong team to compete in a major tournament at the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/cricket/article/3370003/newly-united-hong-kong-aiming-overcome-key-absences-t20-world-cup-mission?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/cricket/article/3370003/newly-united-hong-kong-aiming-overcome-key-absences-t20-world-cup-mission?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:16 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Supreme Sha Tin have pulled off an astonishing coup after tempting David Silva out of retirement and into a short-term deal with the ambitious Hong Kong Premier League club. World Cup winner Silva hung up his boots three years ago following an enormously decorated career with Valencia, Manchester City and Real Sociedad. Nonetheless, the 40-year-old was unable to resist the opportunity with newly-promoted Supreme, who this week appointed Englishman Tom Ballantyne as their head coach, and he could... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3370063/manchester-city-legend-david-silva-comes-out-retirement-hong-kong-stint?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3370063/manchester-city-legend-david-silva-comes-out-retirement-hong-kong-stint?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Oct 2026 10:15:11 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara After completing the interminable process of assembling a world-class coaching team that “knows what it is to win”, Herve Dagorne said he needed to “hurry up” and deliver a champion Hong Kong cyclist before time runs out on his reign. The appointment of two-time Olympic silver medallist Kevin Sireau to lead the city’s sprint squad was the final piece in a particularly tricky jigsaw that head coach Dagorne has been attempting to piece together for the past two years. Also a three-time world... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3369899/hong-kong-cycling-coach-hurry-success-after-hiring-france-olympic-superstar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3369899/hong-kong-cycling-coach-hurry-success-after-hiring-france-olympic-superstar?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:25 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Jorn Andersen was on the brink of a sensational return as Hong Kong head coach earlier this year, only for talks to collapse and pave the way for interim boss Roberto Losada’s permanent appointment. Enormously popular with supporters after ending the city team’s 55-year wait to reach a major tournament at the last Asian Cup finals, Andersen ultimately accepted a “great offer” from Myanmar back in July. He had been unemployed for two months after leaving Yunnan Yukun when the local football... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3369890/hong-kong-return-collapsed-because-football-bosses-cant-forgive-me-andersen-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3369890/hong-kong-return-collapsed-because-football-bosses-cant-forgive-me-andersen-says?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Oct 2026 11:00:15 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara As Hong Kong bathed in the afterglow of their Fifa Asean Challenge Cup triumph on Saturday, the level-headed Sun Ming-him cautioned that World Cup qualification remained a pipe dream for Roberto Losada’s team. What Sun, one of Hong Kong’s best players, did not know as he spoke was that despite the World Cup swelling to 48 teams this year, and another 16 potentially joining mammoth future editions, the city side’s qualifying task could soon become all but impossible. It has been reported that on... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3369794/proposed-asian-football-reforms-threaten-kill-hong-kongs-world-cup-hopes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3369794/proposed-asian-football-reforms-threaten-kill-hong-kongs-world-cup-hopes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:13 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara The Hong Kong Cricket Sixes is set for a “quantum leap forward” after headliners India announced a squad for this year’s tournament composed almost exclusively of players who competed in the 2026 Indian Premier League. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a veteran of 229 international appearances, will captain a side that also features his Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate, and fellow reigning Indian Premier League (IPL) champion, Krunal Pandya, as well as the former India all-format bowler Thangarasu... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/cricket/article/3369720/ipl-stars-dominate-indias-hong-kong-cricket-sixes-squad?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/cricket/article/3369720/ipl-stars-dominate-indias-hong-kong-cricket-sixes-squad?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:30:15 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara More than 30,000 Hong Kong fans gave Gianni Infantino their raucous verdict on his leadership of world football on Saturday, before and after watching the city team beat Cambodia 2-0 to be crowned inaugural Fifa Asean Challenge Cup champions. Infantino, the Fifa president, was lustily booed when he delivered the trophy to the pitch alongside local football association president Pui Kwan-kay before kick-off. When he returned to present the spoils to Hong Kong, the stadium PA was raised to an... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3369668/fifa-asean-cup-gianni-infantino-incurs-hong-kong-fans-wrath-city-team-claim-trophy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3369668/fifa-asean-cup-gianni-infantino-incurs-hong-kong-fans-wrath-city-team-claim-trophy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Oct 2026 14:28:28 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara A Hong Kong team “in transition” will battle upwardly mobile and ambitious Cambodia on Saturday for the unremarkable honour of being crowned Fifa Asean Challenge Cup champions. Although the city team copped some flak for their performance in a 2-0 victory over Brunei on Wednesday, having trounced the same opponents 10-0 three years ago, Roberto Losada and his players should be cut some slack after the head coach made nine changes from the 4-0 victory over Laos three days earlier. Equally, Hong... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3369607/fifa-president-gianni-infantino-hong-kong-city-team-set-cambodia-asean-final?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3369607/fifa-president-gianni-infantino-hong-kong-city-team-set-cambodia-asean-final?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:20 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara India will clash with Pakistan in a blockbuster opening-day clash when the “unique and inspiring” Hong Kong Cricket Sixes gets under way later this month. The city team, meanwhile, currently nursing the deep frustration over being eliminated from the Asian Games after their quarter-final with Pakistan on Monday was washed out, will slug it out with Australia and England in an intriguing group. This 2026 edition will be the third iteration since the Sixes was removed from cold storage in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/cricket/article/3369615/india-and-pakistan-cricketers-set-firecracker-clash-inspiring-hong-kong-sixes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/cricket/article/3369615/india-and-pakistan-cricketers-set-firecracker-clash-inspiring-hong-kong-sixes?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Oct 2026 12:26:43 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara It was nearly two years coming but when the Premier League’s verdict arrived this week it buried Manchester City. Quite how far beneath their current exalted status will become clearer in the fullness of time, although the 21 months needed to reach a conclusion over the 100-plus charges levied against them would suggest it will be a while before the club discovers if it will be fined, stripped of titles, docked points, relegated, or all of the above. “I’d put them in the lowest league they can... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3369369/man-citys-egregious-rule-breaking-leaves-clubs-fans-waiting-see-what-happens-next?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3369369/man-citys-egregious-rule-breaking-leaves-clubs-fans-waiting-see-what-happens-next?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Sep 2026 14:30:06 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara “Don’t get me started on financial fair play,” Vincent Kompany said, immediately after his Bayern Munich team had beaten Aston Villa in a pre-season friendly at Kai Tak Stadium last month. The same billionaire-owned Aston Villa that in May won the Europa League; that is competing in this season’s Champions League, yet was forced to sell a host of A-list stars over the summer to comply with financial regulations. As Bayern head coach, Kompany hugely benefits from the spending restrictions that... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3369230/man-city-might-be-biggest-cheats-sporting-world-has-ever-seen-what-comes-next?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3369230/man-city-might-be-biggest-cheats-sporting-world-has-ever-seen-what-comes-next?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:13 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara As the dust settles on their intense and increasingly fraught home WXV Challenger campaign, Hong Kong have begun absorbing the salutary lessons they received over what it will take to fulfil their goal of becoming “a force on the world stage”. After beginning with a gutsy, if slightly fortunate, win over Brazil, the city team were flattened by eventual champions Fiji in their second match. Favourites going into their closing fixture on Saturday against Samoa, they trailed from the second minute... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/rugby/fifteens/article/3369139/hong-kongs-bruising-wxv-challenger-part-journey-becoming-force-world-stage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/rugby/fifteens/article/3369139/hong-kongs-bruising-wxv-challenger-part-journey-becoming-force-world-stage?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Sep 2026 03:59:09 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara The envy of other athletes, swimmers typically wrap up their major Games galas early and start letting their hair down while everyone else is still in monastic competition mode. Contrast their hedonistic lot with the rugby 7s players at this Asian Games: “on edge, practising and a bit nervous”, according to Chloe Chan, as they impatiently wait to join the party on Thursday. “But it’s good to be nervous going into a tournament; it means you care, right?” the Hong Kong captain said. Had the chips... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/rugby/hong-kong-rugby-union/article/3369078/chill-storm-rugby-7s-captain-hong-kong-aim-beyond-asian-games-bronze?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/rugby/hong-kong-rugby-union/article/3369078/chill-storm-rugby-7s-captain-hong-kong-aim-beyond-asian-games-bronze?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:21 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara A “more relaxed and less stressed” Ceci Lee Sze-wing will face the challenge of overcoming two-time reigning champion and hometown favourite Yumi Kajihara in her hunt for a potentially career-shaping Asian Games gold. Lee will link up with Chloe Leung Wing-yee in the Madison on Thursday, but it is in the following day’s omnium, which head coach Herve Dagorne labelled “the queen event”, that the 25-year-old could establish herself as the continent’s most complete track cyclist. She has sacrificed... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3368951/asian-games-hong-kong-star-ceci-lee-hunting-nemesis-quest-make-biggest-step?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3368951/asian-games-hong-kong-star-ceci-lee-hunting-nemesis-quest-make-biggest-step?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Sep 2026 04:00:07 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Vladica Grujic said Hong Kong played “a completely different level of football” from his Laos side, after the world No 186 ranked team were thumped 4-0 in the Fifa Asean Cup on Sunday. Sun Ming-him and Everton Camargo, brilliantly, netted in the opening half, before Dudu’s 55th-minute header defeated the flimsy defences of Souksamone Vethita, and Matt Orr emphatically converted a stoppage-time penalty. Unsurprisingly, Laos did not prove a hot ticket, although the 18,873 fans inside Kai Tak... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3368969/fifa-asean-cup-hong-kong-brink-final-midfielder-stars-return-exile?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3368969/fifa-asean-cup-hong-kong-brink-final-midfielder-stars-return-exile?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Sep 2026 00:00:27 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Vladica Grujic skirted the question over why he wanted to remain Laos head coach after the dismal fallout from their recent Asean Championship campaign, but the inquiry was valid. The opponents for Hong Kong’s opening Fifa Asean Cup match at Kai Tak Stadium on Sunday, Laos made wholesale changes for the tournament after the country’s football federation called for an investigation into alleged match-fixing, bribery and illegal gambling among its own squad following a series of heavy Asean... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3368899/mired-match-fixing-scandal-hong-kongs-next-opponents-laos-hope-reinvention-holds-key?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3368899/mired-match-fixing-scandal-hong-kongs-next-opponents-laos-hope-reinvention-holds-key?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:14 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Scheduling the pre-tournament press conference less than five hours before the opening match did little to disabuse anyone of the impression that everybody involved in organising the inaugural Fifa Asean Cup is flying by the seat of their pants. It all got too much for Vladica Grujic, the fiery Laos head coach, as the clock ticked 15 minutes beyond the scheduled 12.15pm start time. “This is crazy, we’re playing this evening and my player [captain Bounphachan Bounkong] needs to have lunch,”... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3368708/hong-kong-hero-back-town-fifa-asean-cup-current-coach-plays-down-key-man-exit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3368708/hong-kong-hero-back-town-fifa-asean-cup-current-coach-plays-down-key-man-exit?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Sep 2026 14:29:31 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara The briefest of wobbles cost Chloe Leung Wing-yee Asian Games road race gold on Tuesday, but 48 hours after a bitterly disappointing individual time trial, the Hongkonger and her coach were content with the bronze she captured in Japan. Herve Dagorne suspected his rider was destined for victory as the 90.4km tussle in secluded Shinshiro City entered its business end. Committing unflinchingly to her pre-race strategy of attacking on the downhills, however, Leung slipped to hand the initiative to... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3368400/hong-kong-cyclist-pays-brief-asian-games-wobble-strikes-back-redemptive-medal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3368400/hong-kong-cyclist-pays-brief-asian-games-wobble-strikes-back-redemptive-medal?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Sep 2026 22:00:14 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Madonna, Bob Dylan and Jack White have banned phones from their concerts. An exasperated Adele once asked an audience member: “Can you stop filming me? … You can enjoy it in real life rather than through your camera.” In the sporting sphere, however, those bastions of decorum at Augusta National Golf Club are alone in waging war on mobile devices, employing a strict cell phone ban for patrons attending the US Masters. Mark Calcavecchia, the 1989 Open Championship winner and veteran of 18... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/article/3368373/reel-life-sports-events-confront-whole-new-world-social-media-influencers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/article/3368373/reel-life-sports-events-confront-whole-new-world-social-media-influencers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Sep 2026 14:30:06 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara 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... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3368263/after-chaotic-start-are-five-time-hong-kong-champions-club-crisis-or-transition?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3368263/after-chaotic-start-are-five-time-hong-kong-champions-club-crisis-or-transition?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Sep 2026 02:00:12 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara 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... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3368214/hong-kong-triathlon-star-tempers-asian-games-medal-joy-he-wrestles-individual-blow?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3368214/hong-kong-triathlon-star-tempers-asian-games-medal-joy-he-wrestles-individual-blow?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Sep 2026 06:11:27 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara 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... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3368147/hong-kongs-newest-sporting-star-and-heir-cheung-ka-long-throne-set-asian-games-bow?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3368147/hong-kongs-newest-sporting-star-and-heir-cheung-ka-long-throne-set-asian-games-bow?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:23 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Tumua Ioane said Hong Kong would make tangible progress only when they had their sevens players available for major 15s tournaments, after his spirited team lost 54-26 to Fiji at Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground on Saturday. Last-ditch victors over Brazil last Sunday, the hosts will expect to end their WXV Challenger campaign with victory over hapless Samoa next week. But in a four-try blitz shortly before half-time, the bustling and buccaneering Fijians brutally exposed the gulf that exists between... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/rugby/fifteens/article/3368122/hong-kong-coach-spells-out-big-change-needed-after-fiji-overpower-city-team?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/rugby/fifteens/article/3368122/hong-kong-coach-spells-out-big-change-needed-after-fiji-overpower-city-team?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:00:12 +0000 Paul McNamara,Agence France-Presse Paul McNamara,Agence France-Presse Any talk of potential success is almost done, early skirmishes are building to serious exchanges of fire and the first official day of Asian Games competition on Sunday will launch some to global stardom or merely enhance the reputation of those destined to be the best. There is little surprise in the names of several athletes who are expected to shine in Japan, with China’s swimming starlet Yu Zidi already being talked about as an Olympic champion in waiting. Others, such as Singapore’s rising... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/other-sport/article/3368105/asian-games-teen-swimmers-titans-tennis-5-stars-set-shine-japan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/other-sport/article/3368105/asian-games-teen-swimmers-titans-tennis-5-stars-set-shine-japan?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Sep 2026 08:57:08 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara After all the meticulous preparation, the talking and the injury frights, Chloe Leung Wing-yee is ready for the clock to start ticking on her race of truth in the remote hills of Shinshiro City on Sunday. The little finger on her right hand that Leung broke following a racing crash in Italy in July has been a nuisance, but she has reconciled with the fact that it is just one more challenge, besides the slopes and corners that characterise a deeply technical course, to overcome in her pursuit of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3367945/hong-kong-cycling-star-chloe-leung-ready-race-truth-bid-asian-games-gold?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3367945/hong-kong-cycling-star-chloe-leung-ready-race-truth-bid-asian-games-gold?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Sep 2026 00:00:12 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara The local football association has planted its flag in the camp of Gianni Infantino, the embattled Fifa president who is expected in Hong Kong for the final of the second-tier Asean Cup on October 3. At a media event to announce details for the coming competition on Friday, Eric Fok Kai-shan fudged the direct question over whether Infantino retained his organisation’s backing. But the chairman of the Football Association of Hong Kong, China (HKFA) said that “whoever supports Hong Kong football... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3368027/fok-fudges-hong-kong-football-chiefs-appear-ready-make-gianni-infantino-their-man?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3368027/fok-fudges-hong-kong-football-chiefs-appear-ready-make-gianni-infantino-their-man?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Sep 2026 11:00:06 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara The city’s tennis chief is “quietly confident” that Filipino superstar Alexandra Eala, and fellow main attractions Paula Badosa and Diana Shanider, will show up for the 2026 Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open in November. In the past two years, Michael Cheng Ming-git has seen Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu both withdraw with injuries on the eve of the WTA 250 tournament. But the president of the Hong Kong, China Tennis Association said the “issue about no-shows has got nothing to do with the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/tennis/article/3367920/city-tennis-chief-quietly-confident-alexandra-eala-will-play-hong-kong-open?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/tennis/article/3367920/city-tennis-chief-quietly-confident-alexandra-eala-will-play-hong-kong-open?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Sep 2026 04:00:08 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara A big believer that elite sporting performance is entirely dictated by an athlete’s brain, Greg Koenig is busy convincing Cheung Ka-long that the Asian Games remain an important date in his calendar. Hong Kong’s first fencing superstar, Cheung has been there and done it over the past five years. He brilliantly won a pair of Olympic golds, first as an unfancied underdog, then as the foil king his rivals all wanted to dethrone, either side of becoming Asian Games champion in 2023. Of Cheung’s... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3367732/hong-kong-golden-boy-cheung-ready-rise-challenge-overcome-djokovic-guardiola?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3367732/hong-kong-golden-boy-cheung-ready-rise-challenge-overcome-djokovic-guardiola?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:13 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Kitchee survived playing the final 25 minutes with 10 men, after a debatable red card for captain Ruslan Mingazov, to draw 0-0 with Gangwon FC on Thursday night in their opening AFC Champions League 2 match. Although a point against the strongest team in the group represented a sound return, it could have been even better for the Hong Kong club on their return to Asian competition after three years away. Mingazov and Victor Camarasa, the former Cardiff City midfielder, were both inches wide with... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3367910/afc-champions-league-2-hong-kong-champions-kitchee-survive-red-card-make-point?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3367910/afc-champions-league-2-hong-kong-champions-kitchee-survive-red-card-make-point?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Sep 2026 18:36:50 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Although he cheesed off some of his England players when he accused them of being “sloppy” and committing “lots of technical mistakes” following their World Cup quarter-final victory over Norway this summer, Thomas Tuchel’s angst perhaps stemmed from the knowledge that a much tougher test was around the corner. So it would prove, the head coach’s team punch-drunk by the end of their semi-final capitulation against Argentina. For Tuchel two months ago, and indeed Alex Ferguson after the 1983... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3367761/hong-kong-premier-league-kitchee-face-afc-champions-league-test-against-koreans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3367761/hong-kong-premier-league-kitchee-face-afc-champions-league-test-against-koreans?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:18 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara An innate talent, coupled with a novel concept designed to lower motorsport’s financial barriers, could one day deliver the answer to the question of, where is the next Zhou Guanyu? A reserve driver this season with newest Formula 1 team Cadillac, Zhou is the first, and so far only Chinese racer, to have had a full-time seat in the sport. And while we are not quite at the “remember the name” stage for those hoping to follow in his footsteps, 12-year-old Hongkonger John Han showed flashes of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/motorsport/article/3367487/fiery-crashes-and-costly-karts-do-little-deter-hongkonger-han-chasing-f1-dream?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/motorsport/article/3367487/fiery-crashes-and-costly-karts-do-little-deter-hongkonger-han-chasing-f1-dream?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:00:17 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara It was watching Fiji shock South Africa in a 2021 Women’s World Cup pool match that steeled the 18-year-old Alfreda Fisher’s determination to play international rugby. Or more accurately, it was hearing her father telling his sons at full time that one day he would watch them on the global stage that really got Fisher ticking. “Yeah, that’s when I thought I’m going to play for Fiji,” Fisher said, at Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground after her team’s rousing 38-32 WXV Global Series Challenger victory... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/rugby/fifteens/article/3367360/fiji-stars-full-fire-hong-kong-leave-it-late-sisters-put-wxv-global-show?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/rugby/fifteens/article/3367360/fiji-stars-full-fire-hong-kong-leave-it-late-sisters-put-wxv-global-show?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:00:12 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Five days away from one of the biggest matches of his young life, it would have been understandable had Sohgo Ichikawa reined in his efforts when his club team, Lee Man, faced Eastern District. Instead, the 22-year-old buzzed about on Friday in the manner that has made him the outstanding young player of the early part of the Hong Kong Premier League season. He will step out for the under-23s’ opening Asian Games fixture against his birth country, Japan, next Wednesday cradling fresh memories of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3367302/asian-games-meet-footballer-japanese-blood-ready-fight-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3367302/asian-games-meet-footballer-japanese-blood-ready-fight-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Sep 2026 00:00:23 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara After a flying reconnaissance visit to Japan, where they dodged deer and navigated treacherous, rain-sodden descents, the daredevil cycling pair of Chloe Leung Wing-yee and Vincent Lau Wan-yau have equipped themselves with the smarts to launch Hong Kong’s Asian Games campaign in grand style next week. If it is a bugbear of Herve Dagorne’s that each delegation is allowed only one rider in the individual time trial races that get the Games cycling programme under way next Sunday, then in Leung and... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3367247/dodging-deer-and-scary-sodden-descents-inside-hong-kongs-asian-games-time-trial-quest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3367247/dodging-deer-and-scary-sodden-descents-inside-hong-kongs-asian-games-time-trial-quest?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Sep 2026 00:00:14 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara When she shattered her pelvis in 2011, Jacqueline Lai Jing-man wondered if the music had stopped on her athletic career after one Asian Games experience just months earlier – 15 years on she is ready for her fifth. Part of the team jumping quartet that claimed Hong Kong’s first Games equestrian medal, it was soon after she won bronze in Guangzhou in 2010, that her mother, the former actress Ellen Ng Ha-ping, revealed she had spent more than HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) on helping Jacqueline... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3367182/shattered-pelvis-existential-crisis-and-butterflies-all-part-lais-asian-games-journey?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3367182/shattered-pelvis-existential-crisis-and-butterflies-all-part-lais-asian-games-journey?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Sep 2026 10:00:13 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara As a whopping 580-strong Hong Kong squad prepares to go to this month’s Asian Games on the taxpayers’ dime, one of the city’s leading coaches has said that cash is being squandered on athletes who have no right to generous financial backing. While not pointing the finger in any specific direction, Andrew Wright, the Hong Kong triathlon head coach, said sports bodies in the city “set the bar pretty low … which breeds a non-high performance environment”. “What also frustrates me is the amount of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3367071/hong-kong-sport-setting-bar-too-low-enabling-mediocrity-cash-handouts-coach-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3367071/hong-kong-sport-setting-bar-too-low-enabling-mediocrity-cash-handouts-coach-says?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:14 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara From the football bosses seemingly hellbent on creating a year-long product, to a tennis calendar that Carlos Alcaraz this week called impossible, sporting administrators have been accused of roundly abandoning the concept of less is more. There was also the case a couple of years ago of Chinese table tennis pair Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng withdrawing from the world rankings in protest at the fines being imposed on overworked players for skipping events. Given the steady uprising of athletes... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/article/3366934/josh-kerr-ready-us150000-ingebrigtsen-battle-scot-not-planning-chase-paydays?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/article/3366934/josh-kerr-ready-us150000-ingebrigtsen-battle-scot-not-planning-chase-paydays?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Sep 2026 14:55:05 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara He has a degree in accountancy but Tsang Chiu-tat can rarely have encountered a calculation as complex as the one of trying to help the Hong Kong under-23 team compete in this month’s Asian Games. Appointed in July after predecessor Darren Arnott quit to become Football Club head coach, Tsang will work with his full 23-man squad for the first time on the eve of next Wednesday’s opening fixture against hosts Japan in the 45,000-capacity Toyota Stadium. This week, those players in the city have... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3366816/asian-games-hong-kong-football-boss-left-little-time-prepare-japan-test?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3366816/asian-games-hong-kong-football-boss-left-little-time-prepare-japan-test?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Sep 2026 04:00:17 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara On the first placement of her veterinary technology degree, Sabay Lynam found herself patrolling the “domestic reptile ward”. “There were lizards, turtles and snakes,” she said. “Lots of snakes.” Slight of stature, Lynam is a fast and fearless fullback for the Hong Kong women’s 15s team. She is home from Australia, the country she left for Hong Kong at four, and where she now studies at the University of Queensland, for the WXV Global Series Challenger tournament. In the battle for a World Cup... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/rugby/hong-kong-rugby-union/article/3366794/after-stint-snake-ward-rugby-opponents-hold-no-fear-hong-kongs-fly-fullback?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/rugby/hong-kong-rugby-union/article/3366794/after-stint-snake-ward-rugby-opponents-hold-no-fear-hong-kongs-fly-fullback?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Sep 2026 00:00:15 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Christened the “future Venus Williams of Hong Kong tennis” after reaching the national championships final at 12, Venise Chan Wing-yau is grateful in hindsight that she was spared the social media glare that shines so harshly on today’s emerging stars. Still, a quarter of a century later and Chan is still putting herself out there. Still very quick to get the hang of her chosen sport, too. After switching her focus to padel at the beginning of this year, Chan will represent Hong Kong in what is... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3366491/hong-kong-star-touted-next-venus-williams-set-4th-asian-games-2nd-sport?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3366491/hong-kong-star-touted-next-venus-williams-set-4th-asian-games-2nd-sport?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Sep 2026 00:00:13 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara He is by every measure England’s greatest bowler, but even James Anderson was reduced to mediocrity after an abortive attempt to remodel his action. The owner of 704 Test wickets, Anderson spent most of his country’s 2004-05 tour of South Africa out of form and out of favour, and dejectedly bowling at single stumps on practice strips as he tried to relocate the pace and swing that had characterised his progressive initial years in international cricket. Ironically, it was a stress fracture of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3366425/why-hong-kong-fencing-ace-ryan-choi-can-take-djokovic-inspiration-amid-technique-tweak?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3366425/why-hong-kong-fencing-ace-ryan-choi-can-take-djokovic-inspiration-amid-technique-tweak?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Sep 2026 00:00:14 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara After a protracted period of being stalked by injury and illness, Bailee Brown is “100 per cent” fit for an assault on Asian Games glory this month, but teammate Robin Elg is training alone as he grits his teeth through a stubborn shin complaint to race in Japan. A mixed relay bronze medallist in 2018 and 2023, Brown required four surgeries on a badly broken finger following a trail running fall in December 2024. Months earlier, she suffered from an E coli infection and norovirus, while more... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3366325/asian-games-triathlete-brown-ready-assault-glory-questions-remain-over-elgs-fitness?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3366325/asian-games-triathlete-brown-ready-assault-glory-questions-remain-over-elgs-fitness?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Sep 2026 10:00:09 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara While the famously taciturn Football Association of Hong Kong, China is refusing to pick a side, elsewhere in Asia battle lines are being drawn between those that support Fifa president Gianni Infantino and those who want him kicked out of the game. With little more than two months to go before the deadline to nominate a challenger in next year’s election, a look at who stands where shows a region deeply divided, with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) aligning with its counterparts in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3366214/house-divided-asia-still-split-infantinos-future-hkfa-wont-say-where-loyalties-lie?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3366214/house-divided-asia-still-split-infantinos-future-hkfa-wont-say-where-loyalties-lie?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Sep 2026 00:00:14 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara The co-owners of an Indian Premier League (IPL) powerhouse have joined forces with Hong Kong cricket chiefs in a bid to convert the city’s unique Sixes tournament into a global phenomenon. Boasting an ownership portfolio that includes Pretoria Capitals, Bengaluru FC and Pro Kabbadi League team Haryana Steelers, alongside the IPL’s Delhi Capitals, JSW Sports on Wednesday signed a deal to serve as the commercial partner of the Hong Kong Sixes. After being mothballed for seven years, the Sixes made... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/cricket/article/3366130/indian-premier-league-club-bosses-hong-kong-cricket-aim-go-global-sixes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/cricket/article/3366130/indian-premier-league-club-bosses-hong-kong-cricket-aim-go-global-sixes?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Sep 2026 00:00:25 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara She scored a flawless 45 in her IB exam, but it was accepting she did not have “to be perfect at everything” that cured Pedrey Ng Wing-lam of the temper tantrums threatening to undermine a promising table tennis career. Poised for her Asian Games debut this month, the 22-year-old is five years into a quantitative finance degree from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, having opted against studying overseas to maximise her sporting potential. “I believed in myself … it’s my dream to... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3365969/accepting-failure-key-success-perfectionist-pedrey-asian-games-debut-looms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3365969/accepting-failure-key-success-perfectionist-pedrey-asian-games-debut-looms?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:16 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara After a barren time in the Scottish Highlands that he called the “hardest year of my life”, James Scott has pitched up in Hong Kong aiming to “make a name for myself again”. Still only 25, and a former Scotland under-21 striker, Scott is a fine signing for Supreme Sha Tin, the club that drew the fifth-largest turnout of the 12-year Hong Kong Premier League era on Friday. A whopping 4,592 crowd turned out for their Mong Kok Stadium clash with Lee Man, although a 3-0 defeat was not in the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3365713/james-scott-scotland-star-who-once-infuriated-celtic-out-reboot-career-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3365713/james-scott-scotland-star-who-once-infuriated-celtic-out-reboot-career-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:14 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara When he began banging the drum for the football World Cup to be staged every two years, Arsene Wenger was taken aback by the “emotional” response to his proposal. The chief of global football development for Fifa, Wenger was rounded on by fans’ groups, coaches and European governing body Uefa, whose president, Aleksander Ceferin, related “grave concerns” over a plan that risked “diluting” the competition. Noises over holding a biennial finals have quietened amid a shift to vaster, overblown... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3365644/fifa-was-bashed-2-year-world-cup-idea-could-it-solve-netballs-existential-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/hong-kong/article/3365644/fifa-was-bashed-2-year-world-cup-idea-could-it-solve-netballs-existential-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Aug 2026 13:30:07 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara A natural gift for tennis felt more of a curse than a blessing for Kong Lingwei when, at the age of 10, she was sent away to Guangdong Ersha Sports Training Centre. “It was pretty sad, and I cried a lot,” Kong said. “But I knew I wanted to be a professional tennis player, so I had to hide my emotions and be strong.” Christened the “cradle of champions”, Guangdong Ersha’s alumni, including diving star Quan Hongchan, delivered eight gold, two silver and two bronze from the 2024 Olympics. Since... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/china/article/3365498/road-china-talent-factory-pickleball-glory-paved-tears-and-cheers-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/china/article/3365498/road-china-talent-factory-pickleball-glory-paved-tears-and-cheers-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:21 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara Soon after he joined the Hong Kong football association 2½ years ago, the now outgoing technical director John Morling pointed to the success of Croatia and asked, “why can’t that be us?” With a population just shy of 4 million, Croatia have reached one World Cup final and two semi-finals in the past 28 years. Now, Davor Suker, one of the stars of their 1998 run to the last four, is poised to share some of his country’s secrets with Hong Kong: population 7 million, world No 156 and as far away... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3365495/infantino-doing-great-job-world-cup-star-suker-says-tells-hong-kong-be-more-croatia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/football/article/3365495/infantino-doing-great-job-world-cup-star-suker-says-tells-hong-kong-be-more-croatia?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Aug 2026 14:05:06 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara After Hong Kong stumbled at the final 2024 Asia Cup qualifying hurdle, Kary Chan Ka-ying spent five navel-gazing days hiding from the outside world. “I can still remember the pain in my heart … I kept asking myself, ‘what if I’d done something differently?’” Chan said. Two years later and rather than being cooped up indoors, Chan is with her teammates preparing for a Women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup in Dubai where Hong Kong have the redoubtable task of facing Thailand, Pakistan and mighty India. Chan... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/cricket/article/3365222/hong-kong-primed-t20-asia-cup-india-cricket-clash-stars-atoning-2024-heartbreak?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/cricket/article/3365222/hong-kong-primed-t20-asia-cup-india-cricket-clash-stars-atoning-2024-heartbreak?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:17 +0000