Golden start in focus for Lees in chase of special group 1 win

The Sydney Morning Herald - Sep 24, 2026

Kris Lees is confident Under Focus is group 1 material, if he can get back to nailing the start.

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Waller reacts to V'landys quitting

Sep 23, 2026

Waller reacts to V'landys quitting

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Gidley says Knights can upset Panthers

Sep 23, 2026

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Newcastle legend Kurt Gidley says the Knights can upset the Panthers and reach a first NRL grand final in 25 years.

Scoop in September: What Welsh and his Bombers really think about the Merrett situation

Sep 23, 2026

Scoop in September: What Welsh and his Bombers really think about the Merrett situation

Andrew Welsh has revisited the events of last year, when Zach Merrett explored a move away from Essendon and Hawthorn loomed large as his new home.

Why Conor McKenna’s magic acts are no luck of the Irish

Sep 23, 2026

Why Conor McKenna’s magic acts are no luck of the Irish

Conor McKenna has produced two of the more freakish goals of the season, the Brisbane Lion – and former Gaelic football star – showing why he has the skills to light up Saturday’s grand final.

Cleary and Walker will wage a war in their own heads. But only one might survive

Sep 23, 2026

Cleary and Walker will wage a war in their own heads. But only one might survive

The NRL’s two best No.7s are playing grand final qualifiers under injury clouds. And it could just be the Panthers champion who comes unstuck.

Sangha fights as Australia A suffer trial by India spin

Sep 23, 2026

Sangha fights as Australia A suffer trial by India spin

Australia's A team have been put on the back foot in their unofficial Test in India, bowled out for 171 to trail by 163 runs in Puducherry.

Choe Byeong-kwang wins race walk bronze for S. Korea's 1st athletics medal in Nagoya

Sep 23, 2026

Choe Byeong-kwang wins race walk bronze for S. Korea's 1st athletics medal in Nagoya

NAGOYA, Japan — South Korea picked up its first athletics medal of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday, as Choe Byeong-kwang took bronze in the men's half marathon race walk. Choe finished third with a time of 1:28:35 at Aichi-Nagoya Race Walking Course in Nagoya, central Japan. Shi Shengji of China won the gold medal in 1:23:32, and Toshikazu Yamanishi of Japan claimed silver in 1:28:01. This was Choe's fourth Asian Games appearance but his first medal at age 35. "I felt so happy to win this medal and also became emotional, because this could be my last Asian Games," Choe said in a statement released by the Korea Association of Athletics Federations. "I believe younger athletes will post even better results in the future." Choe was in fourth place through the first 6 kilometers of this 21.0975 km race. He climbed to fourth at the 7 km mark and moved into third with about 9 km left, eventually hanging on to take the bronze medal. This was the first day of athletics at the ongoing Asian Games.

S. Korea wraps up soft tennis competition with 2 bronzes at Asian Games

Sep 23, 2026

S. Korea wraps up soft tennis competition with 2 bronzes at Asian Games

NAGOYA — South Korea's soft tennis team wrapped up its medal competition at the ongoing Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with three bronze medals after failing to earn a medal in the singles events Wednesday. In the men's singles quarterfinals at Nagoya City Higashiyama Park Tennis Center in Nagoya, central Japan, Lee Ha-neul lost 4-2 to Che Po-yi of Chinese Taipei. Lee battled to a 2-2 tie through the first four games but then lost two straight games to miss out on a place in the semifinals. Soft tennis singles matches are played in a best-of-seven format, with the first player to win four games taking the match. In the women's singles quarterfinals, Lee Su-jin fell 4-2 to Rena Temma of Japan, while Hwang Jeong-mi lost 4-2 to North Korea's Ri Jin-mi. Lee Su-jin lost three straight games against the Japanese opponent and earned two games but was unable to complete the comeback. In an all-Korean match, Hwang leveled the match at 2-2 after losing the first two games, but Ri then won the next two games to advance to the semifinals. Ri's semifinal berth secured North Korea a bronze medal. Soft tennis

S. Korea takes silver in team shooting event

Sep 23, 2026

S. Korea takes silver in team shooting event

NAGOYA, Japan — South Korea earned silver in the women's 10-meter air pistol team event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday, its fourth shooting medal of the competition. A trio of Choo Ga-eun, Kim Bo-mi and Oh Ye-jin combined for 1,730 points for second place, ending up five points behind China but 11 points ahead of Japan at Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery in Toyota, some 25 kilometers east of the main host city of Nagoya. In shooting, team medals are awarded based on the aggregated scores of the three athletes for each nation in their individual qualification round. Choo topped the qualification round with an Asian Games record score of 582 points. She will be one of the eight finalists competing for individual medals later Wednesday. However, both Kim and Oh missed out on the finals after each scored 574 points. This was a disappointing Asian Games debut for Oh, the 2024 Olympic champion and the Olympic record holder in this event.

S. Korea loses to Japan, settles for bronze in women's badminton team title defense

Sep 23, 2026

S. Korea loses to Japan, settles for bronze in women's badminton team title defense

NAGOYA, Japan — South Korea lost to Japan in the semifinals of the women's badminton team event at the Asian Games on Wednesday, settling for bronze in its gold medal defense. After losing the opening match, Japan won the next matches in a row to knock off South Korea 3-1 at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Ichinomiya, just northwest of the main host city, Nagoya, Japan. With no third-place match, South Korea and Indonesia, the other semifinal loser, both received bronze medals. South Korea's lone match win against Japan came in the opening singles, where world No. 1 An Se-young defeated her longtime rival Akane Yamaguchi 2-1 (21-9, 18-21, 21-11). However, Baek Hana and Lee So-hee, world No. 2 in the women's doubles, dropped their match against Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto 2-0 (21-15, 21-19). Baek and Lee had also lost their match in the quarterfinals against Malaysia. Sim Yu-jin lost the next singles match to Tomoka Miyazaki by 2-0 (21-15, 21-14), before Jeong Na-eun and Kim Hye-jeong fell to Rin Uesaka and Kie Nakanishi 2-0 (22-20, 21-16) in what ended up being the last dou

S. Korea's Kim Young-chan wins bronze in Gran Turismo 7, 1st esports medal at 2026 Asian Games

Sep 23, 2026

S. Korea's Kim Young-chan wins bronze in Gran Turismo 7, 1st esports medal at 2026 Asian Games

TOKONAME, Japan — South Korean gamer and racer Kim Young-chan won the bronze medal in Gran Turismo 7, the auto racing game contest, at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday, bringing home South Korea's first esports medal at this year's competition. Kim finished third in the final of the Gran Turismo 7 esports event at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, some 35 kilometers south of the main host city of Nagoya, Japan. Taj Izrin Aiman Taj Madira of Malaysia won the gold, and Naif Abdulhakim S Alfaleh of Saudi Arabia grabbed the silver. Kim's bronze is South Korea's first medal in esports, which features 11 gaming events, including Gran Turismo 7 and League of Legends (LoL), at this year's Asian Games. In the Gran Turismo 7 final, eight players raced in three rounds on different circuits using different cars. Kim took pole position for the first race after finishing first in the semifinals but finished sixth after crashing into a wall on the third lap. In the second race, Kim started sixth but moved up to third on the sixth lap and eventually took the checkered flag. Right after the third race

S. Korea clobbers Thailand to reach next phase in baseball

Sep 23, 2026

S. Korea clobbers Thailand to reach next phase in baseball

NAGOYA, Japan — The four-time defending champion South Korea ran its baseball winning streak to three games at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday, with a comfortable, 18-1 victory over Thailand. Park Jae-hyun and Park Jun-soon each smoked a grand slam in Group B action at Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Baseball Stadium in Okazaki, some 50 kilometers southeast of the main host city Nagoya, Japan, though South Korea gave up a run for the first time in the tournament. By winning all three games in the group phase, South Korea booked a spot in the Super Round, where it will face the top two qualifiers out of Group A for a chance to compete for a medal. Super Round games will be played Friday and Saturday, followed by the gold medal game Sunday at Toyohashi Municipal Baseball Stadium in Toyohashi, some 85 km southeast of Nagoya. South Korea scored three times in the bottom of the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Roh Si-hwan and a two-run home run by Moon Bo-gyeong. Park Jae-hyun's grand slam pushed the South Korean lead to 7-0 in the second inning. South Korea tacked on three more runs in t

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