Last year, I was scathing about my own club. But this dressing room photo sums up Knights revival

The Sydney Morning Herald - Sep 16, 2026

Twelve months ago, I was writing cranky columns about two decades of systemic failure at Newcastle, but I think this resurgence is built to last.

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Sep 16, 2026

Korea blows out Jordan to reach men's basketball semifinals

NAGOYA, Japan — Korea breezed past Jordan 114-80 to reach the semifinals of the men's basketball tournament at the Asian Games in Japan on Wednesday, moving within two wins of claiming its first gold medal in a dozen years. Korea dominated Jordan in all aspects in the blowout quarterfinal victory at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, central Japan, where forward Lee Hyun-jung led the way with 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting in just under 21 minutes of action. He drained six three-pointers in 10 attempts and also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Coached by Nikolajs Mazurs, Korea has now won four straight games in Nagoya, having run the table in the preliminary phase with wins over Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Japan. In Friday's semifinals, Korea will face the winner of the Iran-Bahrain contest set for Wednesday afternoon. Korea last won the men's hoops gold medal in 2014 on its home soil of Incheon. Korea then settled for bronze in 2018 before getting eliminated in the quarterfinals in 2023. Korea set the tone early, starting the game with a 10-0 run and playing some smothering defense

Sep 16, 2026

Zainichi Korean football player Ri Song-a under spotlight at 2026 Asian Games

Japanese media have turned their attention to Ri Song-a, a Zainichi Korean football player representing North Korea at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Zainichi Koreans are ethnic Koreans who reside in Japan, a community largely rooted in Koreans who migrated to Japan during the Japanese colonial rule and their descendants. Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported Tuesday that “North Korea won its opening women’s football match by a large margin,” noting that “the Japanese government made an exception to allow North Korean athletes to enter the country.” The North Korean women’s national football team, led by coach Pak Song-jin, defeated Bangladesh 10-0 in their opening Group F match of the women’s football tournament at Nagai Stadium in Osaka on Monday. North Korea is considered a powerhouse in women’s football at the Asian Games. Seeking its first gold medal since the 2014 Incheon Games, the team showed its offensive strength from the opening match of this year’s tournament. North Korean forward Ri started the match and played the full 90 minutes. She scored the t

Sep 16, 2026

Basketball captain says criticism brought team closer

As losses piled up for the men's national basketball team in the weeks leading up to the Asian Games, so did criticism of the squad. Fans and pundits alike wondered if Korea, coached by the Latvian Nikolajs Mazurs, had what it takes to reach the podium at the Asian Games in Japan this month. With each passing game here, though, Korea has been authoring a new narrative. Mazurs' team ran the table in the group phase, highlighted by a convincing, 100-83 win over Japan in the finale, and then hammered Jordan 114-80 in the quarterfinals Wednesday. Following the latest victory at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, Korean captain Lee Seoung-hyun said the team under Mazurs is just rounding into form. "I think it took us a while to get on the same page and start playing the brand of basketball the coach wanted," Lee said. "Along the way, the coach always respected us so much and allowed us to do our things. And we are finally executing his game plans. Our confidence is running high." Korea was in need of some confidence ahead of the Asian Games. It lost the first three games with Mazurs in char

Sep 16, 2026

Football team delayed by bus mix-up at Asian Games

The Korean men's national football team was delayed in getting to a recovery training session Wednesday after organizers of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games failed to provide an official bus, a Korean team official said. The team, which beat Qatar 4-0 in their first Pool D match the previous day, was scheduled to hold a post-match recovery session at a field in Handa, some 40 kilometers south of Nagoya, Japan, at 10:30 a.m. However, the team could not head to the training venue because the organizing committee had failed to send a designated vehicle to the team hotel. After several minutes of searching for an alternative bus, the team arrived at the venue at 10:50 a.m. This was not the first transportation mishap for the Korean football team here. On Tuesday, the team arrived at the stadium for its match against Qatar at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Rugby Field in Nagoya about 30 minutes later than scheduled after the driver of the team bus got lost on the way. The Qatari team also experienced a similar transportation problem. On Monday, head coach Lee Min-sung was a few minutes late for his pretour

Sep 16, 2026

Korea beats Hong Kong in women's volleyball

The Korean women's volleyball team opened its Asian Games campaign with a 3-0 win over Hong Kong, Wednesday, led by an effective performance by captain Kang So-hwi. In the women's volleyball preliminary Pool D match at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Park Arena Komaki in Komaki, just north of Nagoya, Japan, Korea defeated Hong Kong 3-0 (25-23, 25-12, 25-12). Captain Kang led Korea with a match-high 14 points, including two aces and one block, while middle blocker Lee Da-hyeong contributed with 12 points. Korea is grouped in Pool D with Hong Kong, Qatar and Vietnam, with the top two teams advancing to the quarterfinals. In another Pool D match held at the same venue, Vietnam routed Qatar 3-0. Korea held a commanding 75-24 advantage in attacks, as well as a 5-1 edge in blocks and a 10-3 lead in service winners. Korea gained an early advantage in the first set, extending its lead to 17-12 with two straight aces by Lee Da-hyeon, before closing out the set 25-23 with solid defense against Hong Kong's late attacks. The second set was also dominated by Korea, who took an 18-8 lead with seven strai

Sep 16, 2026

N. Korea blow lead in loss to China in men's football

North Korea blew an early lead to fall to China 2-1 in their first match of the men's football tournament at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday. North Korea failed to make Choe Kuk's 27th-minute goal stand in their Group B match at Wave Stadium Kariya in Kariya, some 20 kilometers southeast of Nagoya. Zhang Yuning equalized for China in the 44th minute, and Wu Xi netted the go-ahead marker in the 68th minute. North Korea will next play the United Arab Emirates at 7 p.m. Sunday and will close out their group play against Iran at 2:30 p.m. next Wednesday. Both matches will be at the Kariya venue. Coached by Ri Kwang-chon, the North Koreans are trying to win their first Asian Games men's football medal since grabbing silver behind the host South Korea in 2014 in Incheon. North Korea struck the crossbar twice in the second half — Cho Ryong-il in the 57th minute and Paek Chung-song in the 82nd minute. They outshot China 19-10 and enjoyed a 65-35 advantage in possession in the losing cause. The two best teams from each of the four groups in men's football will move on to the quarterfin