Talk with Mal that got Sexton to the Bears

The Sydney Morning Herald - Sep 23, 2026

Toby Sexton reveals the conversation he had with soon-to-be coach Mal Meninga that convinced him to return to the NRL.

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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

Choo Ga-eun captures gold in women's 10m air pistol shooting

Sep 23, 2026

Choo Ga-eun captures gold in women's 10m air pistol shooting

NAGOYA, Japan — Choo Ga-eun was on target for the gold medal in the women's 10-meter air pistol event at the ongoing Asian Games on Wednesday, bringing South Korea its first gold of the competition. Choo scored a new Asian record of 246.3 points to win her first Asian Games gold medal in her debut at Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery in Toyota, some 25 kilometers east of the main host city of Nagoya. Shen Yijao of China was a distant second with 241.3 points, and her countrywoman Jiang Ranxin took the bronze with 221.6 points. The previous Asian record had been 245.3 points set by Yukari Konishi of Japan in December 2017. Choo's score was also an Asian Games competition record, topping the previous mark of 242.1 points scored by Palak Gulia in 2023. Earlier in the day, Choo set an Asian Games competition record in the qualification round with 582 points and helped South Korea win silver in the team event, which awards medals based on the combined scores of three shooters for each country. In the final, Choo came up 0.7 point shy of breaking the world record. With eight shooters i

S. Korea downs Uzbekistan for 3rd straight win in women's handball

Sep 23, 2026

S. Korea downs Uzbekistan for 3rd straight win in women's handball

NAGOYA, Japan — South Korea breezed past Uzbekistan 43-13 for its third straight victory in women's handball at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday, taking another step toward its eighth gold medal in the event. Six players scored at least four goals for South Korea at Kasugai City Gymnasium in Kasugai, just northeast of the main host city, Nagoya, Japan. Jo Eun-been led the way with seven. The women's handball tournament does not have a knockout round this year. Instead, all seven participants will play each other once, and the top three teams after round-robin play will take the medals. South Korea's next match is against China on Friday, followed by Vietnam on Saturday. The gold medal could come down to the very last match of the event, between South Korea and Japan at 6 p.m. Sunday at Entrio in Inazawa, just northwest of Nagoya. Women's handball was added to the Asian Games in 1990, and South Korea won the first five straight gold medals and six of the first seven. In the 2023 Asiad final, though, South Korea lost to Japan 29-19.

Injured swimmer pulls out of 2 races

Sep 23, 2026

Injured swimmer pulls out of 2 races

TOKYO — After battling through a shoulder injury in his first two races at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, swimmer Kim Woo-min withdrew from his next two races Wednesday. The Korea Swimming Federation said Kim will not defend his gold medal in the men's 800-meter freestyle event, scheduled for Thursday at Tokyo Aquatics Centre. Earlier Wednesday, Kim also pulled out of the men's 200m freestyle heats. After finishing in last place in the 1,500m freestyle final Tuesday in Tokyo, Kim disclosed that he had been competing with a partially torn labrum and rotator cuff in his left shoulder. He had helped South Korea win bronze in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay on Monday. Kim has been South Korea's top mid-distance swimmer. The 25-year-old won the world title and the Olympic bronze medal in the 400m freestyle in 2024, and added a world bronze medal in that same distance in 2025. At the 2023 Asian Games, Kim was the only South Korean swimmer to win three gold medals — winning the 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay titles. After Tuesday's race, Kim said he hoped to compete

N. Korea's Ri Song-gum wins gold in weightlifting, Pyongyang's 1st gold at Asian Games

Sep 23, 2026

N. Korea's Ri Song-gum wins gold in weightlifting, Pyongyang's 1st gold at Asian Games

NAGOYA, Japan — North Korea's Ri Song-gum won gold in the lightest weight class in women's weightlifting on Wednesday, earning her country its first gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Ri finished with a total of 215 kilograms, lifting 94kg in the snatch and 121kg in the clean and jerk in the women's 48kg event at Nagoya City Trade and Industry Center in Nagoya, Japan. All three marks — her snatch, clean and jerk, and total — were new world records. Mirabai Chanu Saikhom of India won silver with a total of 198kg and Luluk Diana Tri Wijayana of Indonesia won bronze. Ri's gold is North Korea's first gold medal at the Asian Games in Japan. North Korea has collected one bronze medal in soft tennis so far. Ri has won the lightest weight class at three consecutive Asian Games, dating back to the 2018 competition. She won the world championships in 2024 and 2025.

Lee Ha-sung collects silver in wushu

Sep 23, 2026

Lee Ha-sung collects silver in wushu

NAGOYA, Japan — Lee Ha-sung earned silver in wushu at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games for his second career medal at the continental competition. Lee scored 19.406 points in the men's daoshu and gunshu at Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall in Nagoya, central Japan, to finish as the runner-up to Gao Xiaobin of China (19.582). Clement Su Wei Ting of Malaysia had the bronze with 19.403 points. In both daoshu and gunshu, athletes were evaluated on three categories in a 10-point scoring system: quality of movements (5.00), overall performance (2.00) and degree of difficulty (2.00). In daoshu, where athletes perform a choreographed routine wielding a single-edged broadsword, Lee ranked second with 9.706 points, 0.080 behind Gao. Lee had the fourth-best score in gunshu, a fast-paced event featuring routines performed with a staff, with 9.700, while Gao led everyone with 9.796. Lee's was South Korea's second medal in wushu at this year's Asiad, following An Hyeon-gi's bronze in the men's taijiquan and taijijian event Monday. Lee won a gold medal at the 2014 Asiad in the South Korean host city of I

[Asian Games] Oh Sang-uk defends men's individual sabre fencing title at Asian Games

Sep 23, 2026

[Asian Games] Oh Sang-uk defends men's individual sabre fencing title at Asian Games

TOKONAME, Japan—South Korea's Oh Sang-uk captured the gold medal in the men's individual sabre fencing at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday, defending his Asiad title. Oh, the reigning Olympic champion, defeated Shen Chenpeng of China 15-13 in the gold medal bout at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, some 35 kilometers south of the main host city of Nagoya. It is his second straight Asian Games title in the individual sabre event, following his gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, where he also won the team event. Bronze medals went to Artyom Sarkissyan of Kazakhstan and Seyed Ali Esmaeilzadeh Pakdaman of Iran. Oh is one of the most decorated fencers in men's sabre, a cutting and thrusting weapon that targets the body above the waist, including the arms and head. He won an individual Olympic gold medal in 2024, and two team gold medals in 2020 and 2024. He has collected four world championship titles, including an individual crown in 2019. On the continental stage, Oh finished second in the individual event at the 2018 Asian Games and won gold at the 2023 competition. In the t

Hwang Sun-woo wins silver in men's 200m freestyle swimming

Sep 23, 2026

Hwang Sun-woo wins silver in men's 200m freestyle swimming

TOKYO — Hwang Sun-woo won silver in the men's 200-meter freestyle swimming race on Wednesday for his second straight medal in the distance. Hwang clocked 1:44.62 to finish second in his Asiad title defense at Tokyo Aquatics Centre in the Japanese capital. Zhang Zhanshuo of China won gold in 1:43.49, breaking Hwang's 11-month-old Asian record of 1:43.92 in the process. Tatsuya Murasa of Japan earned bronze with 1:44.81. This is Hwang's fourth medal of this year's Asiad. He took bronze medals in the 100m freestyle, men's 4x100m medley relay and men's 4x200m freestyle relay earlier in the competition.

Kim Seung-won takes bronze in women's 100m backstroke

Sep 23, 2026

Kim Seung-won takes bronze in women's 100m backstroke

TOKYO — Kim Seung-won earned bronze in the women's 100-meter backstroke at the Asian Games on Wednesday for her second medal in swimming this week. The 16-year-old Kim clocked 1:00.10 to place third at Tokyo Aquatics Centre. Peng Xuwei of China won gold in 59.30 seconds, and Rio Shirai of Japan grabbed silver in 59.89 seconds. Kim led the race at the 50m turn with a time of 28.60 seconds, but her last 50m split of 31.50 seconds was only the sixth-fastest in the 10-swimmer final. Kim earlier won bronze in the 50m backstroke on Monday.

Aussie appointed coach of Netherlands cricket team

Sep 23, 2026

Aussie appointed coach of Netherlands cricket team

After helping out with the Pakistan cricket team, former Australia international Ashley Noffke has been appointed head coach with the Netherlands.

‘No bad blood’: Winnington makes shock move away from Boxall to train with sprint king McEvoy

Sep 23, 2026

‘No bad blood’: Winnington makes shock move away from Boxall to train with sprint king McEvoy

Olympic silver medallist Elijah Winnington has left supercoach Dean Boxall to embark on a vastly different training program inspired by Cam McEvoy’s remarkable reinvention.

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