‘Who’s this bloke with no teeth?’ The raw talent who snubbed the NBA to become footy’s unicorn

The Sydney Morning Herald - Sep 24, 2026

Compared to Dennis Rodman and scouted by the Golden State Warriors, marketable big man Luke Jackson channelled his energy into becoming an AFL star and Instagram superhero.

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Matildas coach gives stark warning to ALW players

Sep 24, 2026

Matildas coach gives stark warning to ALW players

Joe Montemurro has explained why selecting overseas talent over A-League Women's players is more enticing for the Matildas mentor.

Top S. Korean sports official blasts Asian Games organizers for shoddy operations

Sep 24, 2026

Top S. Korean sports official blasts Asian Games organizers for shoddy operations

NAGOYA, Japan — The head of the South Korean national Olympic committee on Thursday lambasted the organizers of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games for their shoddy operations, saying he would give them a failing grade. In a meeting with South Korean media at the Main Press Centre in Nagoya, Ryu Seung-min, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, laid into issues covering athletes' accommodations and transportation, among others. "I am sure a lot of others will feel the same way," Ryu said. "Things have been improving since the beginning, but problems with accommodations and transportation are affecting athletes' performances. They deserve a failing grade." Ryu is a former Olympic table tennis champion and an ex-member of the International Olympic Committee. When asked to compare this Asiad to other international events he has attended as an athlete and an official, Ryu said, "If I were to give them a grade, it would be an F." "If athletes' performances are affected, then we have to be critical," Ryu added. "If problems like this persist, then it is serious incompetence. It is not a

Taiwan players find laundry service, ending baseball teams' 'laundry war'

Sep 24, 2026

Taiwan players find laundry service, ending baseball teams' 'laundry war'

The “laundry war” that broke out among baseball teams competing at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games appears to be coming to an end, with each national team finding its own solution. Taiwan’s China Times reported on Wednesday that the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association had finally found an outside laundry service, allowing the Taiwan baseball team to have its uniforms washed at its own expense. “Players no longer have to do their laundry themselves in the early hours of the morning,” the report said. The report added that Korea, Japan and China had also each contracted separate laundry services, predicting that scenes of players from different countries lining up in front of the hotel’s coin-operated washing machines would soon become a thing of the past. The baseball competition has been plagued by various operational problems involving accommodations, transportation and training facilities. Among them, a lack of adequate laundry services has caused difficulties for teams from several countries. According to an official with the Korean baseball team, all teams competing in

S. Korea reaches women's basketball semifinals

Sep 24, 2026

S. Korea reaches women's basketball semifinals

NAGOYA, Japan — South Korea blew out Indonesia to grab a ticket to the women's basketball semifinals at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Thursday. Seven players scored in double figures to help South Korea beat Indonesia 101-59 in the quarterfinals at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya. In Friday's semifinals, South Korea will meet the winner of the Mongolia-China quarterfinal showdown. Coached by Park Soo-ho, South Korea is chasing its first gold medal in women's hoops since 2014 and its fifth overall. The men's national team won gold here Sunday. South Korea set the tone early by draining six three-pointers in the first quarter and taking a 28-18 lead in the opening 10 minutes. South Korea pulled away further in the second quarter, making four more shots from long distance to take a 52-30 lead into the second half. After being held scoreless for about three minutes at the start of the third quarter, South Korea soon regained its rhythm and built a 71-43 lead entering the final frame. South Korea opened the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run en route to the easy win. Choi I-saem led South Korea

Injured swimmer pulls out of competition after racing in relay

Sep 24, 2026

Injured swimmer pulls out of competition after racing in relay

TOKYO — Injured shoulder and all, swimmer Kim Woo-min forced his way into the heats for the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay swimming event at the Asian Games here on Thursday. He came away feeling worse than he had anticipated, which ultimately led to his withdrawal from the rest of the competition. The relay race at Tokyo Aquatics Centre came just two days after Kim, a three-time gold medalist at the 2023 Asiad, disclosed that he had been dealing with a partially torn labrum and rotator cuff in his left shoulder. He had finished last in the 1,500m freestyle Tuesday evening, a shocking development that could only be explained by some physical issues. Kim led off the relay and clocked 50.01 seconds, the slowest split for the team. South Korea, though, still qualified easily for the final set for Thursday evening with a time of 3:19.55. "It hurts more than I thought it would. I started getting worried when I was warming up," Kim said afterward. "At the start of the race, I thought I felt OK but then I couldn't get as much behind my strokes as I wanted to." Kim said the shoulder stiffens

Park Hyun-su wins bronze in men's rowing

Sep 24, 2026

Park Hyun-su wins bronze in men's rowing

NAGOYA, Japan — Park Hyun-su grabbed bronze in the lightweight men's single sculls rowing event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Thursday for South Korea's first rowing medal here. Park finished third in the 2,000-meter race with a time of 6:53.35 at Nagaragawa International Regatta Course in Aisai, some 20 kilometers west of the main host city Nagoya. Chiu Hin Chun of Hong Kong won the gold in 6:50.32. Amirhossein Mahmoodpour Shahrestani of Iran beat Park over the final stretch for silver in 6:52.59. In the lightweight men's rowing events, athletes must not weigh heavier than 72.5 kilograms. Park was in third place at the halfway mark but moved into second place at the 1,500m mark at 5:10.52, about one second ahead of Mahmoodpour Shahrestani. But the Iranian had the fastest split among the six finalists over the last 500m to snatch silver from Park. Park, 30, won the 2018 Asiad gold in this event. The lightweight event was removed from the program for the 2023 Asiad but made its way back for this year.

S. Korea wins silver in mixed team skeet shooting

Sep 24, 2026

S. Korea wins silver in mixed team skeet shooting

NAGOYA, Japan — Lee Jong-jun and Jang Kook-hee combined for silver in the mixed team skeet shooting event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Thursday, South Korea's first shotgun medal of the ongoing competition. The South Korean duo finished with 51 points for silver, just one point behind the world record score set by Lyu Jianlin and Jiang Yiting of China at Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery in Toyota, some 25 kilometers east of the main host city Nagoya. India got the bronze with 44 points. This is the fifth day of shooting at the Asian Games. South Korea had previously won five medals in Toyota — two from pistol and three from rifle events. In skeet shooting, athletes take shots at unglazed clay discs launched from two separate structures, high house on the left and low house on the right. In the mixed team competition, each shooter of the team fires at four targets for a total of eight shots per series, with every successful shot worth a point. In the four-team final, Qatar was eliminated first after the third series of shots with 18 points. China was in the lead at that

From Olympic medal to Asian Games gold: Seong Seung-min's golden rise

Sep 24, 2026

From Olympic medal to Asian Games gold: Seong Seung-min's golden rise

Seong Seung-min has completed a rare sweep of modern pentathlon milestones: a world championship gold, an Olympic medal and, now, an Asian Games title. The 23-year-old Korean became the first Korean woman to win an individual Asian Games gold medal in modern pentathlon on Saturday, scoring 1,492 points in the final at Anjo Sports Park in Aichi Prefecture. Her victory also delivered Korea’s first gold medal of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Games. Three years ago, however, Seong’s Asian Games story began with a failure she could hardly have scripted. At the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, her horse suddenly stopped during the riding event, resulting in her disqualification from the women’s individual competition. She went on to win a bronze medal in the team event, but the individual disappointment stayed with her. What followed was not a retreat, but a transformation. Seong focused intensely on riding, once considered one of her weaker disciplines, while also sharpening her fencing and shooting. By 2024, she had emerged as one of the leading figures in Korean modern pentathlon. She first made her

Korea beat Ecuador 3-0 in Moreno's coaching debut

Sep 24, 2026

Korea beat Ecuador 3-0 in Moreno's coaching debut

Korea blanked Ecuador 3-0 in their men's football friendly match at home Thursday, giving interim head coach Robert Moreno his first win in his debut with the Taegeuk Warriors. Oh Hyeon-gyu, Son Heung-min and Lee Dong-gyeong scored a goal apiece in the second half at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, just south of Seoul, in Korea's first match since the end of the FIFA World Cup in June. Korea suffered a group-stage exit from the tournament then, costing head coach Hong Myung-bo his job. The Korea Football Association brought in Moreno on a temporary basis for six friendly matches scheduled during the September-November period, instead of rushing to hire a full-time boss. But Moreno will have a chance to stay on for the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup in January, depending on Korea's performance in his first six matches. The Spanish tactician got off on the right foot, with captain Son netting his 57th career goal to move within one goal of the country's all-time leader, Cha Bum-kun. Korea will next face Uruguay at Seoul World Cup Stadium at 8 p.m. Monday.

S. Korea takes bronze in women's swimming relay

Sep 24, 2026

S. Korea takes bronze in women's swimming relay

TOKYO — South Korea picked up bronze in the women's 4x200-meter freestyle swimming event at the Asian Games on Thursday, capping a busy day in the pool for the country in Tokyo. Jo Hyun-ju, Hur Yeon-kyung, Han Da-kyung and Lee Song-eun posted a time of 8:01.87 at Tokyo Aquatics Centre, with China cruising to gold in 7:49.37 and Japan finishing second in 7:59.53. Jo had South Korea in second place after her leadoff leg, but the team fell to third after the next leg by Hur. Han kept the team in third place, comfortably ahead of Hong Kong but also well behind Japan. Lee maintained that spot for South Korea as the country won its second straight Asiad bronze in this event. This bronze was South Korea's fifth medal in Tokyo on Thursday — following bronze by Cho Sung-jae in the men's 200m breaststroke, silver by Park Si-eun in the women's 200m breaststroke, silver by Kim Jun-woo in the men's 800m freestyle and silver by the men's 4x100m freestyle relay team.

S. Korea takes silver in men's relay swimming

Sep 24, 2026

S. Korea takes silver in men's relay swimming

TOKYO — South Korea claimed silver in the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay swimming at the Asian Games on Thursday, its second straight runner-up finish. Hwang Sun-woo, Kim Ji-hun, Yang Jae-hoon and Kim Young-beom posted a time of 3:11.69 at Tokyo Aquatics Centre, ending up 1.09 seconds behind China, which set an Asian record of 3:10.60. Japan finished third in 3:11.96. Hwang led off with his personal-best 100m time of 47.50 seconds, putting South Korea in the lead. By the time Kim Ji-hun finished his second leg, South Korea fell to third behind China and Japan. Yang kept South Korea in the bronze medal position, and Kim Young-beom pushed the team to second place with a blistering anchoring leg of 46.84. He had the fastest final 50m split with 24.60 seconds. In the morning's heats, Kim Woo-min, Ji Yu-chan, Lee Ho-joon and Kim Min-seop swam for South Korea. These four will also receive their silver medals. Kim Woo-min competed through a shoulder injury. He helped South Korea win bronze in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay Monday but then finished last in the 1,500m freestyle Tuesday, afte

Kim Jun-woo shares silver medal in men's 800m freestyle swimming

Sep 24, 2026

Kim Jun-woo shares silver medal in men's 800m freestyle swimming

TOKYO — Kim Jun-woo earned a joint silver medal in the men's 800-meter freestyle swimming at the Asian Games on Thursday for his first career individual medal. Kim and Kaito Tabuchi of Japan finished with the identical time of 7:43.86 at Tokyo Aquatics Centre. In swimming, ties are recorded and awarded to the one-hundredth of a second. Zhang Zhanshuo of China won the gold with an Asian Games record time of 7:42.49. Kim had earlier helped South Korea win bronze in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay. The 19-year-old said he was happy to see his hard work pay off in his Asian Games debut. Kim is also the second straight South Korean medalist in this race, after Kim Woo-min's gold in 2023. Kim Woo-min won his gold in 7:46.03, and Kim Jun-woo was 2.17 seconds faster on Thursday. "Since this was my first major international competition, I came in with a focus on my time, rather than my placement," Kim Jun-woo said. "It would have been nice to finish higher but I am pleased with my time here." Kim Woo-min did not have a chance to defend his gold medal here due to shoulder injury. After finishing la

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