China blew past the 150-medal mark Thursday on Day 5 of the Asian Games, more than double the number of second-place South Korea as the home nation continued its decades-long domination of the event.
The hosts were bolstered by multiple golds in a home sport on Thursday, as Chinese athletes won the men's 70-, 60- and 56-kilogram finals in Wushu martial arts, as well as the women's 60- and 52-kilogram finals.
Full StoryIf you're looking for another kind of esport to follow from the Asian Games, try the centuries-old card game of bridge.
Here the "e" would stand for "elderly" to represent the game's aging demographic — not for "electronic" as in the youth-driven online gaming that's proving to be one of the most popular events of the Asian Games, generating billions in annual revenue worldwide, and producing a new breed of global icons like South Korean League of Legends star "Faker."
Full StoryShe's the youngest member of the nearly 900-strong delegation from China, and the 13-year-old skateboarder is now going home with a gold medal.
She's also already thinking about being a force at next year's Paris Olympics.
Full StoryAtletico Madrid happily made sure Real Madrid wasn't perfect anymore.
Atletico ended its rival's perfect start Sunday with a 3-1 win in their first Spanish league derby of the season.
Full StoryChina has dominated the Asian Games for the last 40 years, and the 2023 edition will be the same.
The host country won 20 gold medals — 30 overall — on Sunday, just hours after Saturday's opening ceremony overseen by President Xi Jinping and watched by 80,000 at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium.
Full StoryThe Asian Games offer a preview of what could soon be coming to the Olympics. That's surely the case with cricket, which seems headed to the Olympic program as soon as the 2028 Los Angeles Games or the 2032 Brisbane Games.
India's women won the gold medal on Monday at the Asian Games, defeating Sri Lanka in the 20-overs format. India scored 116-7 to beat Sri Lanka by 19 runs. The Sri Lankans scored 97-8.
Full StoryGermany hired Julian Nagelsmann to lead the men's national football team on Friday, entrusting the former Bayern Munich coach with doing a better job than the last Bayern Munich coach who tried.
The German football federation said Nagelsmann was taking over on a short-term contract through next year's European Championship. Germany is hosting the tournament.
Full StoryIt was already clear that Manchester City and Real Madrid are the best teams in Europe right now.
The first round of Champions League group games this week confirmed the fact, even if the standout performance was by an unheralded goalkeeper in Italy.
Full StoryThe bid by four South American countries to host football's 2030 World Cup will stay intact until next year regardless of political tensions in the region, a top team bid official says.
Michael Boys, the executive secretary of the bid of Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday that he and his team will approach only politicians who are already in office to discuss plans to host the centennial World Cup in seven years.
Full StoryThe Asian Games are an attention grabber. For starters, they involve more participants than the Summer Olympics. Organizers say more than 12,000 will be entered when the opening ceremony takes place Saturday in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou. This is more than the 10,500 expected for next year's Paris Olympics.
The giant numbers are partly due to the staggering array of events with many regional specialties, sports, and games you won't find in the Olympics. And there's also cricket, which appears headed to the Olympics as soon as 2028 in Los Angeles, and certainly for 2032 in Brisbane, Australia.
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