Asian sporting achievements and the brilliance of Alkaras in Japan

Coleman Wong will be eagerly checking his phone, looking for a message from Rafael Nadal, after the Hong Kong player won the gold medal in the tennis competitions at the Asian Games on Saturday, and secured a place in the Olympic Games with it.

Wong defeated Wu Yiping (6-2) and (6-4), joining China's Wang Shiyu, winner of the women's final, as one of the two singles champions in Nagoya.

Pat Wong (22 years old) is the first player from Hong Kong to win tennis gold in the men's category.

Wong is ranked 100th in the world, and in the 2025 US Open, he became the first player from Hong Kong to reach the third round in a Grand Slam tournament.

When he was seventeen years old, he decided to move to Spain to train at the Rafael Nadal Academy, and the great Spanish star is keen to follow the development of his career.

When asked if he had received a message from Nadal after winning gold, Wong said: “I haven’t checked my messages yet. I don't know. "Let's see."

He added: “He always talks to my coaches to find out how things are going and what the atmosphere is like within the team.”

He continued: “Sometimes we hold a meeting with him and Uncle Tony (Nadal’s uncle) to find out what is happening and what the situation is. He knows what's going on, the planning and everything. We always ask him: What do we do at this stage?

Wong can now start planning for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, which will be his first Olympic participation.

"It's going to be great, and I'm very excited," he said.

He concluded: “There is still time, I will just try to continue developing my level and see how far I can reach.”

Japanese track cyclist Yumi Kagehara broke down in tears after winning her latest gold medal at the Asian Games, dedicating the victory to her brother, who died of cancer this year, saying: “He is here with me.”

Kajihara won her third consecutive gold medal in the “Omnium” race on the Izu Cycling Track on Friday, before shedding tears as she talked about the role her younger brother Hyogo played in helping her overcome some dark moments in her life.

Kajihara (29 years old), the first Japanese cyclist to win an Olympic medal, said after she won the “Aluminum” silver in the Tokyo Olympics on the same track in Izu: “After I failed to win a medal in the Paris Olympics (2024), I was in a state of severe depression.”

She added: “I hit rock bottom.” My brother said to me: Why do you look so frustrated? Even though I have cancer, I am so happy.”

She continued: “He was fighting a very difficult battle with cancer, alone in a hospital in Tokyo.”

She added: “It must have been very difficult for him, but he never complained once. He used to say to me: “Just being alive means you are already superior,” and I said to myself: Yes, he is right. “It made me realize that I should be grateful just to be alive, grateful to those who support me, and enjoy life.”

This was Kajihara's fourth Asian gold medal, after she also won the team pursuit gold in Hangzhou 3 years ago.

She said: “My brother used to tell me every day: Have fun.” “I think I'm finally starting to understand what that really means,” she said, noting that she also won silver in the team pursuit on Tuesday.

She added: “Every time I competed here in Izzo, he would come to watch me and stay by my side. So I kept thinking today: Maybe he's here at the track! "I'm sure he's here, and I was thinking about him over and over again during the race."

She concluded: “I felt as if he was saying to me: Have fun, my day, you will be fine.”

Spaniard Carlos Alcarras qualified for the quarter-finals of the Japan Open Tennis Championship, after defeating Italian Matteo Arnaldi, 7/6, 6/1, on Saturday.

Alkaras won the match in an hour and 45 minutes.

Alkaras said, in statements published on the World Tennis Association’s website: “When you are late in the tiebreak, you think about doing something different, and then you try to perform better in the second set... I just tried to hold on and focus, one point after another. I changed my playing style from what it was before that moment, and it worked. I'm very happy with the first set; “Matthew was giving a great performance.”

After achieving his third victory over Arnaldi, Alcarras achieved his seventh consecutive victory in the 500-point Japanese Championship, after his first participation last year, which saw him win the title.

The Spanish player aims to be the first man to defend his title in the tournament since American Pete Sampras achieved this feat in 1993 and 1994.

Alcarras will meet in the quarter-finals with Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who defeated Chilean Alejandro Tabello 7/5, 3/6, 6/4.