MANILA, Philippines — Due to a smaller draw, projected No. 13 seed Alex Eala won't receive a first-round bye at the WTA 1000 Wuhan Open in China. The Filipino tennis ace will compete in the tournament -- her first Tour event after a bronze medal finish at the 20th Asian Games in Japan -- slated from October 12 to 18. Unlike most 1000 events where 96 players make up the field and the top 32 players receive first-round byes, Wuhan is limited to a 56-player draw. In this case, only the top eight get to skip the first round and start their campaign in the second. The same rule applies to the only two other 1000 events with a 56-player draw in Doha and Dubai. Thus, world No. 18 Eala won't have the bye she used to have in previous 1000 events. The 56-player draw -- comprised of 43 direct entrants, 8 qualifiers, 4 widlcards, and 1 special exemption -- is also the reason why Eala had to go through the qualifiers last year. Eala was No. 58 at the time and therefore could not get a direct entry. She lost to Moyuka Uchijima in the first round of the qualifiers last year, 4-6, 6-3, 2-6. This year, Eala is projected to be seeded five places higher than her actual ranking due to the withdrawals of five higher-ranked players. World No. 1 Elena Rybakina (foot), No. 4 and last year's champ Coco Gauff (fatigue), No. 11 Amanda Anisimova (wrist), No. 15 Victoria Mboko (knee), and No. 17 Naomi Osaka (change of schedule) pulled out of the competition. World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 5 Mirra Andreeva, No. 6 Linda Noskova, No. 7 Elina Svitolina, No. 8 Karolina Muchova, No. 9 Iga Swiatek, and No. 10 Marta Kostyuk made the top eight, in that order, and will be the ones to get first-round byes. The singles draw ceremony was scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m. After the Asian Games, Eala went to France for Paris Fashion Week on October 5. The 21-year-old also appeared in tennis great Maria Sharapova's podcast "Pretty Tough". Last Thursday, the Wuhan Open shared photos of Eala training already.

Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên made national headlines when she competed in a warm-up event ahead of the National Sports Games in HCM City.

The founder of the Esports Association of Hong Kong (ESAHK), Erik Yeung, is hoping a perfect storm of changing perceptions, Asian Games success and a wider talent pool can help continue the growth of the gaming scene in Hong Kong. Competitive gaming has been a huge growth market in Asia and became an official medal event at the Asian Games in 2023, and was back again in Japan last month. China has dominated proceedings, winning seven gold medals across the two Games. Three of those came at this...

The founder of the Esports Association of Hong Kong (ESAHK), Erik Yeung, is hoping a perfect storm of changing perceptions, Asian Games success and a wider talent pool can help continue the growth of the gaming scene in Hong Kong. Competitive gaming has been a huge growth market in Asia and became an official medal event at the Asian Games in 2023, and was back again in Japan last month. China has dominated proceedings, winning seven gold medals across the two Games. Three of those came at this...

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