20th Asian Games medal tally as of 12:13 p.m., October 2, 2026.
MANILA, Philippines — The young pair of Khy Progella and Sofiah Pagara gifted the Philippines its first ever Asian Games medal in beach volleyball. Progella and Pagara copped the bronze medal in the 2026 Asian Games beach volleyball event after outlasting China’s duo of Shuting Cao and Jie Dong, 21-13, 21-23, 15-13, on Friday at the Hekinan Ryokuchi Beach Court in Aichi, Japan. This is the first time the Philippines made the podium since beach volleyball was introduced in the Asian Games in 1998. Progella, 20, and Pagara, 21, are both beach volleyball standouts of the University of Santo Tomas. The young guns made sure to earn a medal finish after the exit of Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons on Wednesday, when the two Alas veterans fell to Thailand’s Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee and Taravadee Naraphornrapat, 17-21, 21-12, 13-15, in the quarterfinals.
The Youth Team scored a runaway 28-8 victory over the Legends Team in the 3rd DG’s Cup: Youth vs. Legends chess duel on Thursday at the PEZA Investment and Corporate Center in Pasay City. Fresh from the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan, Grandmaster Daniel Quizon and International Master Michael Concio Jr. scored 6.0 points apiece to lead the charge for the Youth Team. The other members of the team are National Master Al- Basher Buto, Fide Master Ivan Travis Cu, Jasper Faeldonia and NM Lorenzo Aaron Cantela. The Legends Team is composed of GM Rogelio "Joey' Antonio Jr., GM Darwin Laylo, IM Ronald Dableo, IM Petronio Roca, IM Jose Efren Bagamasbad and NM Ronan Andrade. The 3rd DG’s Cup was organized by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, under the leadership of director general and CEO Tereso Panga. It was held in partnership with the EPZA/PEZA Retired Employees Association with the Bayanihan Chess Club serving as tournament director. The one-day tournament is also supported by JC Marikina, DBS Custom Brokerage, Ionics EMS Inc., Thaison Builder & Developer Inc., Flooring Solutions an IIPI company, Rocafe Coffee Bar, C-Style Prints, PER Solutions Engineering Services and Consultancy , Phil. Nakamura Corp., Qonek Mega App Inc., E.C. Caldejon Construction, Fastlink Handlers & Brokerage Corp., and Alpha Insurance & Surety Company Inc. The Youth Team dominated the Legends with scores of 4.5-1.5 in round 1, 5-1 in round 3, 4.5-1.5 in round 4, 5.5-0.5 in round 5 and 5.5-0.5 in round 6. The Legends managed to forge a draw in the second round.
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MANILA, Philippines — Jeus Gabriel Yape delivered the fourth gold for the Philippines after defeating Ngoc Tuyet Sang Chau of Vietnam, 2-0, in the mixed individual virtual taekwondo event at the 2026 Asian Games on Friday morning at the Toyohashi Gymnasium in Aichi, Japan. Yape finished with a bronze on Thursday in the men’s individual poomsae competition.
(UPDATE) MANILA, Philippines — Jeus Gabriel Yape delivered the fourth gold for the Philippines after defeating Ngoc Tuyet Sang Chau of Vietnam, 2-0, in the mixed individual virtual taekwondo event at the 2026 Asian Games on Friday morning at the Toyohashi Gymnasium in Aichi, Japan. The 22-year-old Yape became the fourth Filipino to snare a gold medal in this year’s Asiad edition after two golds from Carlos Yulo and one from Ernest John “EJ” Obiena. With two days left, the Philippines has already tied its previous finish of four golds in the 2022 Hangzhou, China edition. Yape went against a 21-year-old female Vietnamese since the mixed individual event has no separate gender or weight class divisions. The mixed individual virtual taekwondo event is a digital, non-contact sport where athletes compete in a virtual arena. The athletes wear a headset and sensors, where their movements and motions are tracked in real time. Their characters will be represented on the screen as avatars and will fight in a virtual space with no physical contact with an opponent. The game is played as a best-of-three-round system, with each round lasting one minute. The athletes should execute kicks, side attacks, downward strikes, and head attacks to target the opponent's avatar, with their movements copied on the screen. Yape finished with a bronze on Thursday in the men’s individual poomsae competition.
Catch up with all the week’s football fixtures and results here.
Hong Kong athletes have enjoyed a successful Friday so far at the Asian Games, with two golds and one silver from sailing, the women’s squash team in the final against Malaysia, and Ceci Lee Sze-wing still to finish her final rounds on the track at the Izu Velodrome in the omnium. The weekend is also looking promising, after Coleman Wong Chak-lam battled into the men’s singles final on Saturday while the women’s rugby team will face hosts Japan in the semi-finals. The men’s team play Malaysia...
The newly founded basketball league Project B earlier this week announced the first stop of its inaugural global basketball grand prix: in Hangzhou in January next year. While the debut of the global basketball tour has seen a slight delay – from its intended start this November – and the announcement of the Chinese host city came months later than anticipated, Project B is one of many major sporting events to be held in mainland China between now and the end of next year. “China has always had...
Beijing — Novak Djokovic held his nerve during a tense tie-break to beat Nuno Borges 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) at the China Open on Wednesday, extending his extraordinary unbeaten streak in Beijing. The 39-year-old Serbian was struggling physically but pushed through the second-set decider for his first win at any event since Wimbledon in July. "It's a great pleasure to be back in my happy place," Djokovic said after the match, adding that the conditions and atmosphere in Beijing suit his game. "Obviously I'm a completely different person and player than I was 11 years ago when I played here last but thankfully I kept the streak going and hopefully I can do it again," he said. The former world number one is set to meet wildcard Bu Yunchaokete of China in the second round. Fans packed the stands in Beijing to watch Djokovic, a firm favourite in China who has never lost in Beijing in 30 matches -- although this was his first match at the event since 2015. He delighted the crowd with an ace to end the first game and saved two break points after a pair of double-faults to win the first set. Djokovic has had health issues in recent months and struggled to pick up points at the start of the second set, using his racquet to stretch his back between games and needing a medical timeout as a trainer worked on his right shoulder. But he forced a path to victory in one hour and 50 minutes, clinching it when Borges, the world number 49 from Portugal, returned into the net. It preserved Djokovic's winning streak in Beijing, where he has won six titles. 'Tough match' Earlier, Karen Khachanov swept aside second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 in their first-round meeting. Khachanov, the world number 26, won three straight games, taking the first set in 31 minutes. The 30-year-old then kept his cool to break Auger-Aliassime on the first match point, wrapping things up in one hour and 11 minutes. He faces either Arthur Rinderknech of France or qualifier Alex Molcan of Slovakia in the round of 16. Khachanov brushed off suggestions he had Auger-Aliassime's card marked following his second statement win over the Canadian world number five in a matter of weeks. "It was a tough match," the Russian, who triumphed at the US Open, said. "When you approach this match you are thinking it's a completely new match, completely different. In China, in Beijing. Different court, different balls. "You just focus again from zero. You know that what you did well... and you just try to keep the momentum going. There is not much secret about it." World number two Alexander Zverev, fresh off a US Open win and the top seed in Beijing, was scheduled to start his bid against Cameron Norrie in the first round on Thursday. While the battle for world number one has been on his mind, the 29-year-old German told reporters Wednesday his focus was still to "do everything I can to prepare myself to play good tennis". "Everything else will fall into place," he said. A 1000-level WTA event is also taking place in Beijing. AFP
All combined WTA 1000 tournaments will award women equal prize money to the men from 2027, the WTA said, with major events joining the rest of the category in offering the same payouts.
FILIPINO Olympian Carlo Paalam will vie for the men’s 55-kilogram (kg) boxing gold medal in the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan on Friday. The last Filipino boxer standing in the ongoing games, Paalam will take on hometown bet Rui Yamaguchi as he tried to end the 16-year gold medal drought of Philippine boxing in the Asian Games. Paalam, a two-time Olympic medalist, will have experience on his side when he exchanges blows with Yamaguchi, a 22-year-old 2026 Asian Boxing Elite champion, on Friday at 12:45 p.m. (Manila time) at the Nishio Gymnasium in Aichi, Japan. The last time the Philippines won a gold medal in boxing was in 2010 when Rey Saludar topped the men’s 52-kg division in Guangzhou, China. Paalam, a crafty orthodox boxer who surprises his opponents by switching to a southpaw stance, needs to overcome Yamaguchi's tactical and technical game. An interesting similarity to point out is that both fighters are naturally right-handed but use an orthodox stance in their bouts. Amateur boxing relies more on the punches thrown and connected compared to professional boxing. Amateur boxers don’t usually focus on delivering the knockout blows but rather use tactics to land better punches. The Japanese boxer reached the gold medal round after a commanding 5-0 victory over Mongolia's Bilguunsaikhan Kharhuu. The Cagayan de Oro pride, on the other hand, booked a finals berth after prevailing over world champion Makhmud Sabyrkhan of Kazakhstan via split decision on Wednesday. “I trust myself. God knows that, and God is guiding me. All of the pressure is on us right now. I am being very patient, doing my best, and I hope God will be with me, step by step,” Paalam said. After scoring a huge victory in the semifinals, the 28-year-old Paalam posted a video of himself, sharing his manifestation. “I am Carlo Palaam, I am the best, and I am number one, representing Cagayan de Oro,” he said in a video. Paalam’s best finish in the Asian Games was in 2018 when he captured the bronze medal in the 49kg division. He has already surpassed that milestone this year by making the final round. He was almost a year outside of the ring and even skipped the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.
