Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Day 4 of the Asian Games 2026 from Japan. The biggest encouraging news this morning comes from rowing where India have entered the fianl in men’s single sculls.

India’s Balraj Panwar, often called as MS Dhoni of India’s rowing, is in contention in men’s single sculls, having qualified for the final. Balraj Panwar finished third in his heat with a time of 6:52.84, trailing Chi Fung Chan by just 0.31 seconds. Sitting fourth overall across both heats, he has done enough to secure his spot in tomorrow’s final.

Manchester City’s eventful return to the Women’s Champions League saw them come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 away to Bayern Munich and become the first English side to avoid defeat to the Germans in Europe.

City’s Germany international Carlotta Wamser was left completely unmarked in the penalty area to score her first City goal in the 86th minute after prolific striker Khadija Shaw had earlier missed a penalty to equalise.

The visitors were worthy of a point based on their second-half performance having been completely dominated before the interval before nicking a goal on the stroke of half-time.

Bayern were 2-0 up inside the first half-hour and had chances to put the result beyond doubt but with seconds ticking down to the interval Kerstin Casparij’s break down the right led to Beth Mead eventually tapping in.

However, the hosts were unhappy play had been allowed to continue as a smoke canister had been thrown onto the pitch down the side of that attack but as Casparij had crossed before she reached the thick blue cloud the goal was allowed to stand.

That was the stroke of luck City needed and they benefited again when Ena Mahmutovic appeared to be caught in two minds as she came out to close down Aoba Fujino.

She appeared to opt to try to let the ball run out of play before inexplicably then sticking out a leg to bring down the City winger.

Shaw, who was due to be substituted, could not take advantage and was immediately replaced but Wamser ensured the miss was not costly.

City were fortunate to only have a two-goal deficit to make up as Klara Buhl and Pernille Harder both had chances before Giulia Gwinn’s chipped drive across Ayaka Yamashita opened the scoring in the 11th minute after Linda Dallmann drove unchallenged from the halfway line.

Buhl volleyed straight at Yamashita and Jovana Damjanovic blazed over after Bayern cut through City’s midfield once again.

Lauren Hemp almost fluked a goal when her deflected cross ran along the top of the crossbar but it was a brief respite as Harder fired in a cross which Casparij made a complete mess of and diverted into her own goal.

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Newcastle United defender Lewis Hall has opened up on Man United’s interest in him in the summer transfer window

Manchester United summer transfer target Lewis Hall has opened up about the decision to extend his stay with Newcastle, insisting that the speculation surrounding his future did not affect him. The left-back was a key target for United in the transfer window, but a deal could not be reached.

Hall has since ended speculation about his future by signing a contract extension at St James’ Park. He put pen-to-paper earlier this month on a deal which runs until 2031, and has credited new manager Matthias Jaissle as a big factor over the decision.

United were keen to add to their left-back options in the summer, but having already sold Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes, Newcastle were determined not to sell another key player. Hall has impressed with his performances so far this season, scoring in last weekend’s 2-1 win over Hull City.

When asked whether the transfer speculation had affected him, the full-back said: “No, honestly, it didn’t. I guess whenever you’re linked to another team, you know that you’re doing something right. I guess it’s just a credit to your own performances and how you are as a player, how you are as a person.

“I took that as a positive, but at the same time, I knew how much I love playing here and I knew that since the manager came in, I knew the ambitions and what we wanted to achieve.

“After not many conversations, not many training sessions, I knew that the manager was going to be really good for this club and I knew that as a team, bringing in new players and improving the squad was really important and as soon as we did that, it was a no-brainer really to sign.”

Newcastle have claimed victory in two of their five matches, suffering only a single defeat, with Jaissle making a positive impression as he integrates a number of new summer recruits, many of whom were largely untested at this level.

Hall, despite enduring some testing moments – including conceding a stoppage-time penalty against Liverpool – has largely been a standout performer, earning himself a recall to the England squad.

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He missed out on the World Cup in the summer, largely due to a dip in form during the closing weeks of the season. Hall was reportedly frustrated that Howe deployed him on the right rather than in his natural position, a factor he is said to have linked to his declining performances.

United, meanwhile have had problems in the left-back position. Luke Shaw is the only natural senior option in the position, but has been struggling with injury the last couple of weeks.

Patrick Dorgu, more naturally a winger, has deputised. Shaw returned to the starting line-up for the weekend’s draw against Fulham but was replaced by Dorgu in the second half as he steps up his comeback.

Erik Morales is heralded as one of the greatest Mexican boxers of all time after becoming the first man from his country to be a four-weight world champion, and he has now named the fighter whom he believes to be the current pound-for-pound king.

Morales won his first 41 professional contests and captured the WBC and WBO super-bantamweight titles, as well as the WBC featherweight crown along the way, before suffering a defeat in a rematch with fierce rival Marco Antonio Barrera in 2002.

The Tijuana-born legend bounced back to reclaim the then-vacant WBC super-featherweight strap in the fight that followed and made two defences before moving up and capturing the WBC super-featherweight title and then the IBF belt, before losing to Barrera once again in their trilogy bout.

After overcoming Manny Pacquiao, Morales then went on to lose four straight contests – including two defeats to ‘Pac Man’ – with Morales then making the decision to retire.

After three years away, Morales made his comeback and knocked out Pablo César Cano to get his hands on the WBC super-lightweight world title in 2011 to make Mexican history – before retiring for good after two losses to Danny Garcia.

Morales has now been speaking about the current generation and in an interview with ES News he named fellow four-division conqueror and reigning undisputed super-bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue as the best fighter on the planet.

Inoue has held world honours at light flyweight, super flyweight, bantamweight and super bantamweight, with the latter two divisions seeing him also earn undisputed status.

The Japanese superstar is expected to remain on the sidelines until spring 2027, when he could collide with fellow pound-for-pound star Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez in one of boxing’s most in-demand match-ups.

Brazilian tennis star João Fonseca will miss the entire Asian swing after deciding to take more time away from competition as he continues to recover from a series of injuries.

Fonseca, who has struggled with injuries throughout 2026, said his body is still not ready for the demands of competing at the highest level.

The 19-year-old explained that he made a major effort to return in time to represent Brazil in the Davis Cup, but after discussions with his team, they decided that taking a break was the best option.

“2026 has been a very challenging year for me,” Fonseca said in a message shared on Instagram.

“On top of everything the profession demands, a series of injuries ended up taking me out of important tournaments and keeping me from playing the way I would like to.”

Fonseca admitted that the situation has been frustrating, but said he needs to listen to his body and give himself time to recover properly.

“I made a huge effort to return and represent Brazil in the Davis Cup, but I still need more time,” he said.

“I talked a lot with my team, and we came to the conclusion that the best decision right now is to listen to my body, give my mind and body a break, and skip the Asian swing.”

Fonseca ended his message by thanking fans for their continued support and promising to return when he is ready.

This decision means he will miss the tournaments that make up the Asian swing as he focuses on getting his body back to full fitness.

England maintain their excellent one-day form in a comfortable victory against Sri Lanka, as Will Jacks’ stars with bat and ball to help the home side to an 89-run win at Chester-le-Street in the first ODI.

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Harry Brook believes Will Jacks is reaping the rewards of embracing a fresh role after the all-rounder helped England draw first blood in their Metro Bank ODI series against Sri Lanka.

An opening batter and part-time spinner by trade in the white-ball formats, Jacks has been shuffled down the order as a finisher and been increasingly relied upon with the ball under Brook’s captaincy.

Jacks showed his adaptability at the T20 World Cup earlier this year, winning four player of the match awards, and excelled with bat and ball in England’s 89-run win on Tuesday at the Banks Homes Riverside.

After England slumped from 181 for three to 211 for seven, Jacks made a crucial 46 not out to get them to a competitive 265 before taking five for 22 from seven overs as Sri Lanka were all out for 176.

“He’s really growing into this role,” Brook said. “He’s just bought into everything that we want to do, as have the other boys.

“We’re talking about all sorts of aspects of the game, trying to adapt to conditions and he’s done that exceptionally well since he’s come back in over the last 18 months.

“He could have easily just moaned and groaned about batting in the middle-order and playing as an all-rounder but he’s really grown into that and accepted that’s going to be his role for a period of time.

“He’s been a very vital player. He’s not a part-timer, he is a very good off-spinner. He’s proven that today. He can spin the ball big and contain batters when we need to.”

Jacks claimed three wickets with his last four deliveries to finish with the second best figures by an England spinner in an ODI, only bettered by Vic Marks’ five for 20 against New Zealand in 1984.

While the margin of England’s 10th successive limited-overs win over Sri Lanka in 2026 appears comprehensive, they had to battle on a slow and low surface at Chester-le-Street.

Brook was the only batter on either side to go past fifty, amassing 67 off 69 balls, while a batting line-up renowned for their power hitting failed to get a single six.

But as they build towards the 50-over World Cup in southern Africa, which is just over a year away, Brook admitted this result could be an important staging post.

“It was a very good win in my eyes,” Brook added. “The wicket wasn’t as good as what you’d expect in England, but we’ve managed to manufacture a win when the conditions probably aren’t in our favour.

“It was hard to score when the ball was hitting the stumps. Those were the conversations we had when we went out to bowl – predominantly try to keep the stumps in play and wait for them to make a mistake.

“I’ve said multiple times we want to be a team that can adapt to conditions, read surfaces well and play accordingly to those conditions and I thought we did exceptionally well.

“We probably knew after the first five overs it wasn’t going to be a 300-plus type of wicket. To scrap away and not be as fluent as what we can be and get to that score was a hell of an effort with the bat.

“The consistency in our lines and lengths and the commitment to what we were trying to do with the ball was outstanding and that’s ended up winning us the game.”

Jai Opetaia set up a long-awaited fight with David Benavidez after his most recent win, and two-time welterweight world champion Shawn Porter has offered his thoughts on the showdown.

Opetaia knocked out then-reigning WBC crusierweight titleholder Noel Mikaelian in the co-main event of last weekend’s Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn bill, but Opetaia did not get his hands on the coveted WBC belt – with it being a non-sanctioned contest.

Instead, Mikaelian was stripped of his status as champion during the aftermath, with interim champion Michal Cieslak being elevated to full world champion and positioned for a three-belt unification clash with WBA & WBO champion Benavidez on December 12 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Whilst Opetaia did not become a three-time world champion with his triumph over Mikaelian, the victory has seen him installed as the mandatory challenger for the victor of Benavidez-Cieslak, with Cinco De Mayo already being mentioned for a possible Benavidez-Opetaia bout.

Speaking on ‘The PorterWay Podcast’, Porter described Benavidez-Opetaia as a 60/40 contest in favour of the champion.

“I think that he [Opetaia] should move past the stuff outside of the ring. Once he moves past, this is still a legitimate [fight], I think it’s a 60/40 now – it is hard for me to let that go – in David Benavidez’s favour. He [Opetaia] was flat last night.

“I think that it’s going to be good and I do think that it is next. I don’t think that David got in the ring for the show, I think that he legitimately wants to fight. I think that the piece that they had int the ring was like ‘hey, let’s make this happen.’”

Recent rumours suggest that Benavidez – or Cieslak – and Opetaia’s meeting could make up part of a mammoth May event, that may also feature a welterweight title unification involving Ryan Garcia and Teofimo Lopez.