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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Yang Hansen, the 7-foot-1 rookie out of China, made his first NBA start in a game Sunday against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Hansen, picked 16th overall in last summer’s draft, moved into the starting lineup after the Trail Blazers primary centers — Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams III — missed the game. Williams was a late scratch due to an illness and Clingan missed his second straight with a left lower-leg contusion.

The Grizzlies built a big lead in the first half and defeated Portland 119-96.

Yang entered the game averaging 2.5 points a game and 1.5 rebounds. He had a season-high nine points in a 127-110 home loss to Phoenix on Nov. 18.

He finished Sunday night’s game with four points on 2-of-5 shooting and five rebounds in slightly more than 19 minutes. His four points came in the third quarter, which included a spin move and a dunk over 7-foot-3 Zach Edey.

“His beginning wasn’t great, but he finished the game better,” Tiago Splitter, the Trail Blazers interim coach said. “It was a great lesson for him to have this experience, to go there and play against a big guy similar to his size and strength.

“Great lesson for him to get better and work on his game.”

Yang also took a hard shot in the third quarter and was on the floor under the Portland basket as play continued, leading to a dunk on the other end by Edey. Splitter came off the bench to halfcourt, yelling at officials about his player being hurt and was assessed a technical foul,.

“That’s why I was furious,” Splitter said. “I don’t understand. Players on the floor, you always take time to check if he’s alright. If he’s not. That’s why I got a tech.”

Yang, originally selected by the Grizzlies before a draft night trade, played his two previous seasons with Qingdao Eagles of China’s to professional league. During his final season with Qingdao before entering the NBA draft, Yang averaged 16.2 points and 10 rebounds.

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December 7, 2025

(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTF)

Tomokazu Harimoto won the first game against Lin Shidong, but with Japan already down 0-6 the result was all but a foregone conclusion.  Shidong dominated the next two games and China claims Gold with an 8-1 score at this rendition of the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup.  The two 3-0 wins for China were Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha (both World No. 1) over Matsushima and Odo in Mixed Doubles and Wang Manyu (World No. 2) over Miwa Harimoto.

There are no surprises in a team event where one squad has World No. 1 and 2 in both male and female singles categories.  China has had absolute dominance across much of our sport, and a team format makes upsets even more unlikely – as its likely three separate upsets would need to occur in one team match for China to fall.  Still, this format will be in play at the next Olympics, and the rest of the world has a few months to make adjustments.

For their part, Japan has clearly emerged as the second best team in the world.  Tomokazu Harimoto was the highest ranked non-Chinese male present and the recent rise of Sora Matsushima (World No. 8) provides Japan with a second strong male player.  Japan’s women are extremely strong and deep (against the non-Chinese table tennis world) with Miwa Harimoto at World No. 6, Mima Ito at World No. 8, and Satsuki Odo at World No. 14.   In the Semifinals today, second-seeded Japan faced off against the third ranked team, Germany.  The Japanese mixed doubles team of Ito and Shinozuka won easily (3-0) over Kaufmann and Franziska.  Miwa Harimoto then edged out Sabine Winter 2-1 to give Japan a 5-1 lead.  Dang Qiu then won the only match for Germany, taking 2 of 3 over Sora Matsushima.  And then Japan closed the door with Matsushima and Togami topping Duda and Qiu.  Japan had an early lead that was never truly challenged.  And, Tomokazu didn’t play – that is, the top male player for Japan was able to rest for the Final.

Looking forward towards the Olympics, expect that China and Japan will be ready – both with strong contingents in both male and female singles and a history of strong doubles play (for an event where there are potentially three doubles sets and only two singles sets per team match).  Its the other teams that will make things interesting.  Can Germany improve its female singles play and its doubles?  Can Korea’s strong doubles play be matched with a few key upsets.  Sweden (who played without Truls Moregard) plays strong doubles and has had big singles upsets – but can their ladies hold their own at this level?  If the French men continue to improve, they could have the strongest non-Chinese men’s team coupled with the Lebrun brothers as an experienced doubles team but they need to giant step on the women’s side.  And interestingly, Romania may have all the firepower they need on the women’s side – but will their fast improving young male players improve quickly enough?

This is an interesting twist on our sport, and while there are some clear advantages to teams with great players (like China, obviously), the focus on doubles could provide some interesting plot twists in 2028 when Los Angeles hosts the next Olympics.

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December 6, 2025

(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTF)

The ITTF Mixed Team World Cup Chengdu 2025 has delivered a new twist on the sport.  Itâ€s a race to 8 games played with your countryâ€s top men and women rotating through three doubles and two singles matches.  The match is mixed doubles where three games are played, the second three games are womenâ€s singles, the third set of three games are singles by the men, the fourth set game is menâ€s doubles, and the final set is womenâ€s doubles.  The first team to win 8 games is the winner, whether that mark is achieved in the last game of the fifth match (8-7) or in the third set of matches after an 8-0 sweep.

The first two stages were group play.  There were four groups of 4 teams in the first stage.  Team USA was the bottom seed in Group 3, and our team lost all three matches (to Korea, Sweden, and Taipei) with a final tally of 3 games won to 24 games lost.

In that first stage, the top two teams in each group qualified to advance, and those 8 squads finished exactly by seed.  China and Hong Kong advanced in Group 1, Japan and Croatia advanced in Group 2, Korea Republic and Sweden advanced in Group 3, and Germany and France advanced in Group 4.

Stage 2 also went exactly by seed.  China, Japan, Germany, and Korea finished 1-4 and advanced to the third stage.  China was 56-16, Japan was 52-25, Germany was 47-38, and Korea Republic was 41-44.  The unfortunate team that finished just outside of the top four was France.  The French squad actually finished with a better winning percentage (they were 44-45) but they only managed 10 points – losing just one more set than the Korea Republic team who scored 11 points.

The final stage is the semifinals with China taking on the Korea Republic and Germany taking on Japan.  These matches will be played tomorrow morning, and then after a brief break – weâ€ll see the Bronze Medal match (for third) followed by the Final.

As a preview, China will be favored in each match over the Korea Republic with a pair of World No. 1 players (Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha) in the opening Mixed Doubles match, Kuai Man in Womenâ€s Singles, Lin Shidong in Menâ€s Singles, followed by doubles pairs that could match World 1 and 2 in both Menâ€s and Womenâ€s.  When Korea faced them in the group stage, China won 8-0.

The Japan versus German match-up is more intriguing. Japan has Tomokazu Harimoto and Sora Matsushima who are higher seeds than any of the German men, but Dang Qiu, Franziska, and Duda have all spent time in the Worldâ€s Top 10 in the recent past.  On the womenâ€s side, Japan has a decisive advantage, but Germany has strong players capable of upsets with both Kaufmann and Mittleham.  When they met in the groups, Japan won 8-3, so Germany will need big performances across their core players.

Action picks up again tomorrow.

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November 30, 2025

(by Steve Hopkins)

China’s championship event was expected to highlight the world’s top two ranked players, and China top-ranked league squad – but an unranked Fan Zhendong stole most of the headlines at the 2025 China National Games in Macao.

Fan’s run in Men’s Singles was epic.  He won his early matches to reach the Semifinals and that was exciting for his fans – but expected.  The unexpected part was his 4-2 win over World No. 1 Wang Chuqin in the Semifinals.  And he followed that accomplishment with a 4-1 domination of World No. 2 Lin Shidong.  When the last point of the Final was over (with the score 11-4), the celebration was muted as both players shook hands and the fans cheered.  Fan Zhendong’s smile then grew as he showed one finger and then two fingers. The gestures relayed what everyone was thinking – what a massive accomplishment for Zhendong to beat the World No. 1 and then World No. 2 in consecutive days to take one of the biggest titles in the table tennis world in front of a packed room of fans that used to be his.

The top seeded team won in the Team Event.  That is, the Beijing team that is anchored by Wang Chuqin and Ma Long won (as expected).  However, the other headline of the Team Final was that Fan Zhendong was also undefeated in matches for his team.  And, in fact, in the Final between Chuqin’s Beijing squad and Fan’s Shanghai squad it was another win by Fan Zhendong over World No. 1 Wang Chuqin.  Fan won the match, but his squad fell 3-1; overpowered by the top seed.

Fan is now back in Germany where he’ll continue the season playing for Saarbrucken in the TTBL.  Fan’s professional arc has included World No. 1, winning the World Championships, winning the World Cup, and his last major title before stepping away from the tour – the 2024 Olympic Singles title.  Since that time, he’s been at odds with the ITTF and WTT and he was replaced on the Chinese National Team.  But at least at this moment, this unranked player has proven again that he is one of the best (perhaps THE best).  Fan Zhendong is back in Germany, but he’s also on top of the table tennis world.

Visit ButterflyOnline.com for the latest table tennis news and results.

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November 30, 2025

(By Steve Hopkins, photo ITTF)

Today was the final day of action at the ITTF World Youth Championships in Cluj Napoca, Romania.  China claims wins in six of the 14 events, with Japan winning three, Taipei and Germany winning a pair, and Thailand winning the remaining event.

The U19 Boys Team event went to Japan.  Taipei was the second seed, and they defeated China in the Quarterfinals 3-1 before falling 2-3 to India.  For its part, Japan had little trouble with Korea in their Semifinal match (winning 3-1) and then rolled past India 3-0.

U19 Boys featured Japan/China match-ups in both Semifinals.  Japan won both of those matches, and then Ryuusei Kawakami won the Final over Kazuki Yoshiyama 4-2.  The top players in these events are not always the best players at that age (sometimes 17 or 18 year olds make the transition to the professional tour ranks and stop competing in youth events).  That said, these are great results for Japan with Kawakami winning at just 16 years old.

Top seed Anna Hursey of Wales reached the Semifinals, but otherwise the U19 Girls Singles event was dominated by China.  Hursey lost to eventual winner, Qin Yuxuan.  And runner-up Zong Geman defeated Japan’s Yuna Ojio in the other Semifinal.  Qin won 4-2 in the Final.

Interestingly, the U19 Doubles and Teams results were not as expected.  U19 Boys’ Doubles went to Taipei’s team of Kuo and Hsu who defeated the Japanese team of Kawakami and Yoshiyama (who had finished first and second in Singles).  The same is true in U19 Girls Doubles where the first and second place finishers in Singles (Zong/Qin) lost to Wales’ Anna Hursey and Germany’s Mia Griesel.  Mixed Doubles went to a Chinese pair of Li/Qin who topped Iulian Chirita of Romania who had teamed with Anna Hursey.  The U19 Teams events did follow the pattern established in Singles with Japan winning U19 Boys and China winning U19 Girls.

Taipei won the U15 Boys Teams with a 3-2 win over Italy.  Both Finalists were surprises as Taipei needed to upset Iran and then upset top-seeded Korea to reach the Final, and Italy needed to upset Romania, then upset Japan, and then upset China.  Ultimately, the the battle of Cinderellas, it was Taipei winning 3-2.

It was an all-China Final in the U15 Boys Singles event with Yu Haiyang defeating Zhou Guanhong 4-2. German Koharu Itagaki won Girls U15 Singles with a 4-2 win over China’s Zhu Qihui.  China won both Boys and Girls U15 Doubles with Zhou/Yu winning Boys and Zhu/Liu winning Girls.  Thailand’s only event win came in Mixed Doubles, where Thitaphat Preechayan and Kulapassr Vijitviriyagul defeated the top seeded Chinese squad in the Semifinals before defeating another Chinese squad (Yu/Zhu) 3-2 in the Final.  In U15 Girls Teams, Japan topped second seeded China in the Semifinals before taking out top-seeded Korea Republic 3-1 in the Final.

Results for Americans varied, with Nandan Naresh logging the only American win in any of the U19 events (he was 1 of 2, falling in a 4-3 loss to Benyamin Faraji in the Round of 16 of U19 Boys Singles).  Abigail Yu won her opening match in U15 Girls Singles before falling to Germany’s Josephina Neumann in the Round of 16.  Kef Noorani and Irene Yeoh had a solid run in the U15 Mixed Doubles event, losing 1-3 to a Thai pair in the Quarterfinals.

TeamUSA’s U15 Teams both reached the Quarterfinals.  TeamUSA’s U15 Boys Team defeated Germany 3-1 before falling to Korea. TeamUSA U15 Girls won their opening match over host Romania 3-1 and then fell to Team China in the Quarterfinals.

The world will turn its attention back to the pros in 10 days as the next major event is the WTT Finals Hong Kong which starts on December 10.

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Brighton have apologised for “any offence caused in China” by a post on social media that featured an image of a Japanese World War Two soldier.

The post from the club’s academy featured Japan international Kaoru Mitoma and a youth player posing with a football card featuring Hiroo Onoda.

Lieutenant Onoda was the last Japanese soldier to formally surrender, 29 years after the country’s defeat in the war.

Brighton’s post was controversial in China as Japan committed atrocities in the country during the war.

There has been some backlash from fans expressing anger and disappointment on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

Onoda held out in the Philippine jungle for 29 years before surrendering, because he did not believe the war had ended. He received a hero’s welcome on his return to Japan.

The Philippine government granted him a pardon, despite killing 30 people on the island of Lubang that he mistook for the enemy.

“The club sincerely apologises for any offence caused in China by a recent post about our academy’s participation in the Premier League Christmas Truce Tournament,” the club’s academy said in a post on X.

“We hugely value our fans in China and had no intention of causing any offence.”

Alongside the image, the post said the club’s under-12s boys team had won the Premier League Education Project and would be going to Belgium to play in the Christmas Truce Cup.

The Premier League said the tournament “offers academy U12 players a chance to test their footballing talent against top European Clubs while gaining an understanding of the historical events that shaped our world”.

The tournament is named after the series of spontaneous ceasefires that occurred around Christmas in 1914 between British and German soldiers during World War One, with football matches being played in several locations.

BBC Sport has been told by Brighton officials it was a genuine error and the controversy was not known to the club or the Premier League.

It is understood the league – who co-judged the winners of the Education Project – were not aware of the specific people involved in the work.

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Oct 23, 2025, 06:13 AM ET

GOYANG, South Korea — The United States beat China twice in four-ball matches Thursday on the first day of the LPGA’s International Crown tournament while world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul remained perfect at the team event.

Thitikul and partner Pajaree Anannarukarn of Thailand beat Hannah Green and Grace Kim of Australia 1 up at the New Korea Country Club. It was Thitikul’s sixth consecutive win in the team competition.

The win came after Australia’s Minjee Lee and Steph Kyriacou beat Chanettee Wannasaen and Jasmine Suwannapura 2 up to split the points with Thailand on the opening day.

Americans Yealimi Noh and Angel Yin routed Liu Yan and Yin Ruoning of China 5 and 4 and Lilia Vu and Lauren Coughlin beat Zhang Weiwei and Liu Ruixin 1 up.

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The U.S. was the only team to win both its opening matches.

Japan led the World team early in both four-ball matches but Charley Hull and Lydia Ko birdied the final hole for a tie with Rio Takeda and Miyu Yamashita. Then Brooke Henderson and Wei-Ling Hsu rallied for a 2-and-1 win over Ayaka Furue and Mao Saigo to pick up 1.5 points against their opponents.

The host team got off to a good start when South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim and Hye-Jin Choi beat Sweden’s Maja Stark and Linn Grant 3 and 2 and Jin Young Ko and Haeran Ryu finished tied with Ingrid Lindblad and Madelene Sagstrom.

Under the tournament format, seven countries and a “rest of the world” team compete in two pools: the U.S., China, Australia and Thailand in Pool A, and South Korea, the World team, Japan and Sweden in Pool B. The teams and their players were determined by the women’s world rankings.

The addition of a world team allows for players such as Ko of New Zealand and Henderson of Canada to play in the tournament.

Four-ball matches continue on Friday and Saturday. The top two countries from each pool advance to Sunday’s semifinals and final that consist of one foursomes (alternate shot) and two singles matches.

Thitikul was a member of the Thai team in 2023 that won the International Crown at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco and is the only player in the field who has won the event. She is a six-time winner on the LGPA Tour, including wins this season at the Mizuho Americas Open and the Shanghai tournament two weeks ago.

Last week, Sei Young Kim won the BMW Ladies Championship, also in South Korea. The LPGA’s Asian swing continues in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, next week and concludes in Shiga, Japan, from Nov. 6-9.

Emma Raducanu has brought an early end to her season following physical struggles in China. The British No 1 had hoped to put together a strong finish to 2025 to guarantee herself a seeding at the Australian Open in January but that is now up in the air.

There is good news on the coaching front, though, with Francisco Roig reaching a deal to continue their work together in 2026.

Raducanu retired during the second set of her match against Ann Li in Wuhan last week with dizziness in hot and humid temperatures, and later posted a picture on social media of herself at a doctorâ€s office. She said she felt better and chose to play the Ningbo Open this week but was clearly not 100% and again lost her opening match.

Emma Raducanu receives treatment after wilting in the heat in the first round of the Wuhan Open. Photograph: Sky Sports

Raducanu won the first set against Zhu Lin but looked lethargic in the second and had her blood pressure checked, while she struggled with a recurrence of lower back issues in the decider and was barely moving by the end.

Raducanu had been due to play in next weekâ€s Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and then the Hong Kong Open beginning on 27 October, but has instead decided to focus on recovery. The former US Open champion has been feeling unwell over the past 10 days and has made the decision not to push her body further.

She will now take some time away from the court before linking up with Roig, the long-time former coach of Rafael Nadal who she began working with in August, for a pre-season training block.

It has been an up-and-down season for Raducanu, who experienced a difficult first few months on and off court, with her then coach Nick Cavaday stepping down because of ill health before she was left in tears during a match in Dubai after spotting a man exhibiting fixated behaviour in the crowd.

Emma Raducanu reached the quarter-finals of the Miami Open in March. Photograph: Robert Prange/Getty Images

She had won only three matches before at the Miami Open but a temporary coaching arrangement with Mark Petchey bore immediate fruit as she reached her first WTA 1000 quarter-final.

That heralded a fine spring and summer, with Raducanu consistently winning matches and nearly halving her ranking, but the optimism that surrounded her when she left New York with Roig in tow has taken another dip.

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She made a late decision to pull out of representing Great Britain at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals and will have bridges to rebuild on that front, while she won just two matches in four tournaments in Asia, losing from match points up against both Barbora Krejcikova and Jessica Pegula.

Raducanu may have done enough to be seeded in Melbourne, boosting her chances of avoiding the sort of draws she has faced at grand slams this season, and she has given herself a good platform to build from. Having gone into this yearâ€s Australian Open ranked 61st, Raducanu has elevated herself to 29th in the world while, crucially, she has shown her body can mostly stand up to a full season. If she can continue to gel with Roig, find stability again on the physical training front and put together a strong pre-season, there should be high hopes for a positive 2026.

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October 15, 2025

(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTF)

Team China won the ITTF-ATTU 28th Asian Table Tennis Team Championships.  That headline is not a surprise, but their path was not an easy one.  China’s opening match was against the Islamic Republic of Iran and there were fireworks from Iran’s young star, Benyamin Faraji.  Faraji, at just 15 years old, started the team competition off with a 3-2 upset win over World No. 2 Lin Shidong.   Shidong won the first game, Faraji then took three of the next four in exciting fashion with 12-10, 11-8, and 11-9 scores in his three wins.  Alamiyan Noshod won his first game against Liang Jingkun, for a short time matching the enthusiasm and excitement of Faraji.  This time, however, it was Jingkun who won three tight games (at 13-11, 11-8, and 13-11).  Iran fought admirably from that point forward, but it was decided – and China won 3-1.

A day later, Japan added an additional scare – winning the first two matches 3-2 before losing the next three matches 2-3.  The two wins were Tomokazu Harimoto over Liang Jingkun and Sora Matsushima over Wang Chuqin.  From that point forward, Japan only needed one win – but in each of the final three matches they fell one game short.  China wins 3-2 and moves on to the Final.

The other Semifinal was an upset with Hong Kong topping Taipei 3-2.  Taipei played without their highest ranked player,  Lin Yun-Ju.  Ultimately, it came down to the final match and a strong come-from-behind finish by Baldwin Chan.  The win sent Hong Kong into the Final to face China – where the much lower seeded Hong Kong squad fell 0-3.

China wins – but this was one title that required real work.

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Emma Raducanu again struggled physically in a first-round exit at the Ningbo Open to Chinaâ€s Zhu Lin, raising questions over the rest of her season.

The British No1 was back on court a week after retiring from her opening match in Wuhan with dizziness in hot and humid conditions. She posted a picture on social media from a doctorâ€s office and said she felt better but she faded after winning the opening set against Zhu and slumped to a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 defeat.

Initially, there did not appear to be any concerns, with temperatures lower than last week, but Raducanu began to look lethargic early in the second set and called the doctor after seven games.

Things got worse in the decider, the 2021 US Open champion seeking medical attention again – this time for her troublesome lower back – and limping to the finish line.

Raducanu was without her coach Francisco Roig, with the Spaniard taking a week off back at home in Barcelona and instead had hitting partner Alexis Canter courtside along with physical trainer Daniel Pohl.

Canter offered plenty of encouragement as Raducanu managed to keep her nose in front during the first set, despite appearing frustrated at how she was playing and dropping serve twice.

The looks turned to concern in the second set as the 22-year-old quickly fell 2-0 behind, moving sluggishly and being outhit by Zhu, who was ranked just outside the top 30 two years ago before injury saw her drop below 200.

Raducanu kept herself in contention in the set, pulling back to 2-2 and then 4-4 following consultation with the doctor, where she had her blood pressure checked, but she netted a forehand on set point in the 10th game.

She walked slowly off court for a bathroom break but things did not improve, with Raducanuâ€s back problem, which has been an issue at times throughout the season, flaring up again.

She doubled over repeatedly early in the decider and then took a medical timeout for treatment after three games. Raducanu opted not to retire again but she was barely able to move and the end came quickly.

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