Asian Games: from teen swimmers to titans of tennis, 5 stars set to shine in Japan

Any talk of potential success is almost done, early skirmishes are building to serious exchanges of fire and the first official day of Asian Games competition on Sunday will launch some to global stardom or merely enhance the reputation of those destined to be the best. There is little surprise in the names of several athletes who are expected to shine in Japan, with China’s swimming starlet Yu Zidi already being talked about as an Olympic champion in waiting. Others, such as Singapore’s rising gymnastics star Amanda Yap still need that signature medal, despite her Commonwealth Games success, while Alexandra Eala has opted to skip the mandatory China Open to represent the Philippines on the tennis courts of Nagoya, a move that can only further her burgeoning popularity in the basketball and boxing mad country. Hong Kong, meanwhile, already knows about the potential within its cycling ranks, while at least one of the city’s triathletes needs a big performance to overcome the asterisk, in this case one signifying “what if”, that would be planted next to any career record. There will of course be those who burst into the public consciousness having been relatively anonymous in the years since Hangzhou in 2023, or the Paris Olympics two years ago. Here then are five stars we expect to shine brighter than others over the next several weeks in Nagoya and Tokyo. Ceci Lee Sze-wing (Women’s cycling, Hong Kong) Ceci Lee is most definitely not a rising star, rather an established one regionally who has the potential to become one globally. Three medals in Hangzhou, two silver and a bronze, coupled with her triple gold display at last year’s National Games, have cemented the 25-year-old’s position as the true heir to Sarah Lee Wai-sze’s legacy. The cyclist has the intensity to join the elite of the sport, which was witnessed barely 30 minutes after her third National Games gold when she started thinking about Nagoya and the need for “more international results”. In Japan we will see Lee 2.0., as she has narrowed her focus, competing only in the Madison and the omnium. Unafraid of speaking out about her goal of securing a medal at next month’s UCI Track World Championships, Lee is also open about her Olympic ambitions. First though, a bid for Asian Games gold, another potential staging post in a career in the ascendancy. Alexandra Eala (Tennis, Philippines) With a first WTA Tour title and a stunning win against defending champion Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon this year, Alexandra Eala has emerged as one of tennis’s most exciting new talents. Eala’s run to the Washington title last month saw her sweep aside world number three Jessica Pegula in the final after wins over Naomi Osaka, Elina Svitolina, Leylah Fernandez and Zheng Qinwen. At a career high world No 18, Eala will warm up at the Singapore Open before embarking on her quest for an Asian Games gold to add to her SEA Games gold last year. She won Asian Games bronze at the age of 18 in Hangzhou three years ago, losing in the semi-finals to Zheng, who went on to take gold and win the Olympics a year later. Yu Zidi (Swimming, China) Yu Zidi, then aged 12, became the youngest swimming world championships medallist in history in 2025 after winning bronze as part of China’s 4x200m freestyle relay team. She also finished a whisker outside the medals in fourth in three world individual events. This year, she has embellished her growing reputation, notably with a victory over multiple American Olympic champion Regan Smith in the 200m butterfly in March. Yu does not turn 14 until two weeks after the Games end next month and is already targeting Olympic glory. She will begin her quest for a first Asian Games gold in the 200m butterfly when the swimming competition begins on Sunday. Yu will also swim in the individual 200m and 400m medleys. Amanda Yap (Artistic gymnastics, Singapore) Only 16, Yap has already made history for Singapore, becoming her country’s first balance beam world championships finalist and claiming Commonwealth Games silver. Her breakthrough came at the same time as her school exams: the teenager only found out she had qualified for the balance beam world championships last year once she was back home revising for a test the following morning. She went on to make history as Singapore’s first gymnast, male or female, to reach a world championships final. That rapid rise continued in July, when Yap claimed silver in Glasgow, Singapore’s first gymnastics medal at a Commonwealth Games since 2014. Oscar Coggins (Triathlon, Hong Kong) Oscar Coggins has a score to settle with the Asian Games. In Hangzhou three years ago, he withdrew mid-race “in really bad mental shape”. So began a period away, as Coggins “separated the sport from the emotions caused by my negative experiences”. How he has bounced back. “I’ve never seen him so fast across all three disciplines,” was the recent verdict of Andrew Wright, the Hong Kong head coach. An Olympian in 2021, Coggins confirmed his elite return with a top-25 finish from the 2024 World Triathlon Championship Series race in Weihai. Last year, he claimed National Games bronze on his own, then delivered a consummate anchor leg for Hong Kong’s silver medal mixed relay team. Fiercely dedicated and professional, but no longer to the point where that narrow-eyed focus is detrimental, Coggins has thrived over the past 18 months on prolonged altitude training camps where he lives and breathes the sport that briefly tortured him. He was third in this year’s Asia Triathlon Super Sprint Elite Championship, leaving Wright to speculate that Coggins boasts the credentials to win the gold in Japan on Sunday morning that would book his ticket to the 2028 Olympics. “He’s just been pretty much flawless the entire year, and he’s operating like a world-class athlete,” Wright said.

Asian Games: from teen swimmers to titans of tennis, 5 stars set to shine in Japan

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hong Kong cyclist Ceci Lee and triathlete Oscar Coggins carry the hopes of the city and are joined by up-and-coming athletes.

Hong Kong cyclist Ceci Lee and triathlete Oscar Coggins carry the hopes of the city and are joined by up-and-coming athletes.