■ Basketball
Kemp arrested for marijuana
Shawn Kemp was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana on Friday, the latest drug-related trouble for the former NBA All-Star. Kemp, 36, was arrested following a traffic stop for driving without a license plate shortly after midnight. An officer with the Harris County Sheriff's Department pulled Kemp over and said he noticed the smell of burning marijuana coming from Kemp's vehicle. The officer later found less than 56 grams of the illegal drug in Kemp's possession. The six-time All-Star was released from the Harris County Jail after posting a US$500 cash bond and faces a court appearance on Friday. Kemp checked into a rehabilitation clinic for cocaine use in 2001. In April last year, he was arrested for possessing small amounts of cocaine and marijuana in his truck.
■ Soccer
Pull down flags: Dhaka cops
Police in the Bangladesh capital yesterday asked residents to remove the flags of foreign nations they hoisted to show their support during the soccer World Cup. Thousands of flags, mainly of Brazil and Argentina, were hoisted in Dhaka, a city of 10 million people, during the World Cup, with most yet to be removed. After the departure of two the South American teams in the quarterfinals, many even raised the flags of Germany and France to continue their support at the tournament. Bangladesh has never contested a World Cup, but most of its soccer-crazed population support either Brazil or Argentina. Authorities postponed classes and examinations at a leading university for a month after violent protests by students in Dhaka who complained that regular classes interfered with them watching World Cup matches.
■ Diving
China wins springboard gold
China's Wang Feng and He Chong took home the gold on Friday for the men's 3m synchronized springboard event, while teammates Jia Tong and Chen Ruolin won the women's 10m synchronized platform at the FINA World Cup competition. Wang and He split up last year but resumed their partnership at this year's Grand Prix, bagging three wins in a row before the World Cup. They led the competition with 446.73 points, while Americans Mitchell Richeson and Troy Dumais won the silver with 428.43 points. Germany's Tobias Schellenberg and Andreas Wels finished third with 393.30 points. They placed second in the 2004 Athens Olympics. The 14-year-old Jia took home her second gold medal with the help of Chen.
■ Soccer
Laporta to quit Barcelona
Joan Laporta, president of European champions FC Barcelona, plans to resign ahead of the club's forthcoming presidential elections. Speaking on Friday at a press conference, Laporta said he would leave his post on Wednesday. Barcelona judge Roberto Garcia Ceniceros ruled this week in favor of three club members who claimed Laporta's four-year term in office had finished at the end of last month -- and not on June 30 next year as argued by the club's management. Laporta was picked in early elections in 2003, prompted by the resignation of Joan Gaspart. One clause in the club statutes says that, in the event of early elections, the new president's first year in office runs from the date of the election to the end of the fiscal year, which for Barcelona is June 30.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
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