“Inconsolable” Wallabies star Karmichael Hunt has been arrested, reportedly for possessing drugs, with Rugby Australia yesterday launching an investigation into the incident.
Hunt, a former rugby league international who made his Wallaby debut this year, was detained along with another man in Brisbane early yesterday morning during a random street stop.
He was allegedly caught with a white powder, which local media said was cocaine.
“Rugby Australia has today been made aware of an incident involving Wallabies and Queensland Reds back Karmichael Hunt in Brisbane overnight,” the sport’s governing body said in a statement. “It is understood Hunt was arrested and has subsequently been released by Queensland Police.”
“Rugby Australia takes all matters relating to the off-field behavior of its players seriously and has commenced an investigation into the incident in conjunction with the Queensland Rugby Union,” it added.
The Sydney Morning Herald said he was due to appear in court on Jan. 29, charged with two counts of drug possession.
“He is very upset, as anyone would expect, and pretty much inconsolable,” Hunt’s solicitor Adam Magill told the newspaper. “He is sticking with his family. He’s got concerns and his manager is taking care of him.”
It is not the first time Hunt had been in trouble with the law.
He was in 2015 banned for six weeks and fined A$30,000 (US$23,405) by the Reds after pleading guilty to four charges of cocaine possession.
As well as his club fine, he was stripped of the Reds’ vice-captaincy and ordered to pay A$2,500 by magistrates on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Despite the setback, he managed to re-establish himself at the Reds and made his Wallabies debut this year, becoming one of the stars of Australia’s home Tests in June.
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
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
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
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
RSS