Geoff Lawson Has Been Sacked From Pakistan Cricket Coach

Geoff Lawson has been sacked as coach of Pakistan. It had been announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board earlier this week that Lawson's contract would not be renewed when it expired in April 2009. After a meeting between Lawson and the new PCB chairman Ijaz Butt today it has been decided that the dismissal will be immediate. Lawson will be given three months advance salary as a severance.

In his first press conference since taking over as PCB chairman Butt claimed he "had no utility" for Lawson, and confirmed he intended to sack him. Though he softened that position later in the week after several prominent ex-Pakistan internationals came to the defence of the incumbent coach, it now seems that Lawson's position had been made untenable.

Lawson himself has defended his record as coach since succeeding the late Bob Woolmer last year, stating "We [Pakistan] have got the best record in world cricket in one-day internationals and we're 21 (wins) and nine (defeats) since I've taken over." He also coached the side to the final of the inaugural world Twenty20 tournament, which they lost to India.

Butt, who reportedly described Lawson as a "useless person", said earlier this week that the coach had failed to produce the desired results and added that he firmly believed that a Pakistani could do a better job.

Lawson had claimed not to have had any contact with Butt since he took office, and had been seeking a meeting with the Board to clarify his position. That finally appears to have occurred this morning. Butt had been reluctant to sack Lawson only because of the financial loss the Board would suffer as a consequence.

News Courtsey: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/

Vogue November Issue : Victoria Beckham In A Saree!

Soccer star David Beckham's wife Victoria Beckham had a taste of India when she stepped into exquisite bridal wear for Vogue India's bridal November issue.

The ex-Spice girl also gave a rare interview to the magazine, and spoke about her style, and life with her icon husband David and their three sons.

"I feel like an Indian princess!" Victoria exclaimed, when she slipped on a Tarun Tahiliani lehenga. "You know, as a designer, I love the detailing in these clothes. It's so me... this is real craftsmanship," she added. "I've never worn anything like it. The talent that goes into making these clothes is phenomenal."

The magazine will be available on stands on October 24.

News and Image Courtsey: Rediff.com

Rugby : George Smith Wins John Eales Medal For Second Time

Wallabies flanker George Smith has become the first dual winner of the John Eales Medal for Australian rugby's player of the year.

Smith won the inaugural medal in 2002 and again topped this year's players' poll, which was announced here late Thursday.

This year's medal count took in 14 Test matches, five at last year's World Cup in France and the nine played this season.


Smith polled a total of 205 votes with his backrow partner Wycliff Palu second on 184 and fly-half Matt Giteau on 183.

The John Eales Medal is determined by Wallabies players who vote on a 3-2-1 basis after each Test.

News Courtsey: Google AFP

World Chess Championship : 7th Game : Draw

Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik before the 7th Game

India’s Viswanathan Anand took a 37-move draw in the slav defence to maintain his dominance over Vladimir Kramnik in the 12-game World Chess Championship final. Anand, who had white pieces, did try to go for his fourth win in 37 moves but had to settle for a draw.

The draw gives Anand a 5-2 lead with the Indian needing just 1.5 points from five games to retain his world title.

Picture Courtsey: Uep-Chess.com

World Chess Championship : 6th Game : Anand Wins

India's Viswanathan Anand has taken a commanding lead over Russian challenger Vladimir Kramnik in the 2008 World Chess Championship in Bonn, Germany.

Kramnik conceded defeat on the 47th move of the sixth game on Tuesday.

Anand's third win gives him a 4.5-1.5 lead over Kramnik in the 12-game match. The other three games were draws.
Kramnik, who lost his title to Anand last year, now has little chance of digging himself out of the hole with only six games to go - three of them with white pieces. That means the defending champion can easily keep drawing in the remaining games, making it highly unlikely that Kramnik will be able to reclaim the world title.

Image Courtsey: http://www.uep-chess.com/cms_english/

World Chess Championship : 5th Game : Anand Wins

World champion Viswanathan Anand scored his second victory in the World Chess Championship, again with black pieces, against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia to extend his lead to two points.
If one thought Kramnik, playing with white pieces and trailing by a point would go on the offensive for the equaliser, they were quickly corrected. It was yet another Slav defense by the Indian ace in the fifth game and Kramnik went for what he had chosen in the third game, giving an idea that he had prepared something against the variation. However, Anand had other ideas and once again he was the one to come up with another surprise. If Kramnik thought he was going to deviate from the earlier game, he was proven wrong as Anand came up with a different idea on the 15th move.

Like in the third game, Kramnik yet again felt the heat and spent a lot of time on his clock. Anand got a good lead on the time while his position also remained intact. Kramnik went for unwarranted complications instead of trying to regain the momentum, which caused him dearly. The Russian was under pressure when Anand just improved the position of his pieces and maintained a fairly balanced position.

With the clock ticking away and not many options in sight, disaster struck the Russian on the 29th move. Going for a tactical move, Kramnik missed a fine retort that turned the tide decidedly in Anand’s favour.

News Courtsey: Indianexpress.com

World Chess Championship : 4th Game : Draw

Defending champion Viswanathan Anand of India played to a 29-move draw with Russian challenger Vladimir Kramnik on Saturday in the fourth game of their world chess championship match.
Anand leads the 12-game match 2.5-1.5. He won the third game in spectacular style on Friday after the two men drew their opening games.

Saturday's draw was a tame affair in comparison with the previous day's game.

Anand had the white pieces and the opening was the solid Queen's Gambit Declined. As often happens in this opening, Black wound up with an isolated d-pawn and White had only the slightest chance of an advantage.

Kramnik summed the opening up after the game by saying that "White has to be very precise" to have an advantage. "One inaccurate move and it's a draw."

Indeed, Anand said that "Black was fairly comfortable" coming out of the opening.

The position seemed to be headed for a draw almost from the beginning. There was the usual maneuvering around the isolated pawn as White tried to prove that it was a weakness and Black tried to liquidate it.

News Courtsey: Associated Press

Tennis Star Rafael Nadal Meets Soccer Legend Zinedine Zidane

Rafael Nadal with soccer legend Zinedine Zidane and son Luca after his quarterfinal victory at the Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid on Friday night.

News and Image Courtsey: Sify Sports

World Chess Championship : Game 3 : Anand Wins

World champion Viswanathan Anand struck with black in Game 3 and took a crucial psychological lead in the 12-game World Chess Championship aViswanathan Anand making a move under the eyes of Vladimir Kramnik at the chess world championships in Bonn.
gainst Vladimir Kramnik in Bonn on Friday.

In a sharp line in Slav Defence, Anand took the initiative by inviting Kramnik for a debate in tactics and seemed to have fallen into a trap when he lost two pawns in the middle game. However, in a remarkable rally, he resisted temptations to go for a draw and fought brilliantly to pull off a big black win after 41 moves.

"Gossip Girl": New Role for US Gymnast Nastia Liukin

Olympic all-round gymnastics champion Nastia Liukin has landed a guest role on popular TV teen drama "Gossip Girl," describing it as one of her coolest thrills since winning five gold medals at the Beijing summer games.

Liukin, who turns 19 later this month and aspires to do some modeling and acting, said she was not sure if her role on the show would go beyond the one episode.

The "Gossip Girl" gig came totally by chance when she and some friends were chatting about the show, which depicts the lives of rich young teens in New York City.

"I was in Los Angeles having dinner with a bunch of my friends and the producers of 'Gossip Girl' were sitting at the table next to me," Liukin told reporters before being named Sportswoman of the Year by the Women's Sports Foundation on Tuesday.

"So they sent over a note saying 'Congratulations. Keep watching "Gossip Girl'. Then the next day they contacted my management and the next thing I know I have a guest role on 'Gossip Girl.'

"I'm gonna get to film 'Gossip Girl' next time I'm here on October 21."

"I was going to play myself and then they thought it would be cool to give me a character," she said. "A bunch of my friends always watch, so to actually be on it, it's really cool."

News Courtsey: Larry Fine of Reuters

Rugby: Wales's New Hi-Tech Rugby Kit Launched by Under Armour

It is claimed that the Welsh rugby team’s new kit – now on sale – could be the most technologically advanced in the world.

The jersey, which was created by up to 100 people, is made from polyester and nylon – think high-performance material rather than a pair of tights – and contains several features that could help finely tune performance.

The home shirt has anti-microbial properties and an ultraviolet protection factor to guard against the sun’s harmful rays.

The shirt – which will get its debut against South Africa on November 8 – is designed to keep the players’ core body temperature at the optimal level, and to keep them dry. Its tightness helps remove sweat in seconds.

It also features “dragon scale grippy” technology on the inside of the sleeves and to the side of the chest for enhanced ball-handling ability.

It can even withstand being pulled in different directions.

Its durability was put to the test when Wales coach Warren Gatland told his team to try and rip the shirts off each other’s backs during a training session.

“The jerseys held up pretty well,” said Gatland.

But, importantly, it combines technology with comforting hints of Welsh tradition. On the inside of the collar, the word “Calon” (heart) is stitched above a Welsh flag to give the players an emotional boost.

The company behind the new kit is US firm Under Armour, the flagship sportswear provider for American football and basketball.

News Courtsey: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/

WC Qualifiers Round 10 : Brazil v/s Colombia : Pictures

WC Qualifiers Round 10 : Brazil (0) v/s Colombia (0) : Pictures

Brazil: 1-Julio Cesar; 2-Maicon, 3-Lucio, 4-Juan (14-Thiago Silva 67), 6-Kleber; 5-Josue, 8-Gilberto Silva, 7-Elano (17-Mancini 58), 10-Elano; 11-Robinho (18-Alexandre Pato 64), 9-Jo

Colombia: 1-Agustin Julio; 16-Camilo Zuniga, 14-Luis Amaranto Perea, 2-Mario Yepes, 7-Pablo Armero; 4-Juan Toya, 15-Gerardo Bedoya (4-Abel Aguilar 67), 6-Fabian Vargas, 15-Fredy Guarin; 9-Carlos Darwin Quintero (17-Dayro Moreno 72), 18-Wason Renteria (11-Adrian Ramos 76)

Referee: Ruben Selman (Chile)

Image Courtsey: Sportsya.com

WC Qualifiers Round 10 : Chile v/s Argentina : Pictures

WC Qualifiers Round 10 : Chile (1) v/s Argentina (0) : Pictures
Goal Scorer for Chile : Fabian Orellana

Chile: 1-Claudio Bravo; 17-Gary Medel (2-Hans Martinez 86), 13-Marco Estrada, 3-Waldo Ponce (8-Arturo Vidal 88), 5-Pablo Contreras; 6-Carlos Carmona, 14-Matias Fernandez, 11-Mark Gonzalez (4-Hugo Droguett 18), 15-Jean Beausejour; 7-Fabian Orellana, 9-Humberto Suazo

Argentina: 1-Juan Pablo Carrizo; 8-Javier Zanetti, 17-Nicolas Burdisso (3-Daniel Diaz 17), 2-Martin Demichelis, 6-Gabriel Heinze; 14-Javier Mascherano, 5-Esteban Cambiasso (11-Jose Sand 81), 15-Cristian Ledesma, 18-Lionel Messi; 9-Diego Milito (7-Gonzalo Bergessio 46), 16-Sergio Aguero

Referee: Oscar Ruiz (Colombia)

Image Courtsey: Sportsya.com

WC Qualifiers: Paraguay Wins; Brazil Draws; Argentina Loses

Brazil's coach was Dunga insulted after being held to their second successive home goalless draw in the World Cup qualifiers, this time against Colombia, on Wednesday (15th October 2008).

The draw , which followed last month's stalemate with Bolivia, kept them second in the 10-team South American group with 17 points from 10 matches but they fell six behind leaders Paraguay, who beat Peru 1-0.

Colombia stayed seventh with 11 points and just in contention for a place at their first World Cup since 1998.

Fabian Orellana scored on debut for Chile to top Argentina 1-0 for the first time in official competition in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday.

Chile had previously beaten Argentina only in friendlies, and the last was in 1973.

World Chess Championship: Second Game: Draw

Viswanathan Anand surprised Vladimir Kramnik by going in with a Nimzo-Indian in the second game of the World Chess Championship on Wednesday that also ended in a draw. With this both games have ended in draws and in the third game Kramnik will hold white pieces.

Anand, playing with White, led with the Saemisch variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. His first move, 1. d4, was a minor surprise because he almost always leads with 1. e4 and it gave him a slight edge over Kramnik.

"At a certain point in the opening, the position became very sharp," Anand said.

Kramnik, of Russia, called the position "very complicated."

"Such a strange position is difficult to assess," he said.

Kramnik will have White in game three on Thursday.

News Courtsey: Associated Press

Barcelona To Launch MLS Franchise Bid

Spanish club Barcelona are set to launch a bid with a Bolivian entrepreneur to become co-owners of a Major League Soccer franchise in Miami.

The MLS plans to add two teams to its league for the 2011 season.

"The idea is to set up an investee company involving FC Barcelona and a Bolivian entrepreneur, Marcelo Claure. Claure is the chief on an investment group featuring Americans and citizens of different South American countries," read a statement on the club's website.

The MLS currently has 14 teams but is set to expand with Seattle joining in 2009 and Philadelphia in 2010 before a further two franchises are included a year later.

Miami Fusion played in the MLS from 1998 to 2001 before losing its franchise.

David Moyes Signs New 5-Year Deal With Everton

Scots man, Everton manager David Moyes has signed a new five-year deal with his old club. Moyes had been in the final year of his previous deal and talks over an extension had rumbled on for some time. However, 45-year-old David Moyes has often stated his intention to remain at Goodison Park.


Daid said: "There have been many different things for different reasons but we are here now and the big thing for me is that I am at Everton, as fas as I am concerned, for another five years and the job is to make us better than we have been. I am really excited and really pleased, I am pleased for everybody. I'm pleased for myself and my family who were desperate to get it signed and secured and it is always what I wanted to do."

Stephanie Rice Frustrated Being Photographed At A Thailand Nightclub : Pictures

Australian Swimstar Stephanie Rice In A Thailand Night Club : Pictures

Swim star Stephanie Rice of Australia has lashed her frustration at being photographed while having fun at a Thailand nightclub during a holiday following her Olympic hat-trick in Beijing.

Appearing relaxed the pictures show the 20-year-old pool queen, kicking up her heels on the dance floor before tumbling in a heap on the floor with a group of friends.

"Some of those photos from Thailand were kind of frustrating," Rice told The Daily Telegraph.

"I remember that night and I know who it was. This guy had asked for a photo with me and I said 'Sure, no problem' but then he kept taking photos of me having a good time with my friends, I just thought it was really out of line. I just find it really strange that people care."

The Australian queen says it's disappointing she's been scrutinized for having "one night off in a year" to party with her friends like a "normal" person of her age.

"The whole point of going to Thailand was to unwind and relax, to be with my friends because I've come out of probably the most intense year of my life and haven't had any down time because I knew it would calm down after Beijing," she says.

"I wanted to be able to have a good time because that opportunity only comes around once a year, so I make the most of them when I can."

Image and News courtesy: News.com.au

World Chess Championship : First Game: Draw

World Champion Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw after 32 moves, with black against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the first game of the World Chess Championship here today.

Playing with white, it was a rather insipid approach by Kramnik that led to the dull draw. The Russian, well-known for his safety first approach, in fact did not trouble Anand at all.