Big guns faltered in the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic with English golfer Ross Fisher and Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell sharing a seven-under-par 65 lead on Thursday.

The pair started to come to fore late in the day, moving just ahead of three-times champion Ernie Els who is a stroke behind with Jyoti Randhawa of India, Jose Manuel Lara of Spain, though he had hit a 66 earlier in the day. World No.1 and defending champion Tiger Woods had a frustrating day starting the tournament with a 68.

Speaking to the reporters after the round, the 27-year old McDowell said that he was happy with his display. "This course seems to be a game of two nines. The front nine doesn't really give up a whole lot of chances. I knew the back nine would yield a lot of birdies. I was very happy when I got on there and birdied 10 and then got things moving with an eagle on 13", he said.

Be first to comment this article | Add as favourites (55)

The New York Yankees stadium will get a last opportunity to be in the limelight when it hosts Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 2008 after which the Yankees will be moving to a new $955 million stadium.

Opened in 1923, the Yankees stadium holds a special place in the history of MLB, having witnessed the team's record 26 World Series championships. The stadium went a face lift after the 1973 season and was popularly known as "The House that Ruth Built."

Announcing the fixture Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said that the Yankee stadium deserved to be in the spotlight in its final season. "It is the most famous cathedral in baseball and I think the most famous stadium in the world. Celebrating unprecedented history was the overriding concern. This is the way we can honor a place that has meant so much to this sport for so long. Given the whole history of the Yankees and all the events that have taken place in Yankee Stadium, (it) was the right thing to do", Selig said.

Be first to comment this article | Add as favourites (57)

Felix Magath's two-and-half year reign as Bayern Munich's coach has come to an end after the German club announced that Magath has been sacked from his post and re-appointed Ottmar Hitzfield as the new manager.

Hitzfield, who managed the club from 1998 to 2004, will be appointed as the manager till the end of the season, Munich officials said. Bayern have been listless in the league ever since the departure of influential German captain Michael Ballack to Chelsea in the summer and the 3-2 defeat against rivals Borussia Dortmund followed by a goalless draw with Bochum was the last straw, bringing curtains to Magath's career as the team's coach.

Announcing the decision to sack Magath at a press conference, Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said, "It was not a pleasant day, as you can imagine. But these are things that you have to do for the best of the club. What's important is that we quickly get back on track and get better times and hopefully play better football. It's important that we get back to our winning ways and we're confident that Ottmar Hitzfeld will do that for us."

Felix Magath joined Bayern in 2004 after the club had sacked Hitzfield and in his two seasons as the coach, took the club to successive league-cup doubles. Magath's career at Bayern was filled with criticisms of not playing entertaining football, a part which the club prided upon. However as long as the club was winning, not too much was said about the style of play.

Be first to comment this article | Add as favourites (55)

Dubai International Capital has revealed that it will not be making a bid to buy English Premier League club Liverpool, leaving American billionaire George Gillett a clear field to re-launch his bid to own the club.

One of the main reasons given for ending the interest by DIC was the repeated delay by the Premiership club's board to make a formal announcement of the offer. DIC had come close to concluding the deal, reportedly worth £450million which included the funding of a new 60,000 seater stadium for Liverpool.

However with Liverpool board saying that it will be considering all options following another bid made by Gillett, DIC decided to pull out from the deal.

Making an official statement about its decision, DIC said, "Dubai International Capital LLC announces that it has decided to end negotiations with Liverpool FC & Athletic Grounds plc about a possible investment in the club. Having completed due diligence, DIC submitted a comprehensive offer to the Liverpool board."

"The offer had been accepted in principle by majority shareholder, David Moores. It appears that the Liverpool board and the majority shareholder, David Moores, were unable to approve these terms in order to allow DIC to make a formal offer to all shareholders."

Be first to comment this article | Add as favourites (48)