Bansko, Bulgaria - Fabienne Suter of Switzerland claimed her first alpine ski World Cup victory of the season with a downhill win in Bansko, Bulgaria on Friday, while Lindsey Vonn of the United States was again on the podium to increase her overall lead.

Suter posted 1 minute 45.68 seconds for a comfortable 1.15-second advantage over Austrian Andrea Fischbacher. Vonn shared third place with Nadia Fanchini of Italy, both 1.24 seconds back.

Lahore, Feb. 27 : Former Pakistan cricket captain Wasim Akram has urged the women's cricket team to perform to their potential in the forthcoming ICC Women's World Cup.

"I want to see the Pakistan team go out there and give its best. It has nothing to lose as it is not amongst the top-ranked teams. This should lessen the pressure on the players and when you have nothing to lose and nothing to fear, you tend to give up your best," Akram said.

Expressing his happiness over the women's team qualification for playing in the World Cup, he said that the team has the talent to match the best teams in the world.

Lahore, Feb. 27 : Fearing large scale protests by the Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N) activists against Supreme Court's verdict to disqualify the Sharif brothers', the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has stepped-up security arrangements for the touring Sri Lankan cricket team.

The Nation reports that the security of Sri Lanka team has been intensified after the Lankan management expressed its concern over the political crisis.

Los Angeles  - The Chicago Bulls on Thursday experienced one of the saddest days in their 43-year-old history, with the deaths of former greats Johnny "Red" Kerr and Norm Van Lear.

Kerr, the legendary Bulls broadcaster, died of prostrate cancer at the age of 76.

"The entire Bulls organization is deeply saddened by the passing of Johnny "Red" Kerr," Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement.

"Johnny spent his entire life around the great game of basketball. His name was synonymous with basketball, both here in Chicago, and throughout the entire NBA.

Champ gets the better of Kamal Chawla; Yasin beat Shabaaz Khan

Pankaj Advani set up a mouth watering final with Yasin Merchant at the ongoing CCI Platinum Jubilee Open in Mumbai on Thursday. The Bangalore lad saw off Kamal Chawla's challenge with ease as he won his race to 11 semifinal game 6-3 (30-81(42) 69(68)-29 72(44)-47(46) 74(51)-16 21-64 78(60)-7 85-28 56-64 63-40).

Chawla had got the better of veteran Alok Kumar in his previous match but said that playing Pankaj would be a completely different ball game.

The mascot for IWAS World Games was launched by Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev, former World Cup-winning India captain who is the brand ambassador of Paralympics Committee of India (PCI), unveiled the mascot Cheetah, the sprinter for the IWAS (International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation) World Games 2009. Speaking on the occasion, Kapil said, "This is just the beginning. More such events should happen in our country."

"We get inspired by people like them who show us what they have and what they can achieve. Even the best of the best athletes can only get just 50 percent of their determination, their will to survive and to win," said the veteran cricketer. "We will produce many champions and athletes," he added.