Kings of Tennis is cancelled; Showdown of Champions draw near

Unfortunately, the first ever team event featuring former world no. 1 players, Kings of Tennis, will not be realized in Penang.

The event dubbed as Big Bang Penang is confirmed canceled today.

In their e-mail, the press officer at Kings of Tennis explained that the event has to be canceled due to the current financial crisis and the uncertainty of the world economics which resulted in the pulling out of some of their key sponsors.

As what SK Boey has predicted, Big Bang Penang has blown up.

P/S Anyone who wants to comment about this part of the post can try answer my doubts in this post too: What is going on with Kings of Tennis / Big Bang Penang? Arianna Teoh, Penang Government, please answer.



However the good news is, Showdown of Champions which is going to be held on the 18th in Stadium Putra KL is going strong!

In the past few days, there are quite a lot of visitors dropping by this blog searching for news regarding this exho.

I was informed that James Blake will be conducting a tennis clinic for LTAM junior players on Nov 18.

There will also be an autograph-signing session at KLCC, which I'll let you know the time, date and place in the next few days.

Drop me an email if you are interested to meet Roger Federer, James Blake, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.

If you still haven't get your tickets to the showdown, which is priced between RM108 and RM498, go to Ticket Axcess outlets or call +603 7711 5000 for enquiries. The official Showdown of Champions website is at www.showdownkl2008.com.

Updates:
Click here to read about the event which is now officially cancelled.

Boris Becker, fiancée call off engagement

Boris Becker, 40, called off the engagement to 25-year-old Sandy Meyer-Wolden after just three months.

Everyone knows this engagement is a joke in the first place. Becker told German newspaper Bild:

"Sandy and I split up at the weekend. We really tried and we wanted to get married next year, but sadly it just wasn't working."

"There was no third person involved, we just couldn't both get on on a day-to-day basis. Maybe the 15-year age difference was actually too much."

Rumours of a break-up began at the weekend when the German sports star turned up alone to a ball in Frankfurt, where he was accepting a lifetime achievement award.

The couple were last seen out together 10 days ago at an Alicia Keys concert in Munich.

Meyer-Wolden was the daughter of Becker's late manager, Axel, who died in 1997.

She was still a baby when Becker clinched his first Wimbledon final in 1985.

Becker proposed during a holiday in Sardinia in August, proclaiming:

"I am unbelievably happy and in love."

So, who's the next Mrs Becker-to-be?

(Via telegraph.co.uk, Image via sina.com)

Venus Williams & Billie Jean King pose nude in support of the Elton John Aids Foundation

Starting from October 30, 2008 to January 18, 2009, you might want to drop by at the National Portrait Gallery in UK to see a new display of over 30 previously unseen nude portraits of leading international sportsmen and women by acclaimed photographers Anderson & Low.

Venus Williams and Billie Jean King are among the sportswomen participated in this project to support the Elton John Aids Foundation in raising awareness of the global issue of HIV/AIDS.

Other sportsmen include Thierry Henry and Matt Dawson (pictures in sequence).

Sir Elton John, Chairman of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, says "I am delighted that the National Portrait Gallery is hosting this exhibition of wonderful photographs of internationally renowned male and female athletes."

"Anderson & Low have caught in these heroic images of the human body at peak physical condition just how frail, vulnerable and defenceless we all are in the face of such a pernicious virus as HIV."

National Portrait Gallery opening hours: Saturday-Wednesday: 10am - 6pm (Gallery closure commences at 5.50pm) Late Opening: Thursday, Fridays:10am - 9pm (Gallery closure commences at 8.50pm) Recorded information: 020 7312 2463 General information: 020 7306 0055 Website: www.npg.org.uk

(Via npg.org.uk)

Finally, Fernando Verdasco spotted in Doha; Anando confirmed couple!

Someone please tell me why Fernando Verdasco is not training for his Davis Cup final?

Instead he is spotted (looking deliciously handsome) watching the match between girlfriend Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha.

Fans no longer have to guess whether something is going on between Verdasco and Ivanovic. He is spotted sitting side by side with Ivanovic's parents Dragana and Miroslav.

However, sadly even the support from her parents and boyfriend couldn't help Ivanovic from stopping world no. 1 Jelena Jankovic.

Jankovic wins the round-robin play 6-3, 6-4.

In other results, Venus Williams defeated world no. 2 Dinara Safina 7-5, 6-3, while no. 9 Vera Zvonareva defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-3.

(1st image by hcfoo.com, 2nd & 3rd image via Down the Line!, 4th image by Marwan Naamani/AFP/Getty Images)