TEHRAN, Oct. 21-- The 4thÊ Paralympic Day will be held nationwide on Oct. 25 with 30,000 participants.Ê
Tehran’s Shiroudi Stadium as one of the main venues for commemorating the Paralympic Day will host 1,700 disabled athletes while 2,200 athletes will take part in the exceptional schools, according to Iran’s Paralympic Secretary General Masoud Ashrafi.Ê
Disabled athletes are all set to perform different types of sports, includingÊrunning around the soccer field at the start of the 4th Paralympic Day’s ceremony.Ê
Head of the International Paralympic Committee Phil Craven’s message will concurrently be read in Tehran and capitals of 29 provinces.ÊÊÊÊ

South Africa's rugby team celebrate with the trophy after their Rugby World Cup final win against England, Oct. 20.

PARIS, Oct. 21--South Africa coach Jake White hailed the World Cup win as a massive boost for the Rainbow Nation, reported AFP.
The Springboks edged England 15-6 with four penalties from Percy Montgomery and one from Francois Steyn to two from England’s Jonny Wilkinson.
South Africa also won the World Cup on home soil in 1995, when the then president Nelson Mandela wore the number six shirt of captain Francois Pienaar, and White said he hoped this victory would play a similar part in uniting his country.
“People ask why we take the World Cup so seriously. It’s much bigger than any other event, what it did to us as a nation,“ he said. “We’ve now won a World Cup away from home. We had our president sitting in the changing room. He was saying how proud he was of being a South African.“
Springbok skipper John Smit added: “We have had the responsibility of carrying the hopes of a nation on our shoulders and now we have a team that is taking the trophy back home to the nation.
“I certainly hope that being able to lift this cup and take it back home can create a scenario that everyone binds together and we start forgetting about counting numbers and colors.“
Smit was also keen to dedicate the win to the long-suffering South Africa fans.
“This is for all of you. Thank you very much for all your support, even in bad times,“ he said.
Lock Victor Matfield, who won the man-of-the-match award for an outstanding display in the line-out, hailed an emotional victory.
“This is awesome. We worked for four years for this. We knew we were going to have to take it to England up front,“ he said. “The emotions are greater than I ever thought. I can’t wait to get back home. I can’t wait to see all the South Africans.“
Star winger Bryan Habana was unconcerned about failing to add to his tally of tries in a tight match.
“I just wanted to help the team effort,“ he said. “Everyone in the squad made a contribution from number one to number 30. Every player who’s represented the country in the last four years made a contribution. The 1995 victory planted the seed that made me want to be a part of this great game.“

MADRID, Spain, Oct. 21--Unseeded Argentine David Nalbandian beat Novak Djokovic 6-4 7-6 to book a place in his first final of the year at the Madrid Masters, Reuters wrote.
Nalbandian, 25, who beat Spain’s Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals, broke Djokovic in the third game before holding out to take the first set. And after a tight second set he wrapped up victory 7-4 in the tie-break.
Nalbandian will meet defending champion Roger Federer in Sunday’s final after he defeated Nicolas Kiefer 6-4 6-4. The world number one had a dozen break-point chances against the veteran German but was only able to convert two in a low-key encounter.
“We had a siesta out there in the first set, there was not much to excite the crowd. It was very subdued and with not a lot of great shots,“ said Federer.
“We finished a lot of points on errors. But I was ahead in the score and he had the pressure.“
It is the first time Nalbandian has made a final since winning in Estoril in May 2006 and the win denied Djokovic an eighth final appearance of the year.
“Djokovic is a player who moves very well, it’s very difficult to break his serve,“ said the Argentine. “It’s tough to know what he’s going to do. I just tried to hang in throughout the match and play my game. It was not the best match but I’m happy that I won.“

Arsenal's Kolo Toure (l) celebrates after scoring against Bolton Wanderers during their English Premier League soccer match, Oct. 20.

LONDON, Oct. 21--Arsenal overcame managerless Bolton to maintain their 100% home record and stay top of the Premier League table, AFP wrote.
For long spells Arsenal were frustrated by Bolton’s bruising tactics, with two off-target Emmanuel Adebayor headers their best efforts in the first half. After the break, Emmanuel Eboue smashed a shot over when he should have scored.
But Kolo Toure struck from 25 yards on 68 minutes and Tomas Rosicky tapped in from fellow substitute Theo Walcott’s cross to end Bolton’s resistance. Bolton started the match second from bottom in the Premier League and with Archie Knox temporarily at the helm, following the departure of boss Sammy Lee in the week.
After Gavin McCann’s heavy tackle on Bacary Sagna, for which he was cautioned, tempers flared between Cesc Fabregas and El-Hadji Diouf and they had their names taken too.
Striker Eduardo da Silva, playing because of the knee injury suffered by Robin van Persie playing for Holland during the week, made little impact and his strike partner Adebayor looked less than convincing with two headed chances.
Of Arsenal’s other attempts, William Gallas shot over from 10 yards and Eduardo screwed an effort wildly off target - however, that was still more then Bolton managed in the opening 45 minutes.
Whether Bolton would have attacked more had Nicolas Anelka been fit is unlikely, as they spent the majority of the game with 10 men behind the ball.
Immediately after the interval Eboue should have changed the pattern of the game but he blasted high and wide from close range after McCann had gifted him the chance. However, it served to lift Arsenal and, with left-back Gael Clichy rampaging on the overlap, they began to cause Bolton problems.
Arsenal on 68 minutes, got the goal they had been desperately seeking when Toure drove in after Fabregas rolled the ball back to him from a free-kick.
Adebayor had a chance to put the game beyond doubt when he ran on to a through ball but took it too wide round the keeper and lost his footing. But on 80 minutes Walcott’s wing trickery presented Rosicky with the easiest chance and the Czech international duly converted.

PARIS, Oct. 21--Fernando Alonso has not behaved “as a sportsman“ and will leave McLaren at the end of the season, says Williams’ engineering director Patrick Head.
“I would expect Alonso to either have a long time gardening next year or to go to another team,“ Head told BBC Sport. “I suppose his relationship with McLaren boss Ron Dennis could be repaired, but I’d be surprised. I think it’s unfortunate that it’s got to this point, but that’s the way it is.
“McLaren are a very, very fair team in the way they treat their two drivers. Fernando did not contemplate that there would be this young chap, Lewis Hamilton, who would be beating him, and he has reacted to that.“
Alonso went into Sunday’s final race of the season in Brazil trailing team-mate Hamilton by four points in the drivers’ standings.
And while Head acclaimed Hamilton as “a hugely impressive“ performer, praising him for being “adept at avoiding problems“, he was less complimentary about Alonso.
“From what I’ve seen, it does not look to me, or to many people in the pit-lane, as if Fernando has handled himself particularly well as a sportsman,“ he said.

Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir plays a shot during the Future Cup Twenty20 International match at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

Mumbai, India, Oct. 21--India beat Australia by seven wickets in the Twenty20 International in Mumbai, Gautam Gambhir hitting 63.
According to AP, Australia had posted 166-5 in their 20 overs, captain Ricky Ponting top-scoring with 76. But India won with 11 balls to spare as they eased to victory with Australia uncharacteristally sloppy in the field.
The Indian opener enjoyed a 82-run partnership with Robin Uthappa (35), Yuvraj Singh hit an unbeaten on 31 as India won for the first time at home. Australia had won the toss and Ponting led the way with a 53-ball 76 which included 14 fours before he edged Irfan Pathan onto his stumps.
Despite losing Adam Gilchrist in the first over, Australia got off to a typically bullish start, reaching 58-1 off six overs, before Matthew Hayden (17) edged a Harbhajan Singh delivery onto his stumps.
Ponting then put on 50 with Andrew Symonds before the latter was run out for 20 by Harbhajan as the batsmen dithered in the middle. Ponting and Michael Clarke (25 not out) ensured Australia finished with a competitive total despite the best efforts of Harbhajan (1-17).
India lost Virender Sehwag (5) early on, edging Brett Lee behind, but were in three figures before the next wicket fell, Robin Uthappa doing the same to a Clarke delivery.
After Gambhir went with 24 needed from 26 balls, is fell to Youvraj Singh and Mahendra Dhoni to steer the hosts, World Twenty20 champions, to victory, which they did with a series of huge boundaries.

TOKYO, Oct. 21--Five-time world champion Valentino Rossi on a Yamaha and Spain’s Dani Pedrosa on a Honda are determined to drop Michelin and race with Bridgestone in the 2008 season, officials told AFP Sunday.
Hiroshi Yamada, manager with Bridgestone Motorcycle sport Department told AFP that MotoGP commercial rights holder Dorna had conveyed Rossi’s demand to switch his tyre supplier.
“Dorna has told us that in order to avoid the one tyre rule, we have to provide Bridgestone tyres to the 28-year-old Italian rider,“ he said.
“We will make a decision by next Wednesday in Japan.“ Yamada was quick to add that while it faced challenges to provide more riders with its tyres, “the image of Bridgestone will get a boost with Rossi, who remains a crowd puller, riding on its rubber.“
“Of course the manpower capacity and finance is hitting the limit. We are already supplying tyres to 10 riders,“ he said.
Rossi believes tyres have been the main reason for his defeat to Casey Stoner of Australia in 2007, and he is pushing for his bike to be fitted with Bridgestone rubber.
Dorna proposed the single tyre rule in Motegi, Japan, last month, and it is being suggested in the face of falling TV ratings. On many occasions one brand of tyre has had a distinct advantage at a particular circuit with a rider easily winning the race.
Usually this has been newly crowned world champion Stoner aboard
his Bridgestone-shod Ducati. Tyre giants Bridgestone and Michelin opposed the plan and Friday threatened to quit MotoGP if the rule was implemented next season.
Both Bridgestone and Michelin officials told AFP that the single tyre proposal was bad for the manufacturers and the MotoGP championship.
But the controversy will continue until next week after officials announced Saturday that no final decision will be made in Malaysia.

Boston Red Sox's J.D. Drew, (r) is congratulated after hitting a grand slam off Cleveland Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona in the first inning in Game 6 of the American League Championship baseball series.

BOSTON, USA, Oct. 21--The ball cleared the center field wall, and J.D. Drew raised his fist in celebration. A grand slam. A curtain call. And better yet: A chance to do it again in Game 7.
As reported by AP, the struggling Red Sox right fielder drove in five runs, backing yet another postseason gem from Curt Schilling on Saturday night as Boston battered the Cleveland Indians 12-2 to tie the AL championship series at three games apiece.
“Hey, it’s going to come down to Game 7, the two teams that won more baseball games than anybody in the regular season, two teams that have beat each other up over the course of the past week,“ Indians manager Eric Wedge said. “And that’s the way it should be. It’s something everybody should look forward to.“
Baseball and its fans are certainly looking forward to it in a postseason where four of the first five series ended in sweeps. “There’s nothing, I think, funnier in sports than a Game 7,“ Schilling said.
Schilling improved his career postseason record to 10-2, allowing two runs and six hits in seven innings. Fausto Carmona failed to get anybody out in the third inning, giving up seven runs on six hits and four walks.
After failing to get a victory from co-aces C.C. Sabathia and Carmona, the Indians hope Jake Westbrook can save them on Sunday night. The Red Sox turn to Daisuke Matsuzaka, who couldn’t make it through the fifth inning in either of his previous postseason starts.
A third consecutive victory--on the anniversary of Carlton Fisk’s extra-inning homer in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series--would put Boston back in the Series for the first time since 2004, when it rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS en route to its first title in 86 years. The Red Sox also came back from a 2-0 deficit against the Indians in the first round of the 1999 playoffs.
After stumbling in his previous outing, Schilling came back to show why he is considered one of the best postseason pitchers in baseball history. He gave up Victor Martinez’s solo homer in the second inning and otherwise held the Indians scoreless until Ryan Garko tripled and scored on Jhonny Peralta’s sacrifice fly in the seventh.
By that time, it was already 10-2. Schilling got Kenny Lofton on a grounder and former teammate Trot Nixon on a fly ball to end the seventh, then left to a standing ovation. He took his hat offÑtwice--and waved up at the box where his wife and family sit.
“This was about our offense just doing a phenomenal job,“ Schilling said. “J.D. Drew is a special player. I’m sure he’s not real proud of the year he had ... but he is the definition of ’even keel.’ I mean, he doesn’t snap. He doesn’t get too high, too low. He just goes up and he plays the game. And tonight, that wins the game.“