2001 Indian Parliament attack, Casualties
Constable Kamlesh Kumari of the Central Reserve Police Force was the first to spot the terrorists and was shot by them as she raised the alarm. She died on the spot. One gunman's suicide vest exploded when he was shot dead; the other four gunmen were also killed. The ministers and MPs escaped unhurt. The total number killed was 9 and at least 18 other people were injured in the attack.


2001 Indian Parliament attack, Perpetrators
Delhi Police stated that five terrorists carried out the attack and the names given by them were: Hamza, Haider alias Tufail, Rana, Ranvijay and Mohammed - who were allegedly members of Jaish-e-Mohammed - were killed.


2001 Indian Parliament attack, Trial
The attack triggered extensive investigations which revealed involvement of four accused, namely Mohammad Afzal Guru, Shaukat Hussain Guru (cousin of Afzal Guru) and S.A.R. Gilani (Syed Abdul Rahman Gilani) and Shaukat's wife Afsan Guru (Navjot Sandhu before marriage). Some other proclaimed offenders were said to be the leaders of the banned terrorist organisation known as Jaish-e-Mohammed. After the conclusion of investigation, investigating agency filed the report under Section 173 of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (India) against four accused persons on 14 May 2002. Charges were framed under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA), and the Explosive Substances Act by the designated sessions Court.


2001 Indian Parliament attack, Trial
The designated Special Court was presided over by S. N. Dhingra. The accused were tried and the trial concluded within a record period of about six months. 80 witnesses were examined for the prosecution and 10 witnesses were examined on behalf of the accused S.A.R. Gilani. About 300 documents were exhibited.


2001 Indian Parliament attack, Trial
Afzal Guru, Shaukat Hussain and S.A.R. Gilani were convicted for the offences under Sections 121, 121A, 122, Section 120B read with Sections 302 & 307 read with Section 120B of IPC, sub-Sections (2), (3) and (5) of Section 3 and Section 4(b) of POTA and Sections 3 and 4 of Explosive Substances Act. The accused 1 and 2 were also convicted under Section 3(4) of POTA.


2001 Indian Parliament attack, Trial
Accused 4, namely Navjot Sandhu a.k.a. Afsan, was acquitted of all the charges except the one under Section 123 IPC for which she was convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years and to pay a fine. Death sentences were imposed on the other three accused for the offences under Section 302 read with Section 120B IPC and Section 3(2) of POTA. They were also sentenced to life imprisonment on as many as eight counts under the provisions of IPC, POTA and Explosive Substances Act in addition to varying amounts of fine. The amount of a million Indian rupees, which was recovered from the possession of two of the accused, namely, Afzal Guru and Shaukat Hussain, was forfeited to the State under Section 6 of the POTA.


2001 Indian Parliament attack, Trial
On appeal, the high court subsequently acquitted S. A. R. Geelani and Afsan, but upheld Shaukat's and Afzal's death sentence. Geelani was represented by Ram Jethmalani in the Delhi High Court and subsequently in the Supreme Court of India. Jethmalani said it almost cost him his political career for defending Geelani. Geelani's acquittal blew a gaping hole in the prosecution's version of the parliament attack. He was presented as the mastermind of the entire attack. Geelani, a young lecturer at Delhi University, received support from his outraged colleagues and friends, who were certain that he had been framed. They contacted the well-known lawyer Nandita Haksar and asked her to take on his case.


2001 Indian Parliament attack, Trial
Shaukat Hussain was released nine months prior to his scheduled date of release, because of his "good conduct".


2001 Indian Parliament attack, Trial
Two Delhi Police officials, ACP Rajbir Singh and Mohan Chand Sharma are credited for gathering prima facie evidence in the case. Singh was later shot dead by a friend over a property deal and Sharma was killed during the Batla House encounter with terrorists in Delhi.


2001 Indian Parliament attack, Response
The Indian Government initially accused Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed of involvement in the attack. However, Lashkar-e-Taiba denied any involvement in the incident. In November 2002, four JeM members were arrested by Indian authorities and put on trial. All four were found guilty of playing various roles in the incident, although the fourth, Afsan/Navjot Sandhu, wife of Shaukat Hussain (one of the accused) was found guilty of a minor charge of concealing knowledge of conspiracy. One of the accused, Afzal Guru, was sentenced to death for the incident.


2001 Indian Parliament attack, Response
World leaders and leaders in India's immediate neighbourhood condemned the attack on the Parliament. On 14 December, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) blamed Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed for the attack. Home Minister LK Advani claimed, "We have received some clues about yesterday's incident, which shows that a neighbouring country, and some terrorist organisations active there behind it", in an indirect reference to Pakistan and Pakistan-based terrorist groups.


2001 Indian Parliament attack, Response
The same day, in a demarche to Pakistani High Commissioner to India, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, India demanded that Pakistan stop the activities of LeT and JeM, that Pakistan apprehend the organisations' leaders and that Pakistan curb the financial assets and the groups' access to these assets. In response to the Indian government's statements, Pakistani forces were put on high alert the same day. On 20 December, India mobilised and deployed its troops to Kashmir and Punjab in what was India's largest military mobilisation since the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War.


2001 Indian Parliament attack, Response
Following the attack, many suspects were arrested, and in December 2002 four Jaish-e-Mohammed members were convicted for roles in the attack. In 2003, the Border Security Force (BSF) killed Ghazi Baba, the commander-in-chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed and the mastermind of the attack, in the Noor Bagh neighborhood of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.


2001 Indian Parliament attack, Response
Afzal Guru, sentenced to death by Indian court and due to be hanged on 20 October 2006, had his execution stayed. His family had camped in New Delhi to meet the President Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam to accept the mercy petition. The family of Kamlesh Kumari Jatav, a CRPF Jawan who died in the attack has said that they would return the Ashok Chakra, if the president accepted the petition, and on 13 December 2006, the families of the deceased returned the medals to the government. As of April 2007, the then President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, refused to interfere in the judicial process.


2001 Indian Parliament attack, Response
The sentence was scheduled to be carried out on 20 October 2006, but Afzal was given a stay of execution and remained on death row. On 3 February 2013, his mercy petition was rejected by the then President of India Pranab Mukherjee. He was hanged in Delhi's Tihar Jail at 8:00 A.M. on 9 February 2013, and buried in Tihar jail with full religious rites.


2001 Indian Rajya Sabha elections
Rajya Sabha elections were held on various dates in 2001, to elect members of the Rajya Sabha, Indian Parliament's upper chamber. 2 members from Assam and 6 members from Tamil Nadu  were elected to Rajya Sabha.


2001 Indian Rajya Sabha elections, Elections, Members elected
The following members are elected in the elections held in 2001. They are members for the term 2001-2007 and retire in year 2007, except in case of the resignation or death before the term. The list is incomplete.


2001 Indian Rajya Sabha elections, Bye-elections
The following bye elections were held in the year 2001.


2001 Indian Wells Masters
The 2001 Indian Wells Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 28th edition of the Indian Wells Masters and was part of the Tennis Masters Series of the 2001 ATP Tour and of Tier I of the 2001 WTA Tour. Both the men's and women's events took place at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California in the United States from March 8 through March 18, 2001.


2001 Indian Wells Masters, Champions, Men's Doubles
Wayne Ferreira /  Yevgeny Kafelnikov defeated  Jonas Björkman /  Todd Woodbridge 6–2, 7–5


2001 Indian Wells Masters, Champions, Women's Doubles
Nicole Arendt /  Ai Sugiyama defeated  Virginia Ruano Pascual /  Paola Suárez 6–4, 6–4


2001 Indian Wells Masters – Men's Doubles
Alex O'Brien and Jared Palmer were the defending champions but they competed with different partners that year, O'Brien with Sébastien Lareau and Palmer with Byron Black.


2001 Indian Wells Masters – Men's Doubles
Lareau and O'Brien lost in the second round to Mark Knowles and Brian MacPhie.


2001 Indian Wells Masters – Men's Doubles
Black and Palmer lost in the quarterfinals to Jonas Björkman and Todd Woodbridge.


2001 Indian Wells Masters – Men's Doubles
Wayne Ferreira and Yevgeny Kafelnikov won in the final 6–2, 7–5 against Björkman and Woodbridge.


2001 Indian Wells Masters – Men's Singles
Àlex Corretja was the defending champion but lost in the third round to Patrick Rafter.


2001 Indian Wells Masters – Men's Singles
Andre Agassi won in the final 7–6(7–5), 7–5, 6–1 against Pete Sampras.


2001 Indian Wells Masters – Women's Doubles
Lindsay Davenport and Corina Morariu were the defending champions but lost in the quarterfinals to Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez.


2001 Indian Wells Masters – Women's Doubles
Nicole Arendt and Ai Sugiyama won in the final 6–4, 6–4 against Ruano Pascual and Suárez.


2001 Indian Wells Masters – Women's Doubles, Seeds
Champion seeds are indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which those seeds were eliminated.


2001 Indian Wells Masters – Women's Singles
Lindsay Davenport was the defending champion but lost in the quarterfinals to Serena Williams.


2001 Indian Wells Masters – Women's Singles
Williams won in the final 4–6, 6–4, 6–2 against Kim Clijsters. This would be the final time Williams would attend the Indian Wells Masters until 2015, due to a boycott of the tournament by both Williams sisters. Venus Williams would not attend the Indian Wells Masters until 2016.


2001 Indian Wells Masters – Women's Singles, Seeds
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated. All thirty-two seeds received a bye to the second round.


2001 Indiana Fever season
The 2001 WNBA season was the 2nd season for the Indiana Fever. In the 2001 WNBA Draft, the Fever drafted Tamika Catchings as the 3rd pick, but due to a college injury, she missed the entire 2001 season. With that, the Fever tied with two teams with the worst record in the Eastern Conference, only ahead of the Detroit Shock and the Washington Mystics.


2001 Indiana Hoosiers football team
The 2001 Indiana Hoosiers football team represented Indiana University Bloomington during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. They participated as members of the Big Ten Conference. The Hoosiers played their home games in Memorial Stadium at Bloomington, Indiana. The team was coached by Cam Cameron in his fifth and final year as head coach. Cameron was fired at the end of the season.


2001 Indianapolis 500
The 85th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 27, 2001. Race rookie Hélio Castroneves, a three-year veteran of the CART series, led the final 52 laps and won his first of four Indy 500 victories. Penske Racing swept 1st-2nd with Gil de Ferran the runner-up. Winning car owner Roger Penske scored his 11th victory at the Indianapolis 500, and his first-ever 1-2 finish in the race. It was a redemption from the team's previous attempt at Indy (1995) in which both of his cars failed to qualify; subsequently followed by a five-year absence (1996-2000) due to the open wheel "split."


2001 Indianapolis 500
The race was sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, and was part of the 2001 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series season. The 2001 race was notable in that several top CART teams returned to Indy for the first time since 1995, despite the ongoing open wheel "split." IRL-based teams excelled in time trials, taking the front row, and the top four starting positions overall. However, the CART-based teams swept the top six finishing positions on race day.


2001 Indianapolis 500
The race experienced two rain delays, one lengthy yellow flag around the midway point, and one brief red flag period later in the day. The race, however, was run to its full 500-mile distance.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Changes for 2001
In the seventh year of the IRL/CART split, Team Penske and Team Green purchased IRL-type machines, and returned to race at Indianapolis. Ganassi, who had returned in 2000, entered as well. For the first time during the open wheel split, the CART series did not schedule any races for the weekend of Indy 500 pole qualifying, nor the race itself, to allow their teams the opportunity to participate at Indy without interference.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Changes for 2001
Because of his move to Formula One for the 2001 season, reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Juan Pablo Montoya did not return to defend his title. After one year of retirement, two-time winner Arie Luyendyk returned to the cockpit.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Changes for 2001
After an experimental two-week schedule was used for the Indy 500 from 1998–2000, the Speedway reverted to the more traditional three-week schedule for practice, time trials, and the race. Rookie orientation was held April 13–14. Time trials were set at three days, however, instead of the original four. The week-long open test held in April from 1998-2000 was also eliminated, essentially replaced by the reinstatement of the second week of May practice.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Changes for 2001
Due to the MSA, tobacco brand sponsorship was an issue during the month of May. Penske Racing drivers Hélio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran were sponsored by Marlboro full-time in the CART series. The MSA, however, allows brand sponsorship in only one sport per season. To skirt the regulations, CART sanctioned the participation of its teams in the race. The Penske cars practiced and qualified with Marlboro logos during the first week of activity. By mid-month, however, they were required to remove the logos when the state attorney general's office objected to their use. Rather than repaint the liveries, or add generic logos, the sidepods were simply left blank with the familiar white/red Marlboro paint scheme maintained.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Changes for 2001, Rule changes
During yellow flag caution periods, the "wave around" rule would now be implemented. When the field is one lap away from going back to green flag conditions, all lapped cars behind the pace car that happen to be ahead of the actual race leader would be waved around the pace car, get their lap back, and be permitted to catch up to the tail end of the line of cars. This would continue until the race leader became the first car behind the pace car. Following the precedent set in 2000, the pace car would then drop off the track in turn one, and the race leader would pace the field back to the green flag and the ensuring restart.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Changes for 2001, Rule changes
The new restart rules were an attempt to ensure the leaders would get back to green flag racing without interference from lapped cars. It also created a strategy for lapped cars to earn one lap back (ostensibly by not pitting under a caution flag while all of the leader do), since Indy car racing had never allowed "racing back to the caution", nor did they want to implement a hard rule like the "Lucky Dog" in NASCAR.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Race schedule
* Includes days where track activitywas significantly limited due to rain


2001 Indianapolis 500, Practice
IRL regular Greg Ray led practice speeds for four of the first six days. Casey Mears, Eliseo Salazar, and Stan Wattles suffered crashes during the week. On Fast Friday, Indy 500 rookie Hélio Castroneves brushed the wall in turn one, but continued. The car suffered minor damage. Later that evening, Castroneves joked around with track workers, and helped them repaint the retaining wall which he had hit.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Time trials
Tony Stewart led the speed chart for morning practice on pole day, but IRL regular Scott Sharp won the battle for the pole position with a run above 226MPH in the heat of the day. Greg Ray, who had been among the fastest cars all week, qualified second with a run late after waving off earlier in the day while Robby Gordon, driving an Indy-only entry for AJ Foyt Racing, rounded out the front row. The highest of the CART qualifiers was Gil de Ferran (5th). Former Indy 500 winners Arie Luyendyk, Buddy Lazier, Al Unser, Jr., and Eddie Cheever also made the field on pole day. At the end of pole day the field was filled to 27 cars.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Time trials
On the second day of qualifying, veterans Michael Andretti, Eddie Cheever, and Buzz Calkins withdrew their slow times from pole day and re-qualified safely while rookie Bruno Junqueira was the fastest of the day. At the end of second day qualifying there were 32 cars in the field.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Time trials
On bump day, Billy Boat was the first car to complete a qualifying attempt, and the field was subsequently filled to 33 cars. Six cars were bumped during the afternoon, and Boat dropped to the bubble spot as of 5:07 p.m. Over the final 53 minutes Boat survived 12 attempts to be bumped from the field. Eight cars waved off, and four were too slow. With 10 seconds to go before the 6 o'clock gun, Memo Gidley was the final driver to make a qualifying attempt. He missed bumping his way into the field by 0.242 seconds.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Race recap, Start
Race morning was overcast with rain in the forecast. Cool temperatures caused problems at the start, as pole sitter Scott Sharp crashed in the first turn on the first lap. Greg Ray and Robby Gordon barely avoided the crash, and slipped by the lead the field around for the first several laps.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Race recap, Start
On the 6th lap, the green came out, but less than 2 laps later, another crash occurred. Sarah Fisher spun in turn two, and collected Scott Goodyear. Both cars were heavily damaged, and Goodyear suffered a broken back. Goodyear would retire after the race due to the injury.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Race recap, Start
After a lengthy yellow, the green came out on lap 17. During the restart, however, cold tires caused yet another crash, as Sam Hornish, Jr. spun in turn four. Hornish did not hit anything, but Al Unser, Jr. moved high to avoid the crash, and brushed along the outside wall on the main stretch.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Race recap, First half and First rain delay
The race finally got going on lap 22, with Robby Gordon and Greg Ray dominating the early going. A long stretch of green flag racing saw the leaders cycle through two green flag pit stops. On lap 107, Jon Herb crashed in turn 1. During the yellow, rain began to fall around the track, and the caution was extended until lap 119. Michael Andretti led when the rain fell, but pitted soon after. Gil de Ferran inherited the lead, Team Penske teammate Hélio Castroneves second.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Race recap, Second half and Second rain delay
On lap 134, Cory Witherill spun exiting turn four. The leaders all headed to the pits. Castroneves and de Ferran were both penalized for exiting out of the pits incorrectly, giving Tony Stewart the lead for the first time of the day. Stewart led until rain fell again on lap 149. After Stewart pitted, Hélio Castroneves retook the lead. Rain began falling harder on lap 155, and the red flag was displayed. After about 10 minutes, the sun came out, and the track quickly dried. After a 17-minute red flag, the cars were refired.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Race recap, Finish
Hélio Castroneves led Robbie Buhl on the restart. Buhl attempted to take the lead on lap 159, but was blocked. Trailing by less than a half-second on lap 166, Buhl suddenly spun exiting turn 2, and tapped the inside wall.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Race recap, Finish
The green came back out on lap 171, with Castroneves still leading, and de Ferran back to second. Castroneves held off his teammate by 0.4838 seconds, and won his first Indy 500. The finish marked Roger Penske's 11th Indy 500 triumph, and his first 1-2 finish. It was the second rookie winner in a row (following Juan Pablo Montoya in 2000).


2001 Indianapolis 500, Race recap, Finish
On the victory lap, Castroneves stopped at the finish line, climbed from his car, and proceeded to engage in his customary celebration of climbing the catch fence, much to the delight of the fans. Several crew members from Team Penske joined him on the fence.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Race recap, Finish
In a public relations setback for the IRL, the top six finishers were all visiting drivers from the rival CART series. The first regular IRL series driver to finish was Eliseo Salazar in seventh place, running a lap down.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Race recap, Finish
Scott Sharp's crash on the first lap meant for the second year in a row, the pole sitter finished 33rd and last. In the previous year's race, the same fate had befallen Greg Ray.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Race recap, Finish
The 1-2 result for Team Penske provided a stunning comeback for the most successful team in Indianapolis 500 history after their failure to qualify for the 1995 race, the last Indy 500 entered by Team Penske due to the Indy 500 becoming an IRL race from 1996 onward. "I think we redeemed ourselves for the lousy thing we did in 1995 ... this is the best day of my life coming back like this" said Roger Penske in pit lane immediately after Castroneves took the checkered flag.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Tony Stewart does Double Duty
Tony Stewart attempted the Indy/Charlotte "Double Duty" for the second time in his racing career. Criticized by members of the media as being overweight and unfit for the grueling task, Stewart undertook a month-long fitness and dietary program with a personal trainer. Stewart, still driving the #20 The Home Depot-sponsored Pontiac for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, signed with Chip Ganassi Racing, part of a four driver effort at Indy.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Tony Stewart does Double Duty
Stewart qualified in 7th at Indy and 12th at Charlotte. Due to the new television package on Fox, the start of the Coca-Cola 600 was moved up. A strict schedule was put into place, and regardless if the race was not over at Indy, Stewart was allegedly required to get out of the car at 4:00 p.m. to fly to Charlotte on time. During a 17-minute red flag, he had to visit first aid for a cramping leg. Relief driver Richie Hearn almost took over, but Stewart got back in the car.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Tony Stewart does Double Duty
The race was eventually resumed, and Stewart continued. The race was completed, and he finished 6th, on the lead lap. Immediately he flew to Lowe's Motor Speedway, and made the start of the race on time. He was moved to the back of the pack during the pace lap for missing the drivers' meeting. On the second lap, Stewart spun while running last, in an incident he claimed was unrelated to fatigue. As the race wore on, he steadily climbed the standings, and finished 3rd on the lead lap. He became the first driver ever to complete all 1,100 miles (1,800 km). Feeling that he proved his critics wrong, Stewart called them "idiots."


2001 Indianapolis 500, National anthem controversy
For the pre-race ceremonies, the Speedway invited Steven Tyler of Aerosmith to perform "The Star-Spangled Banner." At the time, Aerosmith was kicking off their Just Push Play Tour, and in the days leading up to the race, struck a deal with Heritage Motorsports to sponsor Jeff Ward's car during the race. The performance was widely regarded by observers as one of the worst and most controversial renditions of the U.S. national anthem ever.


2001 Indianapolis 500, National anthem controversy
The national anthem performer at the Indianapolis 500 is normally backed-up by the Purdue All-American Marching Band; however, the band was only allowed to play the opening chorus. Tyler began the song with a harmonica solo, then tossed the instrument into the crowd. He finished the song a cappella. Tyler took artistic license to the extreme, and altered the last line of the song from "...the home of the brave" to "...the home of the Indianapolis 500."


2001 Indianapolis 500, National anthem controversy
The crowd, television and radio commentators, along with military Medal of Honor recipients in attendance due to the Memorial Day holiday, had a largely negative response to the performance. Tyler apologized and stated he meant no disrespect. Said Tyler, "I'm very proud to be an American, and live in the home of the brave."


2001 Indianapolis 500, National anthem controversy
Speedway president Tony George released a statement the following Tuesday citing "While we are certainly sorry that some were offended, it was neither our intention nor that of Mr. Tyler to be disrespectful. All of us have the utmost respect for the sacrifice our veterans have made for us."


2001 Indianapolis 500, National anthem controversy
The harmonica Tyler threw into the crowd was reported to be retrieved by Purdue band member David Hornthal. On the February 20, 2012 episode of Pawn Stars, a harmonica purported to be the one Tyler threw into the crowd was presented, but did not sell.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Results
W  = Former Indianapolis 500 winner;  R  = Indianapolis 500 rookie


2001 Indianapolis 500, Broadcasting, Radio
The race was carried live on the Indy Racing Radio Network. Mike King served as chief announcer. Johnny Rutherford served as "driver expert" along with newcomer Johnny Parsons.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Broadcasting, Radio
Several minor changes were made to the crew. Bob Lamey, Ken Double, and Larry Rice all departed. Kevin Lee joined the crew, taking the turn two position, which was now atop the Southeast Vista grandstand (it was previously on the roof of the VIP Suites). Chris Denari moved from the pits to turn four, where he remains as of today with the exception of 2014 when he was in Miami calling an Indiana Pacers playoff game. Howdy Bell took the limited assignment of hospital reporter and interviews during the pre-race coverage. The job of on-air "statistician" was eliminated permanently. Newcomers Adam Alexander and Kim Morris served as pit reporters along with Mike Lewis, who had debuted just one year earlier.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Broadcasting, Radio
Starting in 2001, the flagship station for the network was changed back to its original home, 1070 WIBC-AM (now WFNI). Booth interviews were kept to a minimum in 2001. King interviewed Dr. Robert Hubbard, the 2001 co-recipient of the Louis Schwitzer Award for development of the HANS device.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Broadcasting, Radio
Chief Announcer: Mike KingDriver expert: Johnny RutherfordDriver expert: Johnny ParsonsHistorian: Donald DavidsonCommentary: Chris Economaki


2001 Indianapolis 500, Broadcasting, Radio
Turn 1: Jerry BakerTurn 2: Kevin LeeTurn 3: Mark JaynesTurn 4: Chris Denari


2001 Indianapolis 500, Broadcasting, Television
The race was carried live flag-to-flag coverage in the United States on ABC Sports. Al Michaels returned as host, with Bob Jenkins as announcer. Analyst Arie Luyendyk left television and returned to the cockpit. Tom Sneva left television as well. The new booth crew for 2001 included analysts Larry Rice and Jason Priestley.


2001 Indianapolis 500, Broadcasting, Television
Gary Gerould was not part of the 2001 broadcast. Instead he was taking part in the CART telecasts for the season. Vince Welch took his place as pit reporter, Welch's first time on television at Indy.


2001 Indianapolis Colts season
The 2001 Indianapolis Colts season was the 49th season for the team in the National Football League and 18th in Indianapolis. The Indianapolis Colts finished the National Football League's 2001 season with a record of 6 wins and 10 losses, and finished fourth in the AFC East division. In the process the Colts allowed 486 points in sixteen games, an average of 30 points per match and the franchise worst since the infamous 1981 Colts who allowed 533. At the time only the aforementioned Colts, the 1980 Saints and the notorious 1966 Giants (in a 14-game schedule) had ever allowed more points. This would be the last time the Colts would miss the playoffs until 2011.


2001 Indianapolis Colts season, Season summary
The Colts suffered only the second losing season of Peyton Manning's career. After opening with dominant wins over the Jets and Buffalo, the Colts were crushed twice in three games by the Patriots to go with a loss to Oakland. Two more wins followed to bring the Colts to 4–3, but they followed this up with two more losses headed into their matchup with the San Francisco 49ers at home on November 25. The 49ers entered the game having only lost twice to that point in the season, but had struggled to put up points and had barely beaten the Carolina Panthers, who would only record one win that season, the week before.


2001 Indianapolis Colts season, Season summary
The Colts, needing the victory, instead turned the ball over five times. Manning threw four interceptions, two to Ahmed Plummer and two more to Zack Bronson including one that was returned for a touchdown. The 49ers scored 23 total points off of the five Indianapolis turnovers. Despite outgaining the 49ers, the Colts lost the game 40-21 and after the game, coach Jim Mora in which he sharply criticized his offense's effort, especially Manning's four interceptions.


2001 Indianapolis Colts season, Season summary
During the press conference, a reporter asked Mora a question about the Colts' playoff chances now that the team was 4–6. Mora, who had not heard what was said, asked him to repeat the question. When the question was repeated, Mora responded by dismissing the suggestion that the Colts could make the postseason in the following manner:


2001 Indianapolis Colts season, Season summary
Ah, *garbled*, playoffs? Don’t talk about — playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game! Another game!


2001 Indianapolis Colts season, Season summary
A few days later, Manning spoke to reporters ahead of the Colts’ next game with the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens and sharply criticized Mora's handling of the situation. He said that he did not appreciate being called out in public like he had been and that if Mora had a problem with him he should have spoken to him directly. This caused Mora to backtrack on his previous statements, but the damage was done.


2001 Indianapolis Colts season, Season summary
The Colts went on to finish 6-10 and Mora was fired after the season.


2001 Indianapolis Colts season, Season summary
Manning threw 23 interceptions during the season, the highest number of his career following his rookie season. He was sacked a career-high 29 times.


2001 Individual Ice Speedway World Championship
The 2001 Individual Ice Speedway World Championship was the 36th edition of the World Championship  The Championship was held as a Grand Prix series over eight rounds.


2001 Individual Long Track World Championship
The 2001 Individual Long Track/Grasstrack World Championship was the 31st edition of the FIM speedway Individual Long Track World Championship.


2001 Individual Long Track World Championship
The world title was won by Gerd Riss of Germany for the fourth time.


2001 Individual Speedway European Championship, Final
m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance •  t - exclusion for touching the tapes •  x - other exclusion •  e - retired or mechanical failure •  f - fell •  ns - non-starter •  nc - non-classify


2001 Individual Speedway Junior European Championship
The 2001 European Individual Speedway Junior Championship was the fourth edition of the Championship.


2001 Individual Speedway Junior European Championship, Final
m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance •  t - exclusion for touching the tapes •  x - other exclusion •  e - retired or mechanical failure •  f - fell •  ns - non-starter •  nc - non-classify


2001 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship
The 2001 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship was the 25th edition of the World motorcycle speedway Under-21 Championships.


2001 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship
The final took place on 26 August, to determine the champion. The final was won by Dawid Kujawa who qualified for the Speedway Grand Prix Challenge (a qualifying event for the 2002 Speedway Grand Prix) but he became injured and his place was taken by the runner-up Lukáš Dryml. Dryml eventually qualified for the 2002 Speedway Grand Prix.


2001 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship, World final
m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance •  t - exclusion for touching the tapes •  x - other exclusion •  e - retired or mechanical failure •  f - fell •  ns - non-starter •  nc - non-classify


2001 Individual Speedway Latvian Championship
The 2001 Latvian Individual Speedway Championship was the 27th Latvian Individual Speedway Championship season. The final took place on 28 June 2001 in Daugavpils, Latvia.


2001 Individual Speedway Latvian Championship, Results
m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify


2001 Indonesia Open (badminton)
The 2001 Indonesia Open in badminton was held in Jakarta, from July 25 to July 29, 2001. It was a five-star tournament and the prize money was US$170,000.


2001 Indy Lights season
The 2001 CART PPG/Dayton Indy Lights Championship Powered By Buick consisted of 12 races. It was dominated by Townsend Bell who captured six victories on his way to the championship. It was the last Indy Lights season, as the series organizer, CART, decided to drop the Indy Lights series and concentrate its efforts on the Toyota Atlantic Championship. Most former Indy Lights teams that wished to stay in business went either to the Atlantic series, which replaced Indy Lights as the support race at most CART events, or the new Infiniti Pro Series, which ran in support of Indy Racing League events.


2001 Indy Lights season, Drivers and teams
All teams utilized Lola T97/20 chassis with Buick V6 engines.


2001 Indy Lights season, Final points standings
Note:Race 4 no additional point for the qualifying was awarded due to rain, starting grid were determined by championship points standing. Race 9 no additional point for the qualifying was awarded due to rain, starting grid were determined by championship points standing.


2001 Indy Racing League
The 2001 Indy Racing Northern Light Series saw the addition of five races and loss of one to bring the total to 13. Chip Ganassi Racing returned to the Indy 500 with four cars and were joined on the grid by Penske Racing and Team Kool Green. Sam Hornish Jr. won 3 races on his way to the championship while the less consistent Buddy Lazier won four races on his way to second place in his title defense.


2001 Indy Racing League, Season Summary, Race summaries, Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200
This race was held March 18 at Phoenix International Raceway. Greg Ray won the pole.


2001 Indy Racing League, Season Summary, Race summaries, Inaugural Infiniti Grand Prix of Miami
This race was held April 8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Jeff Ward won the pole. Sarah Fisher's second place was the highest finish in an Indy car race by a female driver at the time.


2001 Indy Racing League, Season Summary, Race summaries, zMax 500
This race was held April 28 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Greg Ray won the pole. A huge 11-car pileup occurred on lap 54, sending Dr. Jack Miller to the hospital with a concussion. It would be Miller's final race. This is also the final Indy car race held at Atlanta to-date.


2001 Indy Racing League, Season Summary, Race summaries, 85th Indianapolis 500
The Indy 500 was held May 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Scott Sharp sat on pole. Sharp crashed on the opening lap, and finished last. Team Penske returned to Indy after failing to qualify in 1995 and boycotting the race due to the IRL/CART "split" from 1996–2000. Penske finishes 1st–2nd with Hélio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran, Roger Penske's first-ever 1–2 at Indy as an owner.


2001 Indy Racing League, Season Summary, Race summaries, Casino Magic 500
This race was held June 9 at Texas Motor Speedway. Mark Dismore won the pole. A serious crash on lap 56 involved Davey Hamilton, who lost control after Jeret Schroeder blew an engine, and Hamilton drove in the oil. Hamilton then crashed hard into the turn 2 wall, causing serious injuries to both legs and feet. The crash effectively ended Hamilton's full-time racing career. Scott Sharp stole the win after Eddie Cheever and Greg Ray crashed hard on the backstretch while battling for the victory in the final laps. Robby McGehee, who was running many laps down, was also caught up in the mishap; McGehee suffered leg and head injuries and missed several races.


2001 Indy Racing League, Season Summary, Race summaries, Radisson Indy 200
This race was held June 17 at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Greg Ray won the pole.


2001 Indy Racing League, Season Summary, Race summaries, Inaugural SunTrust Indy Challenge
This race was held June 30 at Richmond International Raceway. Jaques Lazier won the pole.


2001 Indy Racing League, Season Summary, Race summaries, Ameristar Casino Indy 200
This race was held July 8 at Kansas Speedway. Scott Sharp won the pole.


2001 Indy Racing League, Season Summary, Race summaries, Inaugural Harrah's 200
This race was held July 21 at Nashville Superspeedway. Greg Ray won the pole.


2001 Indy Racing League, Season Summary, Race summaries, Belterra Resort Indy 300
This race was held August 12 at Kentucky Speedway. Scott Sharp won the pole. Buddy Lazier drove to victory, his final career win.


2001 Indy Racing League, Season Summary, Race summaries, Inaugural Gateway Indy 250
This race was held August 26 at Gateway International Raceway. Sam Hornish Jr. won the pole.


2001 Indy Racing League, Season Summary, Race summaries, Inaugural Delphi Indy 300
This race was held September 2 at Chicagoland Speedway. Jaques Lazier won the pole.


2001 Indy Racing League, Season Summary, Race summaries, Chevy 500
This race was held October 6 at Texas Motor Speedway. Sam Hornish Jr. won the pole.


2001 Insight.com Bowl
The 2001 Insight.com Bowl was the 13th edition of the Insight.com Bowl. It featured the Kansas State Wildcats, and the Syracuse Orangemen, and it was a rematch of the 1997 Fiesta Bowl, played in nearby Tempe.


2001 Insight.com Bowl, Game summary
Syracuse opened the scoring on a 65-yard touchdown run by running back James Mungro making it 7–0 Syracuse. Kansas State's Joe Rheem kicked a 29–yard field goal to pull KSU to 7–3, closing the first quarter scoring. In the second quarter, James Mungro scored on a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs, but on both occasions the extra point fell short, as Syracuse led 19–3. After a scoreless third quarter, backup quarterback RJ Anderson fired a 52-yard touchdown pass to Johnnie Morant making the final score 26–3.


2001 Intercontinental Cup
The 2001 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 27 November 2001 between Bayern Munich, winners of the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League, and winners of the 2001 Copa Libertadores, Boca Juniors, which was also the defending champions. The match was played at the neutral venue of the National Stadium in Tokyo in front of 51,360 fans. Samuel Kuffour was named as man of the match. This was the last Intercontinental Cup played in Tokyo, since International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama was used from 2002 edition.


2001 Intercontinental Final
The 2001 Intercontinental Final was the twenty-third and last running of the Intercontinental Final and was the second last qualifying stage for Motorcycle speedway riders to qualify for the 2001 Speedway Grand Prix series. The Final was run on 11 August at the Västervik Speedway in Västervik, Sweden


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship
The 2001 International Formula 3000 Championship was the 35th season of the second-tier motorsport feeder championship of Formula One and the 17th season to be held under the series name. It featured the 2001 FIA International Formula 3000 Championship, a one-make motor racing series, recognised by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the second highest class of competition of single seater racing cars. A total of 37 drivers representing 13 teams contested 12 races, starting in Brazil on 31 March and ending in Italy on 15 September as they competed for the Drivers' and Teams' Championships.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship
The calendar featured two significant changes from the 2000 season. They were the inclusion of a season-opening round at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Brazil to bring the series to South America for the first time in the modern era and a year-ending race at Italy's Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Three teams withdrew from the championship before the season: Fortec Motorsport withdrew after they were unable to sign any suitable drivers and desired to focus on other junior series. MySap.com pulled out when owner David Brown left its parent company McLaren to join the Jordan Grand Prix team in Formula One and the World Racing Team withdrew due to a lack of financing and driver stability.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship
Justin Wilson of the Coca-Cola Nordic Team won three races over the course of the season and secured the Drivers' Championship with one race to go. He became the first British driver in history to win the International Formula 3000 Championship and accumulated a record-breaking 71 points. The runner-up was Super Nova Racing driver Mark Webber, who was 32 points behind Wilson, after a series of accidents eliminated him from title contention in the final third of the season. Wilson's teammate Tomáš Enge in third tied with Webber on championship points with two race victories. Coca-Cola Nordic Team took the Teams' Championship with two rounds remaining, ahead of Petrobras Junior Team and Super Nova Racing.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers were under contract to compete in the 2001 International Formula 3000 Championship. As the championship was a spec series, all competitors raced with a Lola B99/50 chassis with a V8 engine developed by Zytek. Teams competed with tyres supplied by Avon.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Teams and drivers, Team changes
A total of 30 entries spread across 13 teams were initially entered into the championship with the publication of a drivers' list on 2 December 2000. MySap.com withdrew from the championship after its team principal David Brown left its parent company McLaren and moved to the Jordan team in Formula One. Car owner and former sports car driver Gabriele Rafanelli withdrew the World Racing Team (WRT) from the series to focus on the American Le Mans Series operation, tired of F3000 due to a lack of financing and driver stability.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Teams and drivers, Team changes
European Formula Racing ended its partnership with the Arrows Formula One team, causing team owner Paul Stoddart to re-brand the team European Minardi F3000. Fortec Motorsport were included on the initial entry list before the team withdrew from the championship because they could not locate any suitable drivers to sign and they wanted to focus on other junior series. Prost Grand Prix changed the name of its team from Gauloises Formula to F3000 Prost Junior Team after they lost sponsorship backing from the tobacco company Gauloises.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Teams and drivers, Driver changes
The 2001 season saw several driver changes. Defending series champion Bruno Junqueira left the Petrobras Junior Team and moved to Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR). His teammate Jaime Melo left the team to join Durango on a one-year contract with the option to extend by another season afterwards, partnering series debutant Gabriele Lancieri, who progressed from the Italian Formula 3000 Championship. Italian series champion Ricardo Sperafico drove the second Petrobras car; his twin brother Rodrigo Sperafico moved from the same championship to join Coloni and partnered Fabrizio Gollin. Fabrice Walfisch, who drove for Coloni and later Astromega, joined the European Touring Car Championship in 2001, and André Couto left the series to drive in a Japan-based series. Nordic Racing employed Tomáš Enge from MySap.com to replace the outgoing Kevin McGarrity.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Teams and drivers, Driver changes
Team Astromega changed their entire line-up. They signed the German Formula Three (GF3) champion Giorgio Pantano to drive his first season in the championship and the WRT driver Ananda Mikola joined him. Driver Fernando Alonso went to Formula One to join Minardi, and Marc Goossens left the team. DAMS also had a new line-up in its team. Franck Montagny switched to the World Series by Nissan and Kristian Kolby competed in the American Indy Lights. The 1997 Barber Dodge Pro Series champion Derek Hill and the Gauloises Formula racer Sébastien Bourdais replaced them.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Teams and drivers, Driver changes
Antonio García graduated from the World Series by Nissan to join the Red Bull Junior Team to pair with GF3 driver Patrick Friesacher. He replaced Enrique Bernoldi, who moved to the Arrows Formula One team. Super Nova Racing signed Mark Webber from European Arrows and Mário Haberfeld from Fortec. European Minardi employed David Saelens from Super Nova, to partner Andrea Piccini, who left Kid Jensen Racing (KJR) after two seasons.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Teams and drivers, Driver changes
Nicolas Minassian left Super Nova and the series to join CART as teammate to Junqueira at CGR. KJR released Bas Leinders and he moved to KTR to partner Joël Camathias, who transferred from the World Series by Nissan. Financial concerns meant Jeffrey van Hooydonk was unable to secure a seat in the championship and he went to drive in Belcar; his compatriot Yves Olivier and Christijan Albers of European Arrows entered the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. Italian F3000 competitors Gabriele Varano and Nicolás Filiberti joined the championship by signing for the Prost Junior Team. KJR employed the Formula Palmer Audi driver Justin Keen and Yann Goudy from Italian F3000 to fill the seats vacated by Piccini and Leinders.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Teams and drivers, Driver changes, Mid-season driver changes
KJR replaced Yann Goudy with Gianluca Calcagni for the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari round. The team later withdrew from the championship before the Circuit de Catalunya event due to ownership problems and Calcagni driving for them in Imola, which created tension with the series' governing body. Shortly before the A1 Ring round, Ananda Mikola's sponsorship money did not arrive in time at Astromega and a poor performance resulted in Astromega replacing him with Dino Morelli for the next four events. Enrico Toccacelo later drove in Morelli's place for the rest of the season.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Teams and drivers, Driver changes, Mid-season driver changes
Stéphane Sarrazin made a one-off appearance for Prost at the Monaco round as a replacement for Filiberti, who was absent due to "personal issues". Prost later replaced the underperforming Filiberti with Zsolt Baumgartner for the rest of the year from the Nürburgring round and the French Formula Three champion and Porsche Supercup driver Jonathan Cochet drove Variano's car. Prost backed the initiative of one of its major sponsors to promote Latin American drivers in its team and the GF3 series winner Norberto Fontana was drafted in place of Cochet for the season's final three rounds. Before the Monaco round, Red Bull terminated García's contract, and they replaced him with Ricardo Maurício.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Teams and drivers, Driver changes, Mid-season driver changes
European Minardi was represented by the Formula Nippon racer and Jaguar test driver Tomas Scheckter in one of its cars for the Hockenheimring race after Saelens sustained an injury in an accident during the Silverstone event. Rodrigo Sperafico ended his campaign after the same event and was replaced at Coloni by Goossens for the rest of the season with new sponsorship brought to them. García replaced Melo at Durango from the Hungaroring round on, and GF3 driver Jaroslav Janiš drove Enge's Nordic car at the season-ending Monza event, while Enge substituted for Luciano Burti at the Prost Formula One team after the latter was injured at the Belgian Grand Prix.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season calendar
A 12-race season calendar was released by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; the series' governing body) at a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Seville on 4 October 2000. All events were held in support on the Saturday of Formula One races. The series expanded from 10 to 12 races: a South American event to begin the season was at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Brazil for the series' first race to be held outside of Europe in the modern era. The season-ending round was held at Italy's Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Drivers and teams had most of June off as the Toyota Atlantic Championship supported the Canadian Grand Prix.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Regulation and sporting changes, Technical changes
Cars were required to have their wheels attached to their primary structures by means of a single tether for each wheel to prevent them from becoming detached in case of an accident. They also had 2 mm (0.079 in) thick anti-intrusion panels installed onto the monocoque sides.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Regulation and sporting changes, Sporting changes
Teams who finished 12th or higher in the 2000 International Formula 3000 Teams' Championship were granted automatic entry into the 2001 series. The final three slots were allocated to new entries or those who had won national Formula 3000 series. Had there been not enough entries via that process, the final three teams in the 2000 season received invitations to compete in the order they finished in the championship. The time for a practice session was lengthened, two 45-minute qualifying sessions held in late afternoon took place the day before the event and the overall race distance was decreased to 150 km (93 mi).


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Pre-season
The first official pre-season test took place at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari from 14 to 15 February 2001. The two days saw Wilson lap fastest at 1 minute, 37.850 seconds and he later damaged the rear of his car in a collision with a tyre wall. Fernando Alonso helped Minardi's Formula 3000 team with chassis setup and provided its two drivers with a performance benchmark. A second official pre-season test was held at the Silverstone Circuit between 12 and 13 March 2001. Bourdais led overall for DAMS with a 1 minute, 36.326 seconds lap in variable weather.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Opening rounds
The season began in Brazil. Brazilian drivers took the first four positions in qualifying with Melo claiming pole position for the first time in his career from Ricardo Sperafico, Rodrigo Sperafico and Pizzonia. The stewards neutralised the race on lap one with the safety car to clear the track when Pizzonia swerved to avoid Ricardo Sperafico's vehicle; the latter swerved to avoid other competitors, causing him to spin and crash into the barrier at the bottom of the Senna S chicane. Melo slowed sharply and allowed Pizzonia, Rodrigo Sperafico and Enge to pass him under safety car conditions.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Opening rounds
At the lap four restart, Wilson overtook Melo into the first corner, and moved into first when Pizzonia, Rodrigo Sperafico and Enge each incurred ten-second stop-and-go penalties for their earlier transgressions. Wilson led the rest of the race to win in motor racing for the first time since the 1998 Formula Palmer Audi, and was the first British driver to win in International Formula 3000 since Jamie Davies won at the Autodromo di Pergusa in the 1997 season. He lost control of his car afterwards and avoided hitting the pit lane wall. Webber, the pre-season favourite, took second from Melo in third, who had engine problems. The stewards later imposed a 25-second time penalty on Webber for passing David Saelens before the start/finish line after the safety car entered the pit lane for the restart. He moved from second to seventh.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Opening rounds
Webber took his first Formula 3000 pole position in qualifying for the Imola round by leading both sessions with Patrick Friesacher second and Darren Manning third. He led every lap of the race to take his first win of the season after he took painkillers to ease the effects of a broken rib. The victory drew him to within one point of Wilson. A crash for Varano after losing control on the kerbs on the exit of the Tamburello chicane caused him to become dizzy and prompted the safety car's deployment.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Opening rounds
In an accordion effect behind the safety car, Hill made contact with the rear of Calcagni's car, who had turned to the right to avoid hitting slower cars ahead of him. Both drivers avoided hitting marshals tending to Varano. Nordic locked out the front row for the first time at the following race in Spain with Wilson on pole position and his teammate Enge second. Enge passed Wilson at the start of the race at the first turn and maintained the lead throughout a processional round for his second Formula 3000 victory. Enge passed Webber for second in the drivers' championship and was one point behind his teammate Wilson. An error from Wilson allowed Bas Leinders to pass him for second.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Opening rounds
The A1 Ring in Austria hosted the fourth round of the 2001 championship. Wet weather affected the second qualifying session and a lap from Sébastien Bourdais in the first session was fast enough to earn him the second pole position of his career. A first-lap collision between Bourdais and Friesacher at Castrol Kurve corner caused eight cars to retire and allowed Leinders to move into the lead, just as Wilson progressed to second.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Opening rounds
After a safety car period to clear the area, Wilson passed Leinders on the outside on the fifth lap and he held off the latter to win for the second time in International Formula 3000. The victory further extended Wilson's championship lead to seven points over his Nordic teammate Enge. During qualifying at Monaco Webber took a second pole position of 2001 despite crashing at the outside of La Rascasse turn late in the second session in a desire to better his lap.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Opening rounds
Webber held off Wilson at the start of the race and led every lap for his second victory of the year by eight-tenths of a second. Webber thus overtook Enge for second position in the drivers' championship. Two safety car periods for a first lap five-car accident at a hairpin and for separate crashes involving Darren Manning and Antônio Pizzonia slowed the race.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Mid-season
Heading into round six, Wilson led Webber in second by eleven points and was another two points in front of the third-placed Enge. Pole position for the Nürburgring event was taken by Enge after a duel with Webber and Ricardo Sperafico. Wilson was down in seventh place after he ran wide at a chicane. Enge was unchallenged throughout a noncompetitive race and achieved his second win of the season. The result moved Enge past Webber and into second position in the championship.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Mid-season
He stood three points behind his teammate Wilson, who spun into a gravel trap and subsequently retired with a sheared peg on the front-left wheel. One week later at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France, Enge carried his form over from the Nürburgring round to qualify on pole position for the second race in succession on his second lap of the session with no slower traffic to impede him. Webber, Patrick Friesacher and Wilson were in positions two to four. Webber overtook Enge at the first corner to take the lead and Wilson passed Freisacher for third position. Webber pulled away from the rest of the field to claim victory and drew to within one championship point of Wilson, who finished second after Enge ran wide at a hairpin on the final lap.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Mid-season
Enge took another pole position when he set the fastest lap, ahead of his teammate Wilson and Bourdais at the Silverstone round in the United Kingdom. A major airborne accident at Becketts corner involving Saelens in qualifying caused a long stoppage to allow for him to be extricated from his car with FIA doctor Sid Watkins supervising. Saelens was transported to Northampton General Hospital and was withdrawn from the race with ninth vertebrae and wrist ligament damage. In the race, the Nordic cars of Enge and Wilson collided at Stowe turn on the fourth lap.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Mid-season
Wilson ran wide onto the gravel and this elevated Bourdais to second position. A brief rain shower on lap nineteen caused Enge to go onto the gravel at Copse corner and Bourdais took the lead. He held off Wilson to take his first Formula 3000 victory as Enge's engine cut out on the final lap and gave his compatriot Antônio Pizzonia third.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Final rounds
Ricardo Sperafico beat Wilson by 0.071 seconds to achieve the first pole position of his career in the next round at the Hockenheimring. Sperafico had excess wheelspin off the line; he kept the lead by blocking Wilson, who lost second place to his teammate Enge. Wilson and Pizzonia subsequently took first and second before the latter passed the former on lap three. Pizzonia lead the rest of the race to win for the first time in the series.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Final rounds
A second-place result for Wilson and a non-finish for Webber after hitting the rear of Darren Manning's car increased his lead to ten points in the championship. The season resumed three weeks later at the Hungaroring in Hungary. Wilson emerged ahead of Webber in qualifying with pole position, and broke away from the start as Webber had less grip and fell behind Enge and Mauricio. Enge delayed Webber until he made an error at the final turn and the latter passed him.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Final rounds
This resulted in contact between Enge and Webber and the latter was imposed a ten-second stop-and-go penalty dropping him to eleventh. With four laps remaining, Webber beached his car upon a kerb and promoted Bourdais to third. Wilson took his third career victory with a margin of 51⁄2 seconds over Mauricio. He extended his championship lead over Webber to 20 points and Nordic won the Teams' Championship with two races to go.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Final rounds
Going into the Spa-Francorchamps round, Webber needed to win the final two races and for Wilson not to score any points to win the drivers' championship on countback with more race victories. Wilson required a sixth-place result in either race to secure the title regardless of where Webber finished. Petrobras took the first two positions in qualifying with Ricardo Sperafico on pole position and his teammate Antônio Pizzonia second. Wilson and Webber could only manage third and fifth respectively.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Final rounds
The race began in inclement weather and the safety car was used for two laps to allow competitors to familiarise themselves with the wet track. An accident for Webber at Eau Rouge corner early on saw his car destroyed and him taken to a hospital in Verviers for a precautionary x-ray scan that discovered knee ligament damage and no fractured bones. Wilson finished second to clinch the drivers' title with one race remaining as Sperafico led every lap of the event to achieve his first career win. Wilson was the first British driver in history to win the International Formula 3000 Championship.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Final rounds
At the season-ending Autodromo Nationale di Monza race, a deluge caused localised flooding and strong winds blowing natural debris onto the circuit forced the postponement of qualifying. Qualifying was reformatted as a solitary 20-minute session on Saturday afternoon and the race began half an hour later than scheduled. Pizzonia qualified on pole position for the first time in his career and he was joined on the grid's front row by Wilson in second. The start was aborted twice and delayed for 23 minutes because several drivers stalled their cars on the grid. Pantano emerged a Formula 3000 race winner for the first time in his career after he overcame being put onto the grass by Pizzonia at the start, a manoeuvre which entailed a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for the latter. Wilson went on to finish second and Ricardo Sperafico placed third.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Season report, Final rounds
Wilson finished on 71 points with Webber and Enge tied for second position with 39 points each. He eclipsed the record of Juan Pablo Montoya from the 1998 season with the most points accumulated in an International Formula 3000 season, which he kept until Björn Wirdheim improved on it en route to winning the 2003 championship.


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Results and standings, Points system
Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers in every race, using the following structure:


2001 International Formula 3000 Championship, Results and standings, Drivers' Championship
† Driver did not finish the Race but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.


2001 International League season
The 2001 International League season took place from April to September 2001.


2001 International League season
The Louisville Bats defeated the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons to win the league championship.


2001 International League season, Playoffs, Division Series
North Division Champion Buffalo faced IL Wild Card Champion Scranton. Scranton won the series, winning game five in 19 innings, by a score of 6-2.


2001 International League season, Playoffs, Division Series
South Division Champions Norfolk faced West Division Champions Louisville. Louisville won the series.


2001 International League season, Playoffs, Championship series
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre faced Louisville in the Governors' Cup Final. Louisville won game one on Sept. 10, and was declared champion when the rest of the series was cancelled due to the September 11 attacks.


2001 International Raiffeisen Grand Prix
The 2001 International Raiffeisen Grand Prix was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts in Sankt Pölten in Austria and was part of the International Series of the 2001 ATP Tour. It was the 21st edition of the tournament and took place from 21 May through 27 May 2001. Unseeded Andrea Gaudenzi, who entered the tournament on a wildcard, won the singles title.


2001 International Raiffeisen Grand Prix, Finals, Doubles
Petr Pála /  David Rikl defeated  Jaime Oncins /  Daniel Orsanic 6–3, 5–7, 7–5


2001 International Raiffeisen Grand Prix – Doubles
Mahesh Bhupathi and Andrew Kratzmann were the defending champions but only Kratzmann competed that year with Chris Haggard.


2001 International Raiffeisen Grand Prix – Doubles
Haggard and Kratzmann lost in the first round to Leoš Friedl and Dominik Hrbatý.


2001 International Raiffeisen Grand Prix – Doubles
Petr Pála and David Rikl won in the final 6–3, 5–7, 7–5 against Jaime Oncins and Daniel Orsanic.


2001 International Raiffeisen Grand Prix – Doubles, Seeds
Champion seeds are indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which those seeds were eliminated.


2001 International Raiffeisen Grand Prix – Singles
Andrei Pavel was the defending champion but lost in the quarterfinals to Magnus Gustafsson.


2001 International Raiffeisen Grand Prix – Singles
Andrea Gaudenzi won in the final 6–0, 7–5 against Markus Hipfl.


2001 International Raiffeisen Grand Prix – Singles, Seeds
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.


2001 International Rules Series
The 2001 International Rules Series was the eighth annual International Rules Series and the fourth time a test series of international rules football has been played between Ireland and Australia since the series resumed in 1998.


2001 International Rules Series
The series was won by Ireland, who recorded their third series win in four attempts and their second on Australian soil. The win marked Ireland's first clean sweep of the series, as they defeated the Australians in both test matches and recorded a 130–105 aggregate points winning margin.


2001 International Rules Series, Series overview
The AFL appointed Garry Lyon as coach for Australia, for his first time as coach of the national team and also his only coaching appointment, whilst Brian McEniff ended his tenure as Ireland manager in the series. In the first test at the MCG, both teams traded overs as Irish captain Anthony Tohill scored twice over the bar following impressive marks in the forward line to leave the visitors 14-10 up at the first break.


2001 International Rules Series, Series overview
Australia then dominated a patch of 10 minutes in the second quarter, scoring 16 points to nil with Richmond midfielder Joel Bowden scoring twice and Brad Johnson and Simon Black chiming in as well. Ireland recovered to narrow the gap to 6 points at half time (28-22) yet gifted a start to Australia in the third quarter when Blake Caracella was left virtually unmanned in the attacking sector to latch on to a rebound off the post and knock it into the net for the game's first six pointer.


2001 International Rules Series, Series overview
Trailing by 10, Ireland hit back with an exchange between Graham Geraghty and Tohill resulting in the latter's hurried finish into the back of the net. Crowley and Earley combined for an over apiece for the visitors to leave scores level at 41-41 at the final break. Ireland then ran away with an unassailable lead six minutes into the final quarter, Brendan Devenney scoring a fine over before a remarkable solo goal from Kieran McGeeney which began with a 40-yard run from his own half and ended with a terrible flap from Australian keeper Simon Goodwin. The Australians kept up the pressure by scoring some important overs and reduced the margin to a more manageable six points by the end.


2001 International Rules Series, Series overview
With all to play for in the second test, it was Sydney Swans youngster Tadgh Kennelly who played the game of his life, scoring 5 overs and creating a handful of others, ensuring he would be man of the match. For Australia, the pick of the highlights was a Matthew Lloyd half-volleyed goal from 21 metres out in the second quarter.


2001 International Rules Series, Series overview
The first half was indeed a frenetic, free-flowing one; Ireland's Graham Geraghty soccer in past Goodwin into the back of the net early in the second quarter, whilst North Melbourne midfielder Brent Harvey scored two impressive overs in the first half. Ireland's impressive nous with the round ball was keeping them in touch, Tohill combining with a Kennelley midfield move to finish in the back of the net for Ireland in the first quarter. Australia led by a single point (33-32) at half time.


2001 International Rules Series, Series overview
Ireland made their move in the third quarter, Kennelley and Devenney scoring two overs apiece to stretch the margin which would have been much more if not for a fine Goodwin save to deny Seamus Moynihan. Australia lost composure as Caracella was binned for a head high tackle on Seán Marty Lockhart. Some late dominance by Padraig Joyce for Ireland saw their lead stretch to 12 at the final break (56-44).


2001 International Rules Series, Series overview
In the final, an all-in melee erupted for several minutes which resulted in Crowley and Hardwick each being binned, though it failed to dampen the speed and skill of both teams who traded successive overs. Ireland pulled away late thanks to a mighty Kennelley effort from a long way out, leaving Australia 19 points adrift and the series now well and truly over as a contest.


2001 International Rules Series, Series overview
Australian publications wrote that Harvey was in everything in the middle of the ground, Stuart Maxfield had plenty of the ball but was plagued by poor disposal and Adam Goodes, Matthew Lappin and Matthew Lloyd played well up forward, despite the latter spurning a valuable goal chance in the third quarter. The match finished in Ireland's favour 71-52.


2001 International Rules Series, Series overview
Matthew Lloyd was the winner of the Jim Stynes Medal for Australia and Darren Fay, who played a relentless role in defence was Player of the Series for Ireland.


2001 International Rules Series, Matches, First test (12 October)
Overs:  Goodes 3, Bowden 3, Harvey 2, Lloyd 2Johnson, Black, Caracella


2001 International Rules Series, Matches, First test (12 October)
Overs: Devenney 4, Geraghty 3, Tohill 2, Crowley, Earley, Kennelly, McAnallen


2001 International Rules Series, Matches, Second test (19 October)
Overs: Lappin 3, Harvey 3, Lloyd 2,  Maxfield, Francou, Ottens, Smith, Goodes


2001 International Rules Series, Matches, Second test (19 October)
Overs: Kennelly 5, Joyce 3, Devenney 2,  O'Sullivan 2, Crowley 2, Earley, Donnellan, Geraghty


2001 Internationaux de Strasbourg
The 2001 Internationaux de Strasbourg was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 15th edition of the Internationaux de Strasbourg, and was part of the Tier III Series of the 2001 WTA Tour. The tournament took place at the Centre Sportif de Hautepierre in Strasbourg, France, from 21 May until 26 May 2001. Eighth-seeded Silvia Farina Elia won the singles title and earned $27,000 first-prize money.


2001 Internationaux de Strasbourg, Finals, Doubles
Silvia Farina Elia /  Iroda Tulyaganova defeated  Amanda Coetzer /  Lori McNeil 6–1, 7–6(7–0)


2001 Internationaux de Tennis Feminin Nice
The 2001 Internationaux de Tennis Feminin Nice was a women's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts in Nice, France, and was part of Tier II of the 2001 WTA Tour. It was the inaugural edition of the tournament and ran from 12 February until 18 February 2001. Seventh-seeded Amélie Mauresmo won the singles title and earned $90,000 first-prize money.


2001 Internationaux de Tennis Feminin Nice, Finals, Doubles
Émilie Loit /  Anne-Gaëlle Sidot defeated  Kimberly Po /  Nathalie Tauziat 1–6, 6–2, 6–0


2001 Internationaux de Tennis Feminin Nice – Doubles
Émilie Loit and Anne-Gaëlle Sidot won in the final 1–6, 6–2, 6–0 against Kimberly Po and Nathalie Tauziat.


2001 Internationaux de Tennis Feminin Nice – Doubles, Seeds
Champion seeds are indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which those seeds were eliminated.


2001 Internationaux de Tennis Feminin Nice – Singles
Amélie Mauresmo won in the final 6–2, 6–0 against Magdalena Maleeva.


2001 Internationaux de Tennis Feminin Nice – Singles, Seeds
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated. The top four seeds received a bye to the second round.


2001 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo
The 2001 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts in Palermo, Italy that was part of the Tier V category of the 2001 WTA Tour. It was the 14th edition of the Internazionali Femminili di Palermo and took place from 9 July until 15 July 2001. Ninth-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues won the singles title and earned $16,000 first-prize money.


2001 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo, Finals, Doubles
Tathiana Garbin /  Janette Husárová defeated  María José Martínez Sánchez /  Anabel Medina Garrigues, 4–6, 6–2, 6–4


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team
The 2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa and the Iowa Hawkeyes football program during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. Coached by Kirk Ferentz, the Hawkeyes played their home games at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Previous season
Iowa opened the 2000 season with five straight losses, adding to a losing streak that totaled 13 games when the Hawkeyes lost to Indiana on September 30, 2000. However, the streak came to an end a week later, when the Hawks defeated Michigan State, 21–16, giving Ferentz his first ever Big Ten win as head coach at Iowa. Following a three-game losing streak, the Hawkeyes traveled to State College, Pennsylvania, for a game against Penn State. The Hawks won the game, 26–23, and followed it up the next week with another win, this time over Northwestern. The 27–17 victory gave Iowa a two-game winning streak, something that had not occurred for the Hawkeyes since the 1997 season. Iowa finished the season with a 27–24 loss on November 18, 2000, against Minnesota.


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Season outlook
2001 was marked as a potential turning point for the Hawkeyes, a year in which a bowl berth was entirely possible. The Hawks returned two potential starters at quarterback in Kyle McCann and Jon Beutjer, and even received playing time from junior college transfer Brad Banks during the season. Ladell Betts and Kahlil Hill came back for their senior seasons at the running back and wide receiver positions respectively. Hill would go on win the Mosi Tatupu Award following the completion of the season.


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Season outlook
On defense, the Hawkeyes looked to improve on their rushing defense numbers from the previous season. In 2000, Iowa gave up 194.3 yards rushing, ninth in the Big Ten. Aaron Kampman returned for his senior season on the defensive line, while fellow senior Mike Dolezal looked to replace LeVar Woods and Derrick Davison at linebacker. Iowa's passing defense in 2000 allowed 247 yards passing a game, tenth in the Big Ten. It was thought that added experience in that area would help improve that aspect of Iowa's defense.


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Season outlook
The special teams returned Hill and sophomore Nate Kaeding, who hit 14-of-22 field goals and 20-of-20 extra points during his freshman season. In 2000, Hill finished second in the Big Ten with a 27.2-yard kickoff return average. Hill was also named to the first-team all-Big Ten team by the Sporting News for his 2000 performances.


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Season, Schedule
Iowa's schedule did not include Big Ten teams Ohio State and Illinois in 2001.


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Game summaries, Kent State
Opening the season on September 1, 2001, the Hawkeyes defeated the Kent State Golden Flashes, 51–0, in front of 56,091 fans at Kinnick Stadium. The win was Iowa's first in a season opener under Ferentz, and it improved the Hawkeyes' record in season openers to 80–31–2.


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Game summaries, Kent State
On offense, Betts ran for 99 yards, while fellow running back Aaron Greving scored three touchdowns. In total, Iowa ran for 331 yards, which compared favorably to the 113 yards for Kent State. Jeremy Allen and Fred Russell also contributed, with 73 and 46 rushing yards respectively. Allen also scored the first touchdown of his career during the game, on a 14-yard run during the first quarter. Defensively, the Hawkeyes held Kent State to 13 first downs and 203 total offensive yards.


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Game summaries, Kent State
Iowa held the Golden Flashes to 90 yards passing; Kent State quarterback Jeff Valentino completed 3 of his 13 passes for 35 yards before being taken out of the game. McCann and Banks threw for 165 and 71 yards respectively, while Dallas Clark led the Hawks in receiving, with five catches for 84 yards. The loss was Kent State's sixth straight, dating back to the previous season.


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Game summaries, Kent State
For Iowa, the win capped a week in which Beutjer, a possible starter at quarterback, left the team. Beutjer cited feeling "betrayed" by Iowa coaches, and Iowa player Bruce Nelson said that it would not "disrupt what we've got going." Following the game, Ferentz noted that practice on the Thursday before the game was the best in his tenure at Iowa, while Kent State head coach Dean Pees expressed disappointment in his team's performance. The next week, Kent State ended their six-game losing streak with a 38–17 victory over Bucknell.


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Game summaries, Indiana
Ladell Betts ran for 172 yards and a touchdown, and Kahlil Hill had 93 yards receiving and two touchdowns in the Hawkeye victory over Indiana.


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Game summaries, Minnesota
The Hawkeyes closed out their home schedule at 5–1 by blasting Minnesota. Iowa led 21–0 after the first quarter, 28–3 at half, and 42–10 after three quarters before cruising to the 18 point win. Kyle McCann threw 3 TD passes and ran for a TD.


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Game summaries, Minnesota
After losing three straight in the series, this was the first of five consecutive wins for the Hawks over the Gophers.


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Game summaries, Iowa State
The annual battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy was scheduled originally for September 15, but due to the September 11 attacks, it was postponed or canceled like all sporting events planned for that weekend. The game was rescheduled for November 24, which turned out to be a natural fit since many other major rivalries were played that weekend.


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Game summaries, Iowa State
The Cyclones scored a touchdown in each of the first two quarters to head into halftime with a 14–0 lead. Iowa finally responded in the third quarter with two touchdowns from Ladell Betts, who also rushed for 150 yards on the day.


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Game summaries, Iowa State
The final scoring play of the game came early in the fourth quarter, with Tony Yelk kicking a 32-yard field goal to put the Cyclones up 17–14. An interception by Adam Runk with 1:37 remaining sealed the game for the Cyclones.


2001 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Game summaries, Alamo Bowl
Backup RB Aaron Greving ran for 115 yards and a touchdown and Nate Kaeding kicked four field goals, including the game-winner from 47 yards with 44 seconds remaining. The Hawkeyes earned their first bowl win under Kirk Ferentz and first since shutting out Texas Tech in the 1996 Alamo Bowl. The victory served as a springboard for the memorable 2002 season.


2001 Iowa State Cyclones football team
The 2001 Iowa State Cyclones football team represented Iowa State University in the Big 12 Conference during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by head coach Dan McCarney, in his seventh year, and played their home games at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. They finished the season with a record of seven wins and five losses (7–5 overall, 4–4 in the Big 12) and with a loss to Alabama in the Independence Bowl.


2001 Ipswich by-election
The Member of Parliament for Ipswich in Suffolk, Jamie Cann, of the Labour Party died on 15 October 2001.


2001 Ipswich by-election
The by-election was held on 22 November that year, and was the first of six by-elections which took place during the 53rd Parliament (2001–05).


2001 Ipswich by-election
With Labour still basking in the glow of their landslide general election victory just five months earlier, no opposition party was able to mount an effective challenge. The Liberal Democrats improved their position somewhat but remained in third place, and the Labour candidate Chris Mole was returned with a majority of over 4,000 votes.


2001 Ipswich by-election
The declaration broke with tradition by using live computer images, club music and lasers after the result was announced.


2001 Iranian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Iran on 8 June 2001, and resulted in Mohammad Khatami being elected as the President of Iran for his second term.


2001 Iranian presidential election, Candidates
Although 814 candidates registered for the election, including 25 women, the Guardian Council reduced it to ten.


2001 Iranian presidential election, Campaign
After the scandalous final two years of his term, Mohammad Khatami was expected to be elected by a much smaller margin than in 1997. His term was marred by the unlawful arrest of political activists, killings of Iranian dissidents, and closure of several Iranian newspapers. Though Khatami was still believed to win by a landslide, this oppression was thought to significantly impact his performance in the election. Initially, Khatami had considered not running for reelection.


2001 Iranian presidential election, Campaign
But, after months of his supporters and party members pleading with him, he finally decided to declare his candidacy two months before the start of the election. Central to Khatami's campaign were the issues of economic revival, job growth, and democratic reform. Khatami also sought to restore the austerity of the Iranian Revolution. According to CNN, Khatami's aides described his campaign as a “referendum for reform”. Most of Khatami's nine other challengers were independent conservatives, according to BBC.


2001 Iraqi Elite Cup
The Eleventh Mother of all Battles Championship (Arabic: بطولة أم المعارك الحادية عشرة), commonly referred to as the 2001 Iraqi Elite Cup (Arabic: كأس النخبة العراقي 2001), was the eleventh occurrence of the Iraqi Elite Cup. The competition was organised by the Iraq Football Association and the top eight teams of the 2000–01 Iraqi Elite League competed in the tournament. Despite being the 2001 edition, the competition was held in 2002, from 1 February to 10 February. In the final, held at Al-Shaab Stadium, Al-Shorta defeated Al-Talaba 1–0 to win the cup for the second time in a row.


2001 Iraqi Perseverance Cup
The 2001 Iraqi Perseverance Cup (Arabic: كأس المثابرة العراقي 2001) was the 6th edition of the Iraqi Super Cup. The match was contested between Baghdad rivals Al-Zawraa and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya at Al-Shaab Stadium in Baghdad. It was played on 18 September 2001 as a curtain-raiser to the 2001–02 season. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya won their second Super Cup title, winning the match 1–0.


2001 Irish Greyhound Derby
The 2001 Irish Greyhound Derby took place during August and September with the final being held at Shelbourne Park in Dublin on 15 September 2001.


2001 Irish Greyhound Derby
The winner Cool Performance won £100,000 and was trained by Sean Bourke, owned by Patsy Byrne & Mick Gleeson and bred by P J Keane. The race was sponsored by the Paddy Power.


2001 Irish Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
The leading Irish entry for the 2001 event was a greyhound called Late Late Show, owned by television and radio chat show host Pat Kenny. The greyhound had gained national fame and was running for charity. The Paul Hennessy trained black dog had won 17 of his last 19 races including a winning sequence of 16. he had won the Tote Gold Cup, Easter Cup and Euro Off-Track with earnings of £83,000 to date.


2001 Irish Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
Also expected to go well was Cool Performance, a greyhound that had broken his hock on two occasions since winning the Puppy Derby, he had been purchased by Patsy Byrne and had failed to make the 2001 English Greyhound Derby, for which he had been bought, due to his injuries. The English challenge was led by Sonic Flight and Droopys Vieri.


2001 Irish Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
Rhincrew Tops went fastest in round one with a 29.82, Premier County recorded 29.84 and Sonic Flight 29.92 in other wins. A remarkable second round saw the track record broken twice; Droopys Vieri set a new Shelbourne record timed at 29.57 and just four races later Cool Performance equalled the new record. Sonic Flight was eliminated and the Late Late Show continued his customary late pace in races to get through to the next round.


2001 Irish Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
Double Oaks champion Marinas Tina finished lame in quarter finals on a night when three of the heat winners recorded the same time of 29.83; they were Droopys Vieri, Cool Performance and Premier County.


2001 Irish Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
Droopys Kewell won the first semi-final from the strong finishing Late Late Show and Cool Performance. A scrappy second semi-final race ended with success for Droopys Vieri from Dale Inferno and Tinys Bud. Premier County was eliminated after suffering from trouble but would ease to victory in the consolation final.


2001 Irish Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
Tinys Bud took a slight lead when the final got underway, she was followed closely by Cool Performance and Droopys Kewell, but the latter was forced to check. Down the back straight the positions remained the same, with Droopys Vieri now making progress. Cool Performance gained a third bend lead with Droopys Vieri now very close behind but Late Late Show was now also gaining ground after encountering trouble early on. Cool Performance still led near the finishing line and held off the field and in particular the Late Late Show. They pair crossed the line in a photo finish with five runners just over a length apart. The photo finish gave Cool Performance the verdict from Late Late Show and the trophy was presented by Bertie Ahern.


2001 Irish Masters
The 2001 Irish Masters (officially the 2001 Citywest Irish Masters) was a professional invitational snooker tournament which was held at the Citywest Hotel in Saggart, Dublin, from 27 March to 1 April. It was the 24th Irish Masters and the fifth and final World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association invitational event in the 2000–01 snooker season. The tournament was co-sponsored by the Health Promotion Unit and the Office of Tobacco Control of the Department of Health and Children and hotel group Citywest.


2001 Irish Masters
John Higgins was the defending champion of the tournament but was eliminated in the quarter-finals following a defeat by Peter Ebdon. Ronnie O'Sullivan, three-time tournament winner over the course of the season, won the competition, beating three-time Irish Masters winner Stephen Hendry nine frames to eight (9–8) in the final. In the semi-finals, O'Sullivan defeated Ebdon and Hendry beat defending world champion Mark Williams. O'Sullivan made a century break of 137 in the second frame of his quarter-final match with six-time world champion Steve Davis, the highest of the tournament.


2001 Irish Masters, Overview
Founded in 1978 by the Benson & Hedges tobacco brand as the Republic of Ireland's major snooker event, the Irish Masters originated as a snooker challenge match before it became an elimination tournament. The 2001 competition was its 24th staging, and the last of the five World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association invitational events in the 2000–01 snooker season. It featured a 12-player draw that occurred at the Citywest Hotel, Saggart, Dublin, between 27 March and 1 April 2001.


2001 Irish Masters, Overview
The tournament was co-sponsored by the Health Promotion Unit and the Office of Tobacco Control of the Department of Health and Children and hotel group Citywest following the withdrawal of Benson & Hedges as a title sponsor, as a result of Micheál Martin, the Irish Health Minister, introducing a ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship in Ireland in September 2000.


2001 Irish Masters, Overview
A total of £195,000 prize money was available, with £75,000 going to the winner, and the host broadcaster was RTÉ. The competition went ahead as scheduled in the wake of concerns about the spread of foot-and-mouth in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The eight highest-ranked players in the world rankings and four wild cards were invited to play in Ireland. Each of the 12 players were seeded, with the first seed being John Higgins, the competition's defending winner. The maximum number of frames played in a match increased from 11 in the first round, the quarter-finals and the semi-finals to the best-of-17 frames final on 1 April.


2001 Irish Masters, Tournament summary, First round
The first round was played from 27 to 28 March and entailed four best-of-11-frame fixtures. Jimmy White, the 2000 British Open finalist, lost 6–4 to world number six Alan McManus in a 3-hour, 7-minute match. McManus won the first four of the first six frames to lead 4–2, making a century break of 102 in frame four. He went on to claim another two frames to earn the first quarter-final spot and achieve his second victory in Ireland since reaching the final of the 1994 Irish Masters. Matthew Stevens, the world number four, defeated local player Fergal O'Brien 6–2. Both players shared the first four frames into the mid-session break before Stevens claimed four frames in a row with breaks of 61 and 59, following playing errors from O'Brien to win.


2001 Irish Masters, Tournament summary, First round
The third game was between six-time world champion and eight-time Irish Masters winner Steve Davis and Welsh Open and Thailand Masters champion Ken Doherty. After three frames, Davis came from 2–1 behind to lead 5–3 on breaks of 45, 42, 74, 61 and 65. Doherty won the ninth frame 88–0 but Davis won the match 6–4 after 35 minutes of tactical play in frame ten. It was the 19th time Davis had qualified for the quarter-finals of the Irish Masters, his first ranking win since November 2000 and Doherty's first loss to Davis in five matches.


2001 Irish Masters, Tournament summary, First round
1995 Irish Masters winner Peter Ebdon played the final first round match with world number five Stephen Lee. The first two frames were won by Lee on breaks of 90 and 65. Ebdon came from 2–0 behind with breaks of 57, 57, 58, 94, 69 and 124 to defeat Lee 6–4 and be the last to qualify for the quarter-finals.


2001 Irish Masters, Tournament summary, Quarter-finals
All four quarter-finals were played between 29 and 30 March. The first quarter-final was between three-time Irish Masters champion Stephen Hendry and fellow Scot McManus. Hendry took 50 minutes to take a 4–0 lead as McManus scored 21 points in this period. McManus won the fifth frame with a break of 51 to prevent a whitewash before Hendry took the next two frames in 23 minutes to win 6–1. Hendry qualified for the semi-finals for the eighth time in the season and beat McManus for the 19th time.


2001 Irish Masters, Tournament summary, Quarter-finals
Hendry outscored McManus 557 points to 94 and amassed 358 points without reply as the latter failed to pot a ball in five frames. Mark Williams, the 2000 World Snooker Championship winner, faced fellow Welsh player Stevens in the second quarter-final in a rematch of the world final. The two shared the first six frames before Williams won frames seven and eight to lead. Stevens won frame nine with a break of 120 but Williams won the game 6–4 in the tenth frame by a score of 79–1.


2001 Irish Masters, Tournament summary, Quarter-finals
The third quarter-final was between British Open champion Ebdon and 2000 UK Championship winner Higgins. Ebdon won the first three frames with breaks of 63, 68 and 90 for a 3–0 lead before Higgins made breaks of 66 and 53 as he secured three of the next four frames to go 4–3 behind. Ebdon clinched the next two frames as he won the game 6–3. The last quarter-final was played by Davis and three-time 2000–01 tournament winner Ronnie O'Sullivan.


2001 Irish Masters, Tournament summary, Quarter-finals
In the first frame, O'Sullivan looked set to achieve a maximum break before a spectator's ringing mobile phone distracted him while on 72 points. He went on to win five of the next eight frames including a 137 total clearance and a break of 136 to defeat Davis 6–3 for the last semi-final spot. Of the mobile phone incident, O'Sullivan said: "It didn't put me off though it was an important shot I was playing. These things are happening more and more, there is no difference these days between carrying a mobile and having money in your pocket. Some people have panic attacks if they forget their mobile."


2001 Irish Masters, Tournament summary, Semi-finals
Both of the semi-finals took place on 31 March. The first semi-final was played between Hendry and Williams. Hendry took 51 minutes to win four of the first five frames with century breaks of 100 and 113, bringing his number of professional centuries to 531. Williams then took frames six and seven to go 4–3 behind. Hendry won two more frames to qualify for the final by a score of 6–3. It was the 96th final of his professional career, and his seventh Irish Masters final.


2001 Irish Masters, Tournament summary, Semi-finals
Also, it was his second recent victory over Williams, whom he had defeated in the 2001 Malta Grand Prix. Hendry commented on his and Williams' play: "Mark missed a lot of shots. I don't expect to get quite so many chances whoever I play in the final. I don't think I played as well as I did in the quarter-finals and Mark can certainly play better than he did. He had an off day and I didn't."


2001 Irish Masters, Tournament summary, Semi-finals
The other semi-final was between Ebdon and O'Sullivan. The first five frames were won by O'Sullivan with breaks of 67, 53, 87, 130 and 134 before Ebdon claimed the next three with breaks of 93, 124 and 83. O'Sullivan prevented Ebdon from scoring in the ninth frame to win the match 6–3, clinching the second spot in the final. O'Sullivan praised Ebdon for "forcing [him] to do well" and commented on his own form: "I don't feel 100 per cent about my game which is my problem when things go wrong but at least I am hitting top form here. I've been trying to get something extra out of my game and sometimes it is paying off. But I still go for shots that perhaps would be better left alone. I should hold back but I can't always do that."


2001 Irish Masters, Tournament summary, Final
The best-of-17 frames final between Hendry and O'Sullivan was held over two sessions on 1 April. It was the 30th time the two players had met in professional competition; O'Sullivan had won their 15 previous meetings, while Hendry had won the other 14. On a break of 41, Hendry missed the final red ball while using the rest, allowing O'Sullivan to make a 28 clearance to the pink ball and win the opening frame.


2001 Irish Masters, Tournament summary, Final
O'Sullivan took 20 minutes to accumulate 136 points from breaks of 60 and 76 as he won the next three frames to go 4–0 ahead before the mid-session interval. Hendry won the fifth frame with an eight-minute break of 76, and O'Sullivan took the sixth in less than ten minutes on a break of 86. The first session ended 5–2 to O'Sullivan when Hendry won frame seven on a break of 76. After a four-hour interval, a break of 84 gave Hendry frame eight and O'Sullivan took the ninth on an 76 break.


2001 Irish Masters, Tournament summary, Final
Breaks of 82, 95 and 53 in the next three frames allowed Hendry to equalise but O'Sullivan retook the lead with a century break of 112, his fifth of the tournament. Although Hendry won two more frames to take the lead, O'Sullivan won frame 16 on a break of 80 to force a final frame decider. O'Sullivan won the final frame for a 9–8 victory with a break of 43 after Hendry missed the black ball while on a break of 13.


2001 Irish Masters, Tournament summary, Final
It was O'Sullivan's first Irish Masters win; he had defeated Doherty 9–3 in the 1998 final but was disqualified, as he tested positive for traces of cannabis. He won his fourth tournament of the season following the Champions Cup, the Scottish Masters and the China Open, though this was his first in 2001. The £75,000 he won increased his season's earnings to more than £370,000. O'Sullivan commented on the victory: "It's a great feeling to win and right now I'm on cloud nine. It's tough on Stephen but he has won so many more titles than I have."


2001 Irish Masters, Tournament summary, Final
He added: "I played good match snooker against Stephen but I wasn't flying as well as I can do. I like to win by forcing the pace, creating openings and putting my opponents under pressure. I didn't do that, I just did a job. No one remembers who finishes second and I didn't want to be on the wrong end of a 9–8 scoreline." Hendry had lost in his second successive final after losing to Doherty in the Thailand Masters and it was the third time he had been defeated in the Irish Masters final decided in the final frame. He said: "I don't get any satisfaction from finishing runner-up .... If you don't win the title it's just like losing in the first round."


2001 Irish Masters, Main draw
Numbers given to the left of players' names show the seedings for all the players in the tournament. Players in bold denote match winners.


2001 Irish Masters, Main draw, Final
The bold text in the table indicate winning frame scores and denotes the player who won the game. Breaks over 50 are displayed in brackets.


2001 Irish Masters, Century break
A total of twelve century breaks were made by five different players during the Irish Masters. The highest was a 137 made by O'Sullivan in frame two of the quarter-final match with Davis.