2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Saturday afternoon's qualifying session was divided into three parts. In the first 20-minute period, cars finishing 16th or lower were eliminated. The second qualifying period lasted 15 minutes, at the end of which the fastest 10 cars went into the final period to determine their grid positions for the race. Cars failing to make the final period were allowed to be refuelled before the race, but those competing in it were not and carried more fuel than they had done in the earlier qualifying sessions to see them through the first part of the race. The session was held in dry weather slightly hotter than any of the free practice sessions; the ambient temperature ranged between 30 and 31 °C (86 and 88 °F), while track temperature ranged between 38 and 41 °C (100 and 106 °F).


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Qualifying
"The team has done a fantastic job of continually improving the car over the past few weeks, so I'm really proud of what we've achieved today. It's great to have locked out the front row with Heikki—we've been threatening to do it for a number of races, so to achieve it at a track where it's tricky to pass is really satisfying. There's a great harmony within the team at the moment and we really deserved this. I couldn't ask to be in a better position, we've both got good strategies for tomorrow and we'll be challenging for the win."


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Hamilton set the fastest time in the first and final parts of the session, which clinched him pole position with a lap of 1:20.899. Although he was pleased with the handling of his McLaren—he said that he had never been more comfortable in the car—he believed that he could have recorded a faster lap, as he made a slight mistake going into Turn Five. Hamilton was joined on the front row by his teammate Kovalainen, who recorded a lap time 0.241 seconds slower and was fuelled for an additional two laps in the race.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Massa set the session's fastest time of 1:19.068 during its second part, but was delayed by other cars, which prevented him from heating his tyres sufficiently to achieve the maximum grip possible. He dropped to third overall in the final part of qualifying. Räikkönen was on a heavier fuel load than his teammate but made a mistake on his final flying lap that restricted him to sixth place. That left him behind Kubica and Glock on the grid.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Kubica achieved his competitive time despite handling problems, which led him to describe his lap as his best so far of the season, while Glock recorded the best qualifying result of his career thus far. Alonso qualified in seventh position with Piquet in tenth on a heavy fuel load; the Renault teammates were split by Webber and Trulli.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Qualifying
As the Soft tyres were expected to perform better in the race than the Super Softs, the McLaren drivers' use of one fewer set of the Soft tyres than their Ferrari counterparts during the qualifying session suggested Hamilton and Kovalainen might have had a tyre performance advantage in the race. This was because the Soft tyre was the fastest tyre choice over the course of a single lap, despite the theoretical performance advantage of the Super Soft; Ferrari used one more set of Soft tyres than McLaren before realising this was the case.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Vettel was the fastest driver not to advance into the final session, qualifying 11th; his best time of 1:20.131 was just over a second slower than Massa's pace in the second session. His teammate, Bourdais, set the 14th-fastest lap, but was penalised five positions on the grid for impeding Heidfeld during the first part of qualifying, a delay which limited the BMW Sauber driver to the 16th-fastest time.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Qualifying
The Toro Rosso drivers were split before Bourdais' penalty by Jenson Button—who found his Honda's revised suspension a significant improvement—and David Coulthard, who believed the Hungaroring did not suit the handling characteristics of his Red Bull RB4 chassis. Rosberg made it into the second part of qualifying, but did not complete any laps thereafter after his Williams car developed a hydraulics problem. Kazuki Nakajima (Williams), Rubens Barrichello (Honda) and Force India drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil failed to advance beyond the first part of qualifying, and thus completed the final rows of the grid. In the first part of qualifying (the only section in which all drivers took part), the entire field was covered by just under three seconds.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race
The race took place in the afternoon from 14:00 local time, in dry and sunny weather, with an ambient temperature of between 30 and 31 °C (86 and 88 °F), and a track temperature ranging from 40 to 43 °C (104 to 109 °F). The race-day attendance was 84,000. As usual, the race was broadcast worldwide, with the "World Feed" coverage being produced by FOM. Every driver except Coulthard started on the Soft compound tyres.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race
Massa made a good start on his only remaining new set of Soft tyres, moving ahead of Kovalainen from the grid and drawing alongside Hamilton into the first corner. Hamilton held the inside line for the turn, but Massa braked later than the McLaren driver and passed him around the outside. Behind the leading three in the run down to the first corner, Glock moved ahead of Kubica, while Alonso overtook Räikkönen.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race
Barrichello made the best start in the field, moving from 17th to 13th place at the end of the first lap, while Vettel made a poor start and lost four places over the same distance. At the completion of the first lap, Massa led from Hamilton, Kovalainen, Glock, Kubica, Alonso, Räikkönen, Webber, Trulli, Piquet, Coulthard, Heidfeld, Barrichello, Button, Vettel, Bourdais, Rosberg, Nakajima, Fisichella and Sutil.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race
Massa and Hamilton immediately began to pull clear of Kovalainen. On lap 3, Button overtook his teammate Barrichello for 13th position, but both Honda drivers were stuck behind Heidfeld, who was carrying a heavier fuel load than them. As the race progressed, Massa began to open a small lead over Hamilton, who put his McLaren into a "fuel-saving mode", attempting to jump ahead of Massa later in the race by making a pit stop after the Ferrari driver.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race
In addition, the high track temperature was to the Ferrari chassis's advantage, as it was easier on its tyres than the McLaren and was able to run them at an operating temperature of up to 10 °C (18 °F)  lower, resulting in less tyre wear. By lap 18, Massa had a lead of 3.5 seconds over Hamilton, who in turn was almost 8 seconds ahead of Kovalainen. Glock was a further 3 seconds behind the second McLaren driver, but was drawing ahead of Kubica in fifth, who was finding his BMW Sauber difficult to drive in race conditions with a lack of grip and stability under braking, and was holding up a group of cars behind him.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race
Massa, Kubica and Webber were the first three drivers to make pit stops by coming in on lap 18. The McLaren mechanics timed Massa's stop to estimate the amount of fuel he received, and when Hamilton made his own first stop on the next lap, they fuelled him to run for three laps longer than the Ferrari in the second stint of the race. Kovalainen took over the lead of the race for two laps before his pit stop on lap 21 returned it to Massa.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race
Piquet was the last of the leading runners to make a pit stop, on lap 25, allowing him to jump ahead of Kubica, Trulli and Webber. Further down the order, Vettel made an unscheduled pit stop on lap 20 and retired two laps later with an overheating engine. By the end of lap 26, all of the leading drivers on two-stop strategies had taken their pit stops. The race order was Massa leading from Hamilton, Kovalainen, Glock, Coulthard (who was yet to pit), Alonso, Räikkönen, Piquet, Trulli, Kubica, Webber, Heidfeld, Button, Barrichello, Bourdais, Rosberg, Nakajima, Fisichella and Sutil.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race
Hamilton rejoined the race following his first pit stop 2.6 seconds behind Massa, and needed to stay within approximately 3.5 seconds of the Ferrari driver to gain track position after the second round of pit stops. Massa began to pull away again, easing the gap open to 4 seconds by lap 32, while Hamilton locked his front-left wheel as he tried to keep up with the Ferrari, flat-spotting the tyre in the process. The two continued to set fastest laps as they pulled away from the rest of the field.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race
On lap 29, Coulthard made his first pit stop, dropping to 12th place as a result. Button, Barrichello, Bourdais, Rosberg, Nakajima, Fisichella and Sutil also made their first pit stops at this stage of the race. Three of these drivers experienced delays during their pit stops which dropped them down the running order: Barrichello and Bourdais suffered flash fires, while Rosberg's fuel hose jammed, losing him time.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race
At the front of the field, Massa continued to pull away gradually from Hamilton; the gap between the two had risen to 5 seconds by the end of lap 40. On the following lap, Hamilton's front-left tyre deflated approaching Turn Two; the resultant slow lap back to the pit lane and stop for a replacement tyre dropped him to tenth place. Massa now had a 23-second lead over Kovalainen and slowed his pace accordingly, adjusting the performance of the engine to place it under less mechanical stress.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race
He made his final pit stop on lap 44, allowing Kovalainen to take the lead until his own stop four laps later, handing Massa back his lead. On lap 41, Heidfeld made his only pit stop, dropping from 11th to 12th position. In the following laps, the other drivers made their second stops, except Nakajima, who switched to a one-stop strategy at his first visit to his pit box.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race
Behind the leading trio of Massa, Kovalainen and Glock, Räikkönen moved ahead of Alonso despite running off the road just before his pit stop; after he exited the pit lane, Piquet fended off Trulli as they battled for position. The pit stop sequence allowed Hamilton to move back up the order, to sixth place behind Alonso. Further back, Bourdais suffered another flash fire on lap 45, and made another visit to the pit lane one lap later to have fire extinguisher foam cleaned off his helmet visor. Rosberg was the final scheduled driver to make a pit stop, on lap 58. The majority of the drivers ran with Soft tyres for the first two stints of the race, then switched to the Super Soft compound for the final stint.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race
At the conclusion of lap 59, with the scheduled pit stops completed, the running order was Massa leading from Kovalainen, Glock, Räikkönen, Alonso, Hamilton, Piquet, Trulli, Kubica, Webber, Heidfeld, Coulthard, Button, Nakajima, Rosberg, Fisichella, Sutil, Barrichello and Bourdais. Running in clean air without a car immediately in front of him for the first time, Räikkönen set the fastest lap of the race at 1:21.195, on lap 61, as he closed the nine-second gap to Glock at a rate of one second per lap.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race
Hamilton caught Alonso at a similar rate, but his rear Super Soft tyres began to overheat and he was unable to make any further impression after closing the gap to 1.5 seconds. On lap 62, Sutil suffered a puncture caused by a brake failure and became the second retirement of the race. In the closing laps, Kovalainen reduced his deficit to Massa to 15 seconds, but the Ferrari driver appeared to be in command of the race. However, as Massa started lap 68, his engine failed without warning, forcing him to retire from the lead with three laps remaining.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race
Kovalainen was thus promoted into the lead, which he held to take the first victory of his Formula One career in a time of 1'37:27.067, at an average speed of 117.309 miles per hour (188.791 km/h). Kovalainen was the 100th driver to win a Formula One World Championship race. Glock likewise claimed the best result of his career, and first podium finish, with second position. Räikkönen took the final place on the podium despite a failure in his car's rear suspension during the final few laps.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race
Alonso and Piquet finished on either side of Hamilton, who was in fifth position, leading Symonds to describe the race as his team's best of the year so far. Trulli finished seventh, ahead of Kubica, who was extremely disappointed with the uncompetitive performance of his car at the Grand Prix closest to his home country of Poland. His teammate, Heidfeld, finished in tenth place between the two Red Bull drivers, both of whom were also disappointed by their team's performance. Button, Nakajima, Rosberg and Fisichella filled the next places, a lap behind the leader, while Barrichello was two laps down in 16th position after the delay at his first pit stop. Massa was classified in 17th place, ahead of Bourdais, who was the final finisher.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
"There have been various incidents this year and we have been in the position after Saturday quite a few times to fight for the victory, but always something has gone wrong and it hasn't functioned perfectly.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Today obviously I knew Massa and Lewis were both very fast at the beginning of the race but halfway through the race I felt it was starting to work for me a little bit better and then at the end I just tried to put pressure on Massa and hoped something would happen and obviously it looked like he had a mechanical failure, so it all worked fine for me today and I am very, very happy about it. All the hard work that the whole team has put in the last few months, through difficult times, we just kept pushing and it is very respectable and I am very, very glad to score my first victory."


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Heikki Kovalainen, speaking during the post-race FIA press conference for the podium finishers.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Although Kovalainen was delighted with his first Formula One victory, he attributed much of the credit for his win to luck. After the race he said, "I feel a bit sorry for Felipe and Lewis. They both drove great races, but I know how it feels when things go wrong—I've had a few similar moments this year. I tried to put pressure on Felipe, especially during the last stint. I felt something might happen if I did that, you never know, but I still found it hard to believe when I saw his Ferrari on fire."


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
The victory proved to be Kovalainen's only Formula One win. Glock was pleased with second position and spoke of how he had dedicated extra training to improve his race starts. He said he had focussed on not making any mistakes in the closing laps as Räikkönen closed, instead of maintaining the gap. Räikkönen described his race as "frustrating and boring" due to the amount of time he spent stuck behind slower cars.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
The podium finishers were overshadowed in the media by coverage of the ill fortune of both the weekend's pace-setters, Hamilton and Massa. Massa in particular was praised for his performance. The Ferrari team principal, Stefano Domenicali, said it was, "the best race of his career. It was fantastic the way he managed the race." Journalist Mark Hughes described it as "almost certainly his best race to date", and colleague Simon Arron termed it as "one of the finest afternoons of his F1 career".


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Both drew attention to his controlled aggression at the first corner of the race, followed by his relentless, mistake-free pace. Arron, in particular, noted that Massa's first-corner passing move was more typical of Hamilton's attacking style than his own, and was a "defining moment" in Massa's championship campaign. Hamilton himself later expressed surprise that Massa had been able to overtake him in such a manner, and warned his rival that "it won't happen again". Hughes described the Grand Prix as "a throwback race", in that the leaders had suffered from unreliability, and the winner had not been in contention on speed alone; It was a situation reminiscent of earlier times in the sport, when the cars were generally less reliable.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Bridgestone director of motorsport Hirohide Hamashima said Hamilton's puncture was probably caused by debris, although as a result of the damage the tyre had sustained, the precise nature of the failure was impossible to determine. He also stated that Hamilton's tyre was more vulnerable to debris damage because he had flat-spotted it earlier in the race. Massa said he had no prior indication of his engine failure. The problem was later traced to a connecting rod failure caused by an impurity in the component material. An identical problem caused Räikkönen to retire from the following race, the European Grand Prix.


2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
As a consequence of the race, Hamilton extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship to five points ahead of Räikkönen, who moved ahead of Massa in the standings. Kubica maintained fourth place; Kovalainen's win moved him to within three points of Heidfeld in fifth. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari continued to lead, but McLaren jumped ahead of BMW Sauber for second position. Behind Toyota, Renault moved ahead of Red Bull. Despite his increased lead, Hamilton acknowledged that he expected the Ferrari drivers to be formidable opponents in the season's seven remaining races. After the eventual conclusion of the championship in Hamilton's favour by one point, the Hungarian Grand Prix was highlighted as one of Massa's most obvious lost opportunities in his bid to win the title.


2008 Hungarian fees abolition referendum
A referendum on revoking some medical and tuition fees was held in Hungary on 9 March 2008. The proposals would cancel government reforms which introduced doctor visit fees paid per visitation and medical fees paid per number of days spent in hospital as well as tuition fees in higher education. All three were supported by a majority of voters. Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány stated that the fees would be abolished on 1 April 2008 following the referendum, but that the government had no funds available to replace the income lost for the higher educations institutions and health institutions due to the abolishment of the fees.


2008 Hungarian fees abolition referendum, Background
The referendum was initiated by opposition party Fidesz against the ruling Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP). The procedure for the referendum started on 23 October 2006, when Viktor Orbán, the leader of Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union announced they would hand in seven questions to the National Electorate Office, three of which (on abolishing co-payments, daily fees and college tuition fees) were officially approved on 17 December 2007 and called on 24 January 2008. It was assumed likely that the referendum would pass, but it was uncertain whether turnout would be high enough to make it valid; polls indicated about 40% turnout with 80% in favour of rescinding the three reforms.


2008 Hungarian fees abolition referendum, Background
To be valid, the referendum required at least 25% of the about 8 million eligible voters to vote in favour of one of the options.


2008 Hungarian fees abolition referendum, Results, Turnout
On the day of the referendum, the following turnout data was reported:


2008 Hungarian fees abolition referendum, Results, Turnout
Voting was possible between 6:00 and 19:00. Official results showed that the necessary votes were achieved, with a turnout of over 50% (higher than opinion polls had expected).


2008 Hungarian fees abolition referendum, Consequences
The MSZP–SZDSZ coalition suffered a heavy defeat. After Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány intended to dismiss Health Minister Ágnes Horváth (SZDSZ), the relationship between the two parties permanently deteriorated. On 31 March 2008, various reform-related disagreements between the MSZP and SZDSZ led the SZDSZ leader János Kóka to announce that his party would quit the coalition by 1 May 2008. This also meant that the MSZP formed the first minority government in Hungary since the end of communism, supported externally by SZDSZ.


2008 Hungaroring GP2 Series round
2008 Hungaroring GP2 Series round was the seventh round of the 2008 GP2 Series season. It was held on August 2 and August 3, 2008 at Hungaroring at Budapest, Hungary. The race was used as a support race to the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix.


2008 Huntingdonshire District Council election
The 2008 Huntingdonshire District Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Huntingdonshire District Council in Cambridgeshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.


2008 Huntingdonshire District Council election, Background
Before the election the Conservatives controlled the council with 39 seats, compared to 11 Liberal Democrats and 2 independents. 18 seats were contested at the election by a total of 69 candidates, with the Conservatives defending 14 of the seats.


2008 Huntingdonshire District Council election, Background
Among the councillors who were defending seats were the Conservative leader of the council, Ian Bates, in The Hemingfords ward, and the leader of the Liberal Democrats on the council, Peter Downes in Brampton. Ian Bates was challenged by an independent candidate, Maxine Hay, who had become a road safety campaigner after her son was killed after being hit by a car, with the Liberal Democrat candidate for the seat withdrawing in her favour.


2008 Huntingdonshire District Council election, Election result
The Liberal Democrats made a net gain of 1 seat to move to 12 councillors at the expense of the Conservatives who remained in control of the council with 38 seats. The Liberal Democrats gained seats in Buckden and Huntingdon East from the Conservatives, but lost a seat back to them in St Neots Eaton Socon.


2008 Huntingdonshire District Council election, By-elections between 2008 and 2010, Ramsey April 2009
A by-election was held in Ramsey on 2 April 2009 after the death of Conservative councillor Ross Muir. The seat was held for the Conservatives by Andy Monk with a majority of 106 votes over Peter Reeve of the UK Independence Party.


2008 Huntingdonshire District Council election, By-elections between 2008 and 2010, Ramsey July 2009
A by-election was held in Ramsey on 23 July 2009 after the death of Liberal Democrat councillor Ray Powell. The seat was gained for the UK Independence Party by Peter Reeve with a majority of 184 votes over the Conservative Angela Curtis.


2008 Huntingdonshire District Council election, By-elections between 2008 and 2010, Huntingdon North
A by-election was held in Huntingdon North on 29 October 2009 after Liberal Democrat councillor Sam Kemp resigned from the council. The seat was held for the Liberal Democrats by Trish Shrapnel with a majority of 30 votes over Conservative Laine Kadic, in a seat won by the Conservatives at the last council election in 2008.


2008 Huntingdonshire District Council election, By-elections between 2008 and 2010, Fenstanton
A by-election was held in Fenstanton on 25 February 2010 after Conservative councillor Paul Dakers resigned from the council saying that all political parties were hopeless. The seat was gained by Liberal Democrat Colin Saunderson from the Conservatives, with a majority of 54 votes.


2008 Hyndburn Borough Council election
Elections to Hyndburn Borough Council were held on 1 May 2008. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council. Overall turnout was 37.9%.


2008 Hyndburn Borough Council election
The Conservative Party made the only gain of the election, taking Altham ward from the Labour Party to extend their majority to 6 following the defection of Malcolm Pritchard form Labour to Independent who also included David Mason who had left the Conservatives to go Independent..


2008 Hyndburn Borough Council election, Election result
NB: Four (of the 16) Council ward seats that were NOT up for re-election in 2008 included the following wards - Clayton Le Moors, Huncoat, Immanuel in Oswaldtwistle and Milnshaw in Accrington.


2008 Hypo Group Tennis International
The 2008 Hypo Group Tennis International was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 28th edition of the Hypo Group Tennis International, and was part of the International Series of the 2008 ATP Tour. It took place at the Werzer Arena in Pörtschach am Wörthersee, Austria, from 17 May through 24 May 2008.


2008 Hypo Group Tennis International
The field included ATP No. 4 and Miami Masters champion Nikolay Davydenko, defending champion and Valencia Open doubles titlist Juan Mónaco, and Zagreb runner-up Ivan Ljubičić. Also present in the draw were Indian Wells finalist Mardy Fish, Las Vegas winner Sam Querrey, Andreas Seppi, Mario Ančić and Robin Haase.


2008 Hypo Group Tennis International, Finals, Doubles
Marcelo Melo /  André Sá defeated  Julian Knowle /  Jürgen Melzer 7–5, 6–7(3–7), 13–11


2008 Hypo Group Tennis International – Doubles
Simon Aspelin and Julian Knowle were the defending champions, but Aspelin chose not to participate, and only Knowle competed that year. Knowle partnered with Jürgen Melzer, but Marcelo Melo and André Sá defeated them 7–5, 6–7(3–7), [13–11], in the final.


2008 Hypo Group Tennis International – Singles
Second-seeded Juan Mónaco was the defending champion, but first-seeded Nikolay Davydenko defeated him 6–2, 2–6, 6–2, in the final.


2008 Hypo-Meeting
The 34th edition of the annual Hypo-Meeting took place on May 31 and June 1, 2008 in Götzis, Austria. The track and field competition, featuring a decathlon (men) and a heptathlon (women) event was part of the 2008 IAAF World Combined Events Challenge.


2008 I-League 2nd Division
The draw of the preliminary groups of the inaugural 2008 I-League 2nd Division  was carried out at Football House, Dwarka on 25 February 2008. The 12 participating teams have been drawn into two groups of six teams each to be played in Balewadi Sports Complex Pune and Rajarshi Shahu Stadium Kolhapur. The final round would be played in Guwahati, Assam.


2008 I-League 2nd Division
The top-four team in the I League division 2 will qualify for the I League division 1(2008–2009), while the rest will be remain to I League Division 2 in the next season.


2008 I-League 2nd Division
The AIFF has selected Pune and Kolhapur as preliminary round venues to take the game to different cities. Both the venues have good stadiums and two practice grounds each, making them ideal venues for the I-League Division 2.


2008 I-League 2nd Division, Standings, Group B
All the match of this Group will be play in Kolhapur


2008 I-League U19
The 2008 I-League U19 was the first edition of the I-League U19 as replacement for the National Football League (Under-19) which was folded before.


2008 I-League U19
The tournament was held in September 2008 in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand with the I-League and I-League 2nd Division youth teams and academies.


2008 I-League U19
All teams played the other teams in their group once and the group winners (4 group winners) and second placed (4 second placed) play in the quarterfinals. The winner qualifies for the semifinals and its winners play in the final. The Tata Football Academy won the first edition of the youth league.


2008 I-League U19, Group Stage
The 16 participating teams were divided into four groups and played against each other. The group winner and the second placed made it to the next round.


2008 IAAF Golden League
The 2008 Golden League was the 11th edition of the IAAF's annual series of six athletics meets, held across Europe, with athletes having the chance to win the Golden League Jackpot of $1 million.


2008 IAAF Road Race Label Events
The 2008 IAAF Road Race Label Events were the inaugural edition of the global series of road running competitions given Label status by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). All five World Marathon Majors had Gold Label status. The races were mostly in North America, Western Europe, and East Asia. It was the first year that the IAAF had provided the race designation. The series included a total of 49 road races, 12 Gold and 37 Silver Label status. In terms of distance, 32 races were marathons, 8 were half marathons, 6 were 10K runs, and 3 were held over other distances.


2008 IAAF Road Race Label Events
The Ohme Road Race scheduled for 3 February was cancelled due to heavy snow.


2008 IAAF World Athletics Final
The 6th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart, Germany on September 13 and September 14, 2008.


2008 IAAF World Athletics Final
A number of road races also took place on the second day of competition. There were seven different starting points around the Stuttgart area and the distances varied from 21 to 30 kilometres, with every race finishing in the Arena. Runners could join mid-race at specified times to allow for shorter distances and the aim was to have the runners finishing at a similar time. The road race ceremony was inspired by a similar event during the 1993 World Championships in Athletics, which was also held in the city.


2008 IAAF World Athletics Final – Results
These are the results of the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final, which took place in at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany on 13–14 September.


2008 IAAF World Athletics Final – Results
The year's top seven athletes, based on their points ranking of the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Tour, qualified to compete in each event, with an extra four athletes selected for races of 1500 metres and above. One additional athlete, a wildcard, was allocated to each event by the IAAF and replacement athletes were admitted to replace the qualified athletes that could not attend the final.


2008 IAAF World Athletics Tour
The 2008 IAAF World Athletics Tour was the third edition of the annual global circuit of one-day track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The series featured 25 one-day meetings, consisting of the six meetings of the 2008 IAAF Golden League, five IAAF Super Grand Prix meetings, and fourteen IAAF Grand Prix meetings. In addition, there were 29 Area Permit Meetings that carried point-scoring events. The series culminated in the two-day 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final, held in Stuttgart, Germany from 13–14 September.


2008 IAAF World Athletics Tour
Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva scored the most points during the circuit, with a total of 112. Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles was the highest scoring male athlete with 102 points. Four other athletes achieved a total of 100 points: sprinter Jeremy Wariner, middle-distance runner Pamela Jelimo, hurdler David Oliver, and high jumper Blanka Vlašić.


2008 IAAF World Athletics Tour, Points standings
Athletes earned points at meetings during the series. The following athletes were the top performers for their event prior to the World Athletics Final.


2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
The 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 30, 2008. The races were held at the Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races encompassed both individual and team competition. This was the year in which Kenenisa Bekele became the first athlete in World Cross history to win six individual long course titles, breaking his tie with John Ngugi and Paul Tergat who had each won five. Reports of the event were given in The New York Times, in the Herald, and for the IAAF.


2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Race results, Senior men's race (12 km)
Complete results for senior men and for senior men's teams were published.


2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Race results, Junior men's race (7.905 km)
Complete results for junior men and for junior men's teams were published.


2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Race results, Senior women's race (7.905 km)
Complete results for senior women and for senior women's teams were published.


2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Race results, Junior women's race (6.04 km)
Complete results for junior women and for junior women's teams were published.


2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 448 athletes from 57 countries participated. This is in agreement with the official numbers as published. The announced athletes from  Moldova,    Nepal, and  Nigeria did not show.


2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Junior men's race
The Junior men's race at the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held at the Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, on March 30, 2008. Reports of the event were given in The New York Times, in the Herald, and for the IAAF.


2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Junior men's race, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 109 athletes from 30 countries participated in the Junior men's race. This is in agreement with the official numbers as published.


2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Junior women's race
The Junior women's race at the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held at the Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, on March 30, 2008. Reports of the event were given in The New York Times, in the Herald, and for the IAAF.


2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Junior women's race, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 65 athletes from 23 countries participated in the Junior women's race. This is in agreement with the official numbers as published.


2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior men's race
The Senior men's race at the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held at the Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, on March 30, 2008. Reports of the event were given in The New York Times, in the Herald, and for the IAAF.


2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior men's race, Race results, Senior men's race (12 km), Individual
†: Fathi Meftah from  Algeria finished 35th in 36:44 min, but was disqualified because of doping violations.


2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior men's race, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 179 athletes from 45 countries participated in the Senior men's race. This is in agreement with the official numbers as published. The announced athletes from  Moldova,    Nepal, and  Nigeria did not show.


2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior women's race
The Senior women's race at the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held at the Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, on March 30, 2008. Reports of the event were given in The New York Times, in the Herald, and for the IAAF.


2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior women's race, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 95 athletes from 29 countries participated in the Senior women's race. This is in agreement with the official numbers as published. The announced athletes from  Nigeria,  Rwanda, and  Zimbabwe did not show.


2008 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships
The 2008 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 12 October 2008.


2008 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships
This event was first announced as the 2008 IAAF World Road Running Championships, but in November 2007, the IAAF announced that the name of the IAAF World Road Running Championships would revert to its original title of the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.


2008 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships
Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the results were given bothfor the men's race and for the women's race.


2008 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, Race results
Complete results were published for the men's race, for the women's race, for men's team, and for women's team.


2008 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, Participation
The participation of 155 athletes (90 men/65 women) from 42 countries is reported. Although announced, athletes from  Finland did not show.


2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Luis Puig Palace in Valencia, Spain, March 7–9, 2008.


2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships, Bid
Valencia was announced the winning bidder by the IAAF on November 13, 2005 at an IAAF Council meeting in Moscow, Russia.


2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay
The men's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships took place on March 9, 2008.


2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay, Results, Heats
Qualification: First 2 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) advance to the final.


2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Men's high jump
In the men's high jump event at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships, Stefan Holm won the gold medal with a jump of 2.36m.


2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Men's high jump, Qualification
Qualification rule: qualification standard 2.30m or at least best 8 qualified


2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Men's long jump, Qualification
Qualification rule: qualification standard 7.95m or at least best 8 qualified


2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Men's pole vault, Qualification
Qualification rule: qualification standard 5.70m or at least best 8 qualified


2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Men's shot put, Qualification
Qualification rule: qualification standard 20.20m or at least best 8 qualified


2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Men's triple jump, Qualification
Qualification rule: qualification standard 16.95m or at least best 8 qualified


2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Women's 1500 metres, Medalists
After the disqualification of the Russian women, the medalists were the following.


2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Women's high jump, Qualification
Qualification rule: qualification standard 1.96m or at least best 8 qualified


2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Women's long jump, Qualification
Qualification rule: qualification standard 6.60m or at least best 8 qualified


2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Women's pole vault, Qualification
Qualification rule: qualification standard 4.55m or at least best 8 qualified


2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Women's shot put, Qualification
Qualification rule: qualification standard 18.45m or at least best 8 qualified


2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Women's triple jump, Qualification
Qualification rule: qualification standard 14.30m or at least best 8 qualified


2008 IAAF World Race Walking Cup
The 2008 IAAF World Race Walking Cup was held on 10 and 11 May 2008 in the streets of Cheboksary, Chuvashia, Russia.


2008 IAAF World Race Walking Cup
Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the results was given for the IAAF.


2008 IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Results, Men's 20 km
†: Viktor Burayev from  Russia was initially 24th (1:22:29), but disqualified because of doping violations.


2008 IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Results, Men's 50 km
†: Vladimir Kanaykin from  Russia was initially 2nd and silver medallist in 3:36:55, but disqualified because of doping violations.


2008 IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Participation
The participation of 430 athletes (276 men/154 women) from 53 countries is reported.


2008 IAFL season
The 2008 Irish American Football League (IAFL) season is the 22nd season since its establishment. The current champions are the UL Vikings. The first games were played on 30 March (after the 16 March game between DCU Saints and UL Vikings was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch). TheShamrock Bowl was scheduled for 10 August in Cork Institute of Technology's brand new stadium. The Shamrock Bowl was the first major national event played there.


2008 IAFL season
The 2008 season also has seen the first season of the new Development League, dubbed DV8. This is an eight a side league dedicated to helping rookie players and new teams get some experience before joining the league proper.


2008 IAFL season, DV8’s League, League Positions
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = TiesDV8’s League Table


2008 IAFL season, DV8’s League, League Positions
In the DV8's League, a win is worth four points, scoring three touchdowns is worth one extra point and losing by less the 7 points is worth one extra point e.g. a team could lose 24-30 and still gain 2 points, due to scoring three touchdowns and losing by less than seven points.


2008 ICC Americas Championship
The ICC Americas Championship is the continental cricket championship for the Americas region, for Affiliate and Associate members of the International Cricket Council in North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Since 2006, the tournament is organized in three divisions.


2008 ICC Americas Championship
The division three was played in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This tournament was won by Turks and Caicos and won one spot in the division two (played in Paramaribo, Suriname. The division two was won by the host. Suriname won one spot in the division one. The division one was played in Fort Lauderdale, United States, and was won by the host.


2008 ICC Americas Championship, Division One
Division One was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, commencing on November 25. Six teams took part: United States (hosts), Bermuda (holders), Canada, Argentina, Cayman Islands, and Suriname (making their first appearance at this level after winning Division Two. The three venues was Brian Piccolo Park in Cooper City, Lauderhill Cricket Stadium Turf Ground and Lauderhill Cricket Stadium Artificial Ground both in Fort Lauderdale


2008 ICC Americas Championship, Division One
United States won the tournament won all its games. Sushil Nadkarni (USA) was named the player of the series. Nadkarni was the leader in runs with 407 and Imran Awan (USA) and Diego Lord (Argentina) taken 9 wickets. Suriname finished bottom of the table, and were relegated back to Division Two.


2008 ICC Americas Championship, Division two
The 2008 Division Three tournament, held in Suriname, saw a very close contest, with three teams each finishing with two wins. The host nation defied the odds going into the last game, skittling the Bahamas for just 57 runs, allowing them to jump to the top of the table and qualify for Division One. Troy Dudnauth (Suriname) was named the player of the tournament.


2008 ICC Americas Championship, Division three
The 2008 Division Three tournament was held in Argentina and again saw an official international debut, this time that of Peru. The tournament was won by the Turks and Caicos Islands who thereby gained a place in the 2008 edition of Division Two in Suriname. Simon Shalders (Chile) was named the player of the tournament


2008 ICC Americas Championship Division One
The 2008 ICC Americas Championship Division One was a cricket tournament in the United States, taking place between 25 November and 30 November 2010. It gave six North and South American Associate and Affiliate members of the International Cricket Council experience of international one-day cricket.


2008 ICC Americas Championship Division One, Teams
There were 6 teams that played in the tournament. These teams were non-test member nations of the Americas Cricket Association. The teams that played were:


2008 ICC Americas Championship Division One, Squads
Augustin CasimeAlejandro FergusonPablo FergusonDonald ForresterTomas FrancisDiego LordEsteban MacDermottDavid MauroEstaban NinoLucas PaterliniPablo RyanGary SavageMartin Siri


2008 ICC Americas Championship Division One, Squads
Oronde BascomeGlenn BlakeneyLionel CannChris DouglasJekon EdnessDavid HempStefan KellyDwayne LeverockSteven OuterbridgeJoslyn PitcherIrving RomaineRodney TrottTamauri Tucker


2008 ICC Americas Championship Division One, Squads
Umar Bhatti (Captain)Khurram ChohanSunil DhaniramKarun JethiSandeep JyotiEion KatchayAsif MullaHenry OsindeQaiser AliZubin Surkari


2008 ICC Americas Championship Division One, Squads
Pearson BestRyan BovellMarlon BryanKevin EbanksSteve GordonAinsley HallRicardo RoachRamon SealyTroy TaylorOmar Willis


2008 ICC Americas Championship Division One, Squads
Mounir BhoelanZahir DoekhieCharles DouglasArun GokoelKemraj HardatTariq IslamDion MohabirSanjay OemrawMohamed SardhaDeoraj Sewanan


2008 ICC Americas Championship Division One, Squads
Imran AwanOrlando BakerSudesh DhaniramNasir JavedRashard MarshallSteve MassiahShahid MunirSushil NadkarniAditya ThyagarajanCarl Wright


2008 ICC Awards
The 2008 ICC Awards were held on 10 September 2008 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Previous events were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006) and Johannesburg (2007). The ICC had been hosting ICC Awards since 2004 and was into its fifth year. They were presented in association with the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) and honours for the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year were also awarded for the first time. The ICC awards the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy to the Cricketer of the Year, which is considered to be the most prestigious award in world cricket.


2008 ICC Awards, Selection Committee
Nominees were voted on by a 25-person panel of current and ex-players and officials from among players chosen by the ICC Selection Committee, chaired by ICC Cricket Hall of Famer Clive Lloyd.


2008 ICC Awards, ICC World XI Teams, ICC Test Team of the Year
Graeme Smith was selected as the captain of the Test Team of the Year. In addition to a wicket-keeper, 9 other players and a 12th man were announced as follows:


2008 ICC Awards, ICC World XI Teams, ICC ODI Team of the Year
Ricky Ponting was selected as the captain of the ODI Team of the Year. In addition to a wicket-keeper, 9 other players and a 12th man were announced as follows:


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three
The 2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three was a cricket tournament in South Africa, taking place between 13 and 18 April 2008. It gave seven African Associate and Affiliate members of the International Cricket Council experience of international one-day cricket and formed part of the global World Cricket League structure.


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three
The top two teams, Malawi and Sierra Leone was promoted to Division 2.


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three, Teams
There were eight teams that played in the tournament, but Morocco withdrew due to visa problems and was replaced by a South African Invitation XI. These teams were non-test member nations of the African Cricket Association. The teams that played were:


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three, Squads
Zaccheus AkilaMoses BahoumPeter CampbellAniru ContehBakary DarboeMbye DumbuyaGeorge GreywoodePrince JohnsonMusa SillahJohnny GomezAlfred CrookesNicolas CherryMuhammad CamaraWilfred Riley


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three, Squads
Abdul-Karim SumailaIsaac AboagyePeter AnanyaBhupinder BrarMark BawaJames VifahJulius MensahLawrence AteakSimon AteakFrancis DakeJ EyiahRufus Ntiamoah


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three, Squads
Atanase MohapiMalebanye NkokoIrshad PatelRizuan MullaFaizal HanslodOsler MohaleSameer PatelTsepo MusoMotsielo NonyaneK TauThabiso MohapeS AbdullaDavid LechesaSajid Patel


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three, Squads
Karamutallah ChaudryFaraz JunejoMuzakkir KhanAltaf PanjwaniJayendrasinh KumarSeraz ZaveriRupesh PatelHenry NjokaAlidi BwanaliMS ChinoyAubrey MsosaObert MsosaKalpesh Patel


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three, Squads
Emmanuel ByiringiroEric DusabemunguEric DusingizimanaAndre KayiteraDennis MukamaEvode MutuyimanaSamal Subhasis Srinath VardineniMehboob JasatMohamed JasatJulius MbaragaHamza Nkuutu


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three, Squads
Gabriel AnthonyJulius BrewahMustapha KallonAbubakarr KamaraEmmanuel KamaraLansana LaminJacob MansarayMohamed MansarayLuseni SenesieBen SlaterGeorge KpundehIbrahim SesayMohamed Kamara


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three, Squads
Malusi DlaminiBuntu NdlelaPhalini KubekaClayton CeronioAndre HenningM MahlanguRuan du PlessisT SteynburgS TshabalalaBongani RafedileE BadanaNelson RubelaM CoetzeeD MahoaWelsh MavumengwanaB Radebe


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three, Squads
Joseph WrightAbdul PatelMarius UysStephen UysMangaliso MhlabaneHaris RashidSyed ShahzadErnestes UysSohail KhanAlexander NicholasAdrisbhai PatelA HajiMohamed HansrodM KhanStephen Nodder


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three, Group stage, Points Table
†Tournament rules did not allow them to participate in the semifinals, and their place was taken by Eswatini (third in Pool 2).


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Two
The 2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Two was a cricket tournament in Benoni, South Africa, taking place between 4 August and 9 October 2008. It gave six African Associate and Affiliate members of the International Cricket Council experience of international one-day cricket and formed part of the global World Cricket League structure.


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Two
Botswana, the top team, was promoted to Division 1 and the 2009 Global Division 6 while Nigeria qualified for the 2009 Global Division 7.


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Two, Teams
There were 6 teams that played in the tournament. These teams were non-test member nations of the African Cricket Association. The teams that played were:


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Two, Squads
Shahzaib KhanAbdul PatelSabir ElyasGaolape MokokweJames MosesManan BarotKarabo ModiseDenzil SequeiraTshepo MhozyaMosa GaolekweOmar Ali


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Two, Squads
Matthew BawaLawrence AteakIsaac AboagyePeter AnanyaAbdul-Karim SumailaMark BawaJames VifahSimon AteakJulius MensahBhupinder BrarFrancis DakeEric ApedoPrajul Pillai


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Two, Squads
Khuram JavidKaleem ShahImran IsmailIftikhar AhmedChandra PuspussenAasif KoliyaImtiyaz LiliQurban AliGiovanni FlorentinoMohammad ShahzadShoaib YounisMusa Kazim


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Two, Squads
Endurance OfemOlajide BejideTemitope OlayinkaWale AdeoyeChimezie OnwuzulikeDolapo GafarJoshua OgunlolaAkabogu OkwudiliUthe OgbimiSegun OlayinkaOlalekan AwololoOluseye OlympioThomas Haruna


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Two, Squads
Stephen UysAlexander NicholasIdris PatelMohamed HansrodAbdul PatelU Gani PatelJoseph WrightJason WadeHaris RashidErnestes UysMarius UysShahzad MahmoodSaifullah Habib


2008 ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Two, Squads
Majid SarodiSarfuddin BangaliwalaAshraf LulatAndrew TomsSharif YousufImran PatelSarfraz PatelGodfrey KandelaSameer BagusIsaac MwabaShahid MohamedSabir HavaliwalaMohmed MithaGheesaLiuwa Liuwa


2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Five
The 2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Five is a cricket tournament that took place between 23 and 31 May 2008 in Jersey. It formed part of the ICC World Cricket League and qualification for the 2011 World Cup tournament. Afghanistan won the competition. They went on to qualify for the 2015 Cricket World Cup and gain Test status in 2017.


2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Five, Teams
The top two teams from this tournament progressed to the Division Four.


2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Four
The 2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Four is a cricket tournament in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which took place between 4 and 11 October 2008 as a part of the ICC World Cricket League and qualifying for the 2011 Cricket World Cup.


2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Four, Teams
The teams of Fiji, Hong Kong, Italy and Tanzania qualified through Division Three in 2007, while Afghanistan and Jersey secured their participation through the Division Five in 2008. The top two teams in the tournament will be promoted to Division Three in 2009.


2008 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier
The 2008 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier was the inaugural tournament of ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier and was played between 2 and 5 August 2008 in Stormont, Belfast in Northern Ireland. The top three played in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, the international championship of Twenty20 cricket. The six competing teams were: Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, The Netherlands and Scotland.


2008 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier
The competition was won by Ireland and the Netherlands, who shared the trophy after rain forced the final to be abandoned without a ball bowled. Both teams qualified for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 finals in England. After the withdrawal of Zimbabwe from the competition, the two finalists were joined by third-placed Scotland who eliminated Kenya.


2008 IF Elfsborg season
IF Elfsborg had their best points average season, in spite of not repeating its 2006 title. Finishing just one point adrift of Kalmar FF, Elfsborg had cemented its place as one of the top Swedish sides, being further boosted by Anders Svensson turning down a lucrative offer from Shaktar Donetsk during the course of the season.


2008 IFK Göteborg season
IFK Göteborg finished inside the top three, but was nowhere near defending their title from 2007. As a consolation, IFK was able to win the cup final against Kalmar FF on penalties. The Champions League qualification ended with a 4–2 defeat away from home at FC Basel.


2008 IFK Göteborg season, Players, Squad
As of 21 September 2008: Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008 IFK Göteborg season, Club, Other information
Updated to match played 9 NovemberSource: IFK Göteborg and Ullevi


2008 IFK Göteborg season, Competitions, Competitive
Last updated: November 11Source: 1IFK Göteborg goals come first.National flags for Ground and Opponent columns are only shown when different to that of IFK Göteborg.M = Match; Ground: H = Home, A = Away, N = Neutral, HR = Home replacement, AR = Away replacement.


2008 IFK Göteborg season, Competitions, Friendlies
Last updated: 8 NovemberSource: 1IFK Göteborg goals come first.Country's flag depict country of foreign team to that of IFK Göteborg.Ground: H = Home; A = Away; N = Neutral; HR = Home replacement; AR = Away replacement; GD = Goal difference


2008 IFSC Climbing World Cup
The 2008 IFSC Climbing World Cup was held in 15 locations. Bouldering competitions were held in 7 locations, lead in 6 locations, and speed in 6 locations. The season began on 18 April in Hall, Austria and concluded on 16 November in Kranj, Slovenia.


2008 IFSC Climbing World Cup
The top 3 in each competition received medals, and the overall winners were awarded trophies. At the end of the season an overall ranking was determined based upon points, which athletes were awarded for finishing in the top 30 of each individual event.


2008 IFSC Climbing World Cup
The winners for bouldering were Kilian Fischhuber and Anna Stöhr, for lead Jorg Verhoeven and Johanna Ernst, for speed Evgenii Vaitsekhovskii and Edyta Ropek, and for combined David Lama and Akiyo Noguchi, men and women respectively. The National Team for bouldering was Austria, for lead Austria, and for speed Russian Federation.


2008 IFSC Climbing World Cup, Highlights of the season
In bouldering, at the World Cup in Moscow, in the women's final, there were three athletes who flashed all 4 boulders (Katharina Saurwein of Austria, Natalija Gros and Katja Vidmar both of Slovenia), however Katharina Saurwein of Austria was the only one who flashed all boulders in the competition (qualification, semifinal, final) and thus taking the win. At the end of the season, Austrian athletes, Kilian Fischhuber and Anna Stöhr clinched the overall titles of the season for men and women respectively, making it double bouldering titles for Austria.


2008 IFSC Climbing World Cup, Highlights of the season
In lead climbing, Johanna Ernst of Austria, in her first year of eligibility to compete in the World Cup circuit, made her debut in bouldering in Hall, Austria. Then she competed in lead climbing and won 3 out of 6 Lead World Cups and became the overall women's lead climbing winner of the season.


2008 IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia
The 2008 IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia took place in Hong Kong, China from 24 April to 26 April. It was the first annual event, and was run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Chinese Taipei won the championship, winning four out of their five games.


2008 IIHF European Champions Cup
The 2008 IIHF European Champions Cup was the fourth and the last edition of IIHF European Champions Cup. It was held in Saint Petersburg at the Ice Palace arena, from January 10 to January 13. The champions of 2007 of the six strongest hockey nations of Europe participate: Metallurg Magnitogorsk (RUS), Modo Hockey (SWE), HC Slovan Bratislava (SVK), Kärpät (FIN), HC Sparta Prague (CZE), HC Davos (SUI).


2008 IIHF European Champions Cup
Metallurg won its first European Champions Cup, and third European club championship following European Hockey League titles in 1999 and 2000.


2008 IIHF European Champions Cup, Gold medal game
Metallurg Magnitogorsk qualified for the final of the European Champions Cup thanks to a shootout win against Slovan Bratislava. The Slovaks were close to a surprise but the Russians could overcome the hard-working opponent at the end of the game. Metallurg played HC Sparta Prague in Sunday’s gold medal game.


2008 IIHF InLine Hockey World Championship Division I Qualification
The 2008 IIHF InLine Hockey World Championship Division I Qualification tournament was held in the summer of 2007.


2008 IIHF InLine Hockey World Championship Division I Qualification, European qualifier
The 2007 European Qualification tournament was held in July 2007. The winner of this tournament, Bulgaria, advanced to the next level of the IIHF World Championship, which is the Division I tournament. Games were played at the Winter Palace of Sports in Sofia, Bulgaria.


2008 IIHF InLine Hockey World Championship Division I Qualification, European qualifier
Four participating teams were placed in one group. After playing a round-robin, the top team advances to the 2010 Division I tournament.


2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship
The 2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship was the 12th IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship, an international inline hockey tournament run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The World Championship runs alongside the 2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship Division I tournament and took place between 21 and 28 June 2008 in Bratislava, Slovakia. The tournament was won by Sweden, earning their second straight World Championship title and fourth overall. Slovakia finished in second place and Germany in third after defeating the United States in the bronze medal match. Austria, after losing the 7th place game against Slovenia was relegated to Division I for 2009. The event chairman was Hans Dobida.


2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship, Seeding and groups
The seeding in the preliminary round was based on the final standings at the 2007 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship. The World Championship groups are named Group A and Group B while the 2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship Division I tournament uses Group C and Group D, as both tournaments were held in Bratislava, Slovakia. The teams were grouped accordingly by seeding at the previous year's tournament (in parenthesis is the corresponding seeding):


2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship, Preliminary round
Eight participating teams were placed in the following two groups. After playing a round-robin, the top three teams in each group advance to the playoff round. The last team in each group compete in the qualifying round where they face-off against the top ranked teams of Group C and Group D from the Division I tournament for a chance to participate in the Top Division playoffs.


2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship, Qualifying round
Austria and Germany advanced to the qualifying round after finishing last in Group A and Group B respectively. Austria faced off against Great Britain, who finished first in Group C of the Division I tournament, and Germany was drawn against Canada, who finished first in Group D of the Division I tournament, for a chance to participate in the Top Division playoffs. Both Austria and Germany won their matches and advanced to the Top Division playoffs, while Great Britain and Canada advanced to the Division I playoffs.


2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship, Playoff round
Germany and Austria advanced to the playoff round after winning their qualifying round matches. They were seeded alongside the six other teams of the tournament based on their results in the preliminary round. The four winning quarterfinalists advanced to the semifinals while the losing teams moved on to the placement round. Austria was relegated to Division I for 2009 after losing the 7th place game against Slovenia, while the Czech Republic finished fifth after defeating Finland in the 5th place game.


2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship, Playoff round
In the semifinals the Slovakia defeated Germany and Sweden beat the United States, both advancing to the gold medal game. After losing the semifinals the United States and Germany played off for the bronze medal with Germany winning 8–7. Sweden defeated Slovakia 7–3 in the gold medal game, earning their second straight World Championship title and fourth overall.


2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship, Ranking and statistics, Scoring leaders
List shows the top 10 skaters sorted by points, then goals. If the list exceeds 10 skaters because of a tie in points, all of the tied skaters are left out. Games from the qualifying round do not count towards the Division I statistics.


2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship, Ranking and statistics, Leading goaltenders
Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes are included in this list. Games from the qualifying round do not count towards the Division I statistics.


2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship Division I
The 2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship Division I was an international inline hockey tournament run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The Division I tournament ran alongside the 2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship and took place between 22 and 28 June 2008 in Bratislava, Slovakia. The tournament was won by Canada who upon winning gained promotion to the 2009 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship. While Bulgaria and New Zealand were relegated to the continental qualifications after losing their relegation round games.


2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship Division I, Qualification
Six nations returned to Division I after automatically qualifying based on their results from the 2007 Division I tournament. Bulgaria and Canada qualified for the two remaining spots, replacing Namibia and South Africa who were relegated after losing their 2007 relegation round games.


2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship Division I, Seeding and groups
The seeding in the preliminary round was based on the final standings at the 2007 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship Division I tournament. Division I's groups are named Group C and Group D while the 2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship use Group A and Group B, as both tournaments are held in Bratislava, Slovakia. The teams were grouped accordingly by seeding at the previous year's tournament (in parenthesis is the corresponding seeding):


2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship Division I, Preliminary round
Eight participating teams were placed in the following two groups. After playing a round-robin, the top two teams advance to the Qualifying round where they face-off against the two last-placed teams of the Groups A and B from the Top Division tournament for a chance to participate in the Top Division playoffs. Teams finishing second through to fourth advance to the Playoff round.


2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship Division I, Qualifying round
Great Britain and Canada advanced to the qualifying round after finishing first in Group C and Group D respectively. Great Britain faced off against Austria, who finished last in Group A of the Top Division tournament, and Canada was drawn against Germany, who finished last in Group B of the Top Division tournament, for a chance to participate in the Top Division playoffs. Both Great Britain and Canada lost their matches and advanced to the Division I playoffs, while Austria and Germany advanced to the Top Division playoffs.


2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship Division I, Playoff round
Great Britain and Canada advanced to the playoff round after losing their qualifying round matches. They were seeded alongside the six other teams of the tournament based on their results in the preliminary round. The four winning quarterfinalists advanced to the semifinals while the losing teams moved on to the relegation round. In the relegation round New Zealand and Bulgaria lost their games to Hungary and Japan respectively and were relegated to the continental qualifications. In the semifinals Great Britain defeated Brazil and Canada beat Australia, both advancing to the gold medal game. After losing the semifinals Australia and Brazil played off for the bronze medal with Brazil winning 4–3. Canada defeated Great Britain 7–4 in the gold medal game and earned promotion to the 2009 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship.


2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship Division I, Ranking and statistics, Scoring leaders
List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals. If the list exceeds 10 skaters because of a tie in points, all of the tied skaters are shown. Games from the qualifying round do not count towards the Division I statistics.


2008 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship Division I, Ranking and statistics, Leading goaltenders
Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes are included in this list. Games from the qualifying round do not count towards the Division I statistics.


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship
The 2008 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships were held from April 4 to 12, 2008, in Harbin, People's Republic of China. It was the 11th event, and was run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship
Promotions and relegations reflect the results of the 2007 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships.


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship
For the 11th straight tournament, Canada met the United States in the Gold-Medal match and, for only the second time out of 11, the American team defeated the Canadians for the gold medal. This tournament was the first IIHF Women's tournament in which the host nation (in this case, China) failed to medal. The Swiss competed for a medal for the first time, losing to Finland in the Bronze medal game.


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship, Top Division, Consolation round, Group F (7–9 Place)
Germany is relegated to Division I for the 2009 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships.


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship, Awards and Statistics, Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalties In MinutesSource:


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship, Awards and Statistics, Goaltending leaders
TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = ShutoutsSource:


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship, Division I
The following teams took part of the Division I tournament, which was played in Ventspils, Latvia, at Ventspils OC Ice Hall from March 10 through March 16, 2008.


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship, Division I
Kazakhstan is promoted to the main tournament and  Latvia is relegated to Division II for the 2009 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships.


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship, Division I, Statistics, Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalties In MinutesSource:


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship, Division I, Statistics, Goaltending leaders
TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = ShutoutsSource:


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship, Division II
Austria is promoted to Division I and  Australia is relegated to Division III for the 2009 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships.


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship, Division II, Statistics, Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalties In MinutesSource:


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship, Division II, Statistics, Goaltending leaders
TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = ShutoutsSource:


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship, Division III
Great Britain is promoted to Division II and  South Korea is relegated to Division IV for the 2009 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships.


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship, Division III, Statistics, Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalties In MinutesSource:


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship, Division III, Statistics, Goaltending leaders
TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = ShutoutsSource:


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship, Division IV
Iceland is promoted to Division III for the 2009 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships.


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship, Division IV, Awards and Statistics, Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalties In MinutesSource:


2008 IIHF Women's World Championship, Division IV, Awards and Statistics, Goaltending leaders
TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = ShutoutsSource:


2008 IIHF World Championship
The 2008 IIHF World Championship was played between May 2 and May 18, 2008 in the Canadian cities of Halifax (Nova Scotia) and Quebec City (Quebec). The two venues were the Halifax Metro Centre and the Colisée Pepsi. The tournament was won by Russia which claimed its first gold medal since 1993.


2008 IIHF World Championship
It was the 72nd IIHF World Championship event, and was run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was the first time the final tournament is held in a non-European country since 1962, when it was held in Colorado, USA. The IIHF wanted to celebrate the federation's 100th anniversary by holding the tournament in the country where ice hockey was born. The tournament was also included as part of the celebrations of Quebec City's 400th anniversary.


2008 IIHF World Championship
The tournament featured many countries' elite stars, as it served as the last and most important stage in selecting nine automatic qualifiers for the men's hockey competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a process that uses the IIHF World Ranking standings after the tournament.


2008 IIHF World Championship
On May 8, 2007, the IIHF announced it "will also formalize the Triple Gold Club by awarding commemorative medals to the 19 players who have won the three most prestigious championships in world hockey: Olympic gold, Stanley Cup, and World Championship gold. The ceremony will take place in Canada during the 2008 World Championship."


2008 IIHF World Championship
There were two changes in the format compared to earlier years. Because of the distance between Halifax and Quebec City, the quarter-finals were played within the group, instead of crossing over which has happened since 2000. The relegation round was different too, as it consisted of two best-of-three series instead of a round robin series between four teams.


2008 IIHF World Championship
For the first time in 40 years, the matches were played on smaller, NHL size rinks, 200 ft × 85 ft (roughly 61 m × 26 m), compared to the IIHF standard which is roughly 200 ft × 98.5 ft (61 m × 30 m).


2008 IIHF World Championship, Rules
If a game is tied after regulation time, a five-minute four-on-four sudden-death overtime session is played followed by a three-player shootout if necessary. Exceptions: Quarter finals, Semi final and Bronze Medal overtime session are 10 minutes and Gold Medal game overtime session is 20 minutes.


2008 IIHF World Championship, Rules
If teams are tied in a standing based on points, the following tie-breakers are applied:1) The most points earned in direct games involving tied teams. 2) The best goal differential in direct games involving tied teams. 3) The most goals scored in direct games involving tied teams. 4) Follow steps 1, 2 and 3 with games involving the highest non-tied team in the same group. 5) Repeat step 4 with games involving the second highest non-tied team in the same group. 6) Continue this process with all non-tied team games.


2008 IIHF World Championship, Rules
This was also the first major IIHF championship that used the four-official system with two referees and two linesmen instead of standard three-official system with only one referee.


2008 IIHF World Championship, Preliminary round
Sixteen participating teams were placed in the following four groups. After playing a round-robin, the top three teams in each group advanced to the Qualifying Round while the last team competed in the relegation round.


2008 IIHF World Championship, Qualifying round
The top three teams in the standings of each group of the Preliminary Round advance to the Qualifying Round, and are placed in two groups: teams from Groups A and D compete in Group E, while teams from Groups B and C compete in Group F.


2008 IIHF World Championship, Qualifying round
Each team is to play three games in this round, one against each of the three teams from the other group with which they have been paired. These three games, along with the two games already played against the other two advancing teams from the same group in the Preliminary Round, will count in the Qualifying Round standings.


2008 IIHF World Championship, Qualifying round
The top four teams in both groups E and F to advance in Quarter-Finals.


2008 IIHF World Championship, Relegation Round
Teams finishing last in all four Preliminary Round groups competed in the Relegation Round in order to determine which two nations would be relegated to the IIHF World Championship Division I. The four teams were paired in two best-of-three series.


2008 IIHF World Championship, Relegation Round
France defeated Italy, while Slovakia defeated Slovenia, both in 2 games, and secured themselves a place among the top sixteen hockey nations in the world. Italy and Slovenia were relegated to Division I for the 2009 tournament, and will be replaced by Austria and Hungary, the winners of the 2008 Division I tournament.


2008 IIHF World Championship, Ranking and statistics, Scoring leaders
List shows the top 10 skaters sorted by points, then goals. If the list exceeds 10 skaters because of a tie in points, all of the tied skaters are left out.


2008 IIHF World Championship, Ranking and statistics, Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes; POS = Position


2008 IIHF World Championship, Ranking and statistics, Leading goaltenders
Only the top 5 goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played over 40% of their team's minutes are included in this list.


2008 IIHF World Championship, Ranking and statistics, Leading goaltenders
TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); SA = Shots Against; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = Shutouts


2008 IIHF World Championship Division I
The 2008 IIHF Division I World Championship was an ice hockey tournament under the authority of the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was contested from April 13–19, 2008. The tournament was played amongst two separate groups, with the best team in each group, Austria and Hungary, advanced to the top-level championship in 2009. The bottom teams in each group, South Korea and Estonia, were relegated to the lower-level Division II.


2008 IIHF World Championship Division I
Group A's tournament was held in Innsbruck, Austria. The Group B games was hosted by Sapporo, Japan.


2008 IIHF World Championship Division II
The 2008 IIHF World Championship Division II  was an international Ice hockey tournament run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The tournament was contested from April 7–13, 2008. Participants in this tournament were separated into two separate tournament groups. The Group A tournament was contested in Miercurea Ciuc, Romania. Group B's games were played in Newcastle, Australia.


2008 IIHF World Championship Division III
The 2008 IIHF World Championship Division III tournament was held from March 31 to April 4, 2008, in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg at the Kockelscheuer ice rink. The tournament was contested by five nations who already qualified by way of last year's tournament and one nation which was determined after the conclusion of the Division III Qualification tournament.


2008 IIHF World Championship Division III Qualification
The 2008 IIHF World Championship Division III Qualification tournament was held on February 15 – 17, 2008 at the Olympic Hall Zetra in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The winner of the tournament, Greece, advanced to the Division III tournament.


2008 IIHF World Championship Division III Qualification
Bosnia and Herzegovina debuted at the IIHF World Championships and Greece made their first appearance since the 1999 tournament.


2008 IIHF World Championship Division III Qualification, Armenia forfeits both of its games
The directorate of the IIHF World Championship Division III qualification decided that both games of Armenia would be forfeited and count as 5–0 wins for its opponents, Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina.


2008 IIHF World Championship Division III Qualification, Armenia forfeits both of its games
Armenia refused to show the passports of its players on four occasions until its first game was in progress. Originally, Armenia lost to Greece 8–5 on Saturday and won against Bosnia and Herzegovina, 18–1. Even without the forfeit, Greece earned the promotion outright to this year’s World Championship Division III with two victories on the ice.


2008 IIHF World Championship Final
The 2008 IIHF World Championship Final was an ice hockey match that took place on 18 May 2008 at the Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City, Canada, to determine the winner of the 2008 IIHF World Championship. Russia defeated Canada 5–4 in overtime to win its 2nd championship.


2008 IIHF World Championship Final, Background
The game marked the first time that Russia and Canada met in the final of a World Championship. It was Russia's third finals appearance, and the first since 2002. It was Canada's fifth appearance in the finals in six years, and having won the 2007 World Championship in Russia, they were the defending champions.


2008 IIHF World Championship Final, Venue
The Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City was determined to host the final of the championship. Previously at the tournament, the venue hosted the both semi-finals, and the Bronze medal match. In the final, the attendance was 13,339.


2008 IIHF World Championship Final, Match, Summary
Alexander Semin scored right in front of the net on a pass from Alexander Ovechkin at 1:23 into the first period, after a defensive pass by the Canadians hit a referee's skate and redirected to Ovechkin. Moments later Brent Burns took a shot from the point, which beat Evgeni Nabokov on the stick side, to tie up the game for team Canada. Chris Kunitz then capitalized on a defensive zone turnover by the Russians, and scored top shelf to make the score 2–1 for Canada. At 14:51 of the first, on a 5-on-3, Burns scored his second of the game from the top of the crease.


2008 IIHF World Championship Final, Match, Summary
1:14 into the second period, Semin scored his second, on a one-timer to bring the Russians within 1. The Canadians responded soon after when Dany Heatley banked one in short-side to restore the two-goal lead, 4–2.


2008 IIHF World Championship Final, Match, Summary
At 8:55 into the third period Alexei Tereshchenko grabbed a loose puck in the slot, and pushed it in five-hole on Ward. With under 7 minutes left Ilya Kovalchuk took a wrist shot that beat a heavily trafficked Canadian crease to tie the game 4–4 for Russia.


2008 IIHF World Championship Final, Match, Summary
In overtime  Rick Nash was sent to the penalty box for delay of game when he shot the puck over the glass. In the resulting Russian powerplay Kovalchuk scored his second to give Russia a winning goal, 5–4 final score. It was the first World Championship for Russia since 1993, ending a 15-year drought.


2008 IIHF World Championship rosters
The 2008 IIHF World Championship rosters consisted of 399 players on 16 national ice hockey teams. In honour of the International Ice Hockey Federation's (IIHF) 100th anniversary, the World Championship was hosted in Canada for the first time. Held in Quebec City and Halifax, Canada, the 2008 IIHF World Championship was the 72nd edition of the tournament. Russia won the Championship, the second time they had done so and their 24th title if including those won by the Soviet Union. Dany Heatley of Canada led the tournament in scoring with 20 points, and was named the tournament's most valuable player and top forward. Canadian Brent Burns was named top defenceman, while Evgeni Nabokov of Russia was selected as top goaltender.


2008 IIHF World Championship rosters
Before the start of the World Championship, each participating nation had to submit a list of players for its roster. A minimum of 15 skaters and two goaltenders, and a maximum of 20 skaters and three goaltenders had to be selected. If a country selected fewer than the maximum allowed, they had to choose the remaining players prior to the start of the tournament. After the start of the tournament, each team was allowed to select an additional two players, either skaters or goaltenders, to their roster, for a maximum roster of 25 players. Once a player was registered to the team, he could not be removed from the roster.


2008 IIHF World Championship rosters
To qualify for a national team under IIHF rules, a player must follow several criteria. He must be a citizen of the nation, and be under the jurisdiction of that national ice hockey association. Players are allowed to switch which national team they play for, providing they fulfill the IIHF criteria. If participating for the first time in an IIHF event, the player would have had to play two consecutive years in the national competition of the new country, without playing in another nation. If the player has already played for a national team before, he may switch nationality if he is a citizen of the new country, and has played for four consecutive years in the national competition of the new country. This switch may only happen once in the player's life.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division I
The 2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division I was an international under-18 ice hockey competition organised by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Both Division I tournaments made up the second level of the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships. The Group A tournament was played in Toruń, Poland, and the Group B tournament was played in Riga, Latvia, both from 2 to 8 April 2008. The Czech Republic and Norway won the Group A and B tournaments respectively and gained promotion to the Top Division of the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division I, Group A
The Group A tournament was played in Toruń, Poland from 2 to 8 April 2008.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division I, Group A
Czech Republic is promoted to the Championship tournament and  Slovenia is relegated to Division II for the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division I, Group B
The Group B tournament was played in Riga, Latvia from 2 to 8 April 2008.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division I, Group B
Norway is promoted to the Championship tournament and  Netherlands is relegated to Division II for the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division II
The 2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division II was an international under-18 ice hockey competition organised by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Both Division II tournaments made up the third level of competition of the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships. The Group A tournament took place between 30 March and 5 April 2008 in Meribel and Courchevel, France and the Group B tournament was played from 23 to 29 March 2008 in Tallinn, Estonia. France and Hungary won the Group A and B tournaments respectively and gained promotion to the Division I of the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division II, Group A
Group A tournament was played in Meribel and Courchevel, France from 30 March to 5 April 2008.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division II, Group A
France is promoted to Division I and  Australia is relegated to Division III for the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division II, Group B
Group B tournament was played in Tallinn, Estonia at Arena Premia from 23 to 29 March 2008.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division II, Group B
Hungary is promoted to Division I and  Israel is relegated to Division III for the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III
The 2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III were a pair of international under-18 ice hockey tournaments run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The Division III tournaments made up the fourth level of competition at the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships. The Group A tournament took place between 2 and 8 March 2008 in Mexico City, Mexico and the Group B tournament took place between 3 and 9 March 2008 in İzmit, Turkey. Mexico and Serbia won the Group A and Group B tournaments respectively and gained promotion to Division II for the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III, Group A tournament
The Group A tournament began on 2 March 2008 in Mexico City, Mexico at the San Jeronimo Arena. New Zealand and South Africa both returned to compete in the Division III competition after missing promotion at the previous years World Championships. Mexico entered the Division II competition after being relegated from the 2007 Division II Group A tournament. Chinese Taipei and Mongolia returned to international competition, having last played in the 2002 IIHF Asian Oceanic U18 Championship.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III, Group A tournament
Mexico finished first after winning all four of their games and gamed promotion back to Division II for the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships. Chinese Taipei finished second after losing only to Mexico and New Zealand finished in third place. Christopher Eaden of New Zealand led the tournament in scoring with 18 points and was named the top forward by the IIHF directorate. Mexico's Manuel Escandon was named the top defenceman and Lin Tsung-Han of Chinese Taipei was selected as the top goaltender. Mexico's Agustin Grimaldi was the leading goaltender with a save percentage of 0.938.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III, Group A tournament
During the first day of the tournament the game between Mexico and South Africa was suspended and the tournament postponed due to a faulty ventilation system which was causing the people within the arena to fall ill. At the time the game was suspended Mexico was winning 11–0, however the IIHF declared the game forfeit in favour of Mexico. The tournament was resumed three days later with equipment being provided to monitor blood oxygen levels and the heart rate of players.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III, Group A tournament, Scoring leaders
List shows the top ten ranked skaters sorted by points, then goals.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III, Group A tournament, Leading goaltenders
Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes are included in this list.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III, Group B tournament
The Group B tournament began on 3 March 2008 in İzmit, Turkey at the K.B.B. Ice Arena. Iceland and Turkey returned to compete in the Division III tournament after missing promotion to Division II at the previous years World Championships. Serbia entered the Division II competition after being relegated from the 2007 Division II Group B tournament. Bulgaria returned to Division III after playing in the qualification tournament last year and Armenia returned to international competition, having last played in the 2005 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III Qualification tournament.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III, Group B tournament
Serbia finished first after winning all four of their games and gained promotion back to Division II for the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships. Iceland finished second, losing only to Serbia and Turkey finished in third place. Arsenije Rankovic of Serbia led the tournament in goaltending with a save percentage of 1.000 and was named the top goaltender by the IIHF directorate. Serbia's Stefan Ilic was named the top defenceman and Egill Thormodsson of Iceland was selected as the top forward. Thormodsson also led the tournament in scoring, finishing with 18 points including 16 goals and two assists.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III, Group B tournament, Scoring leaders
List shows the top ten ranked skaters sorted by points, then goals.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III, Group B tournament, Leading goaltenders
Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes are included in this list.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III, Notes
I The Game was suspended midway through the second period due to the Arena's faulty ventilation system which was causing people to become ill. At the time the game was suspended Mexico was winning 11–0.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championships
The 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships were held in Kazan, Russia. The championships began on April 13, 2008, and finished on April 23, 2008. Games were played at TatNeft Arena and Arena Kazan in Kazan. Canada defeated Russia 8–0 in the final to claim the gold medal, while the United States defeated Sweden 6–3 to capture the bronze medal.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championships, Top Division, Final standings
Belarus and  Denmark are relegated to Division I for the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championships, Top Division, Statistics, Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalties In MinutesSource:


2008 IIHF World U18 Championships, Top Division, Statistics, Goaltending leaders
TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SA = Shots Against; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = ShutoutsSource:


2008 IIHF World U18 Championships, Division I, Group A
The following teams took part in Group A of the Division I tournament, which was played in Toruń, Poland from April 2 through April 8, 2008.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championships, Division I, Group A
Czech Republic is promoted to the Championship tournament and  Slovenia is relegated to Division II for the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championships, Division I, Group B
The following teams will take part in Group B of the Division I tournament, which will be played in Riga, Latvia from April 2 through April 8, 2008.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championships, Division I, Group B
Norway is promoted to the Championship tournament and  Netherlands is relegated to Division II for the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championships, Division II, Group A
The following teams took part in Group A of the Division II tournament, which was played in Meribel and Courchevel, France from March 30 through April 5, 2008.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championships, Division II, Group A
France is promoted to Division I and  Australia is relegated to Division III for the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championships, Division II, Group B
The following teams took part in Group B of the Division II tournament, which was played in Tallinn, Estonia at Arena Premia from March 23 through March 29, 2008.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championships, Division II, Group B
Hungary is promoted to Division I and  Israel is relegated to Division III for the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships.


2008 IIHF World U18 Championships, Division III
Division III consisted of two separate tournaments. The Group A tournament was held between 2 and 8 March 2008 in Mexico City, Mexico and the Group B tournament was held between 3 and 9 March 2008 in İzmit, Turkey. Mexico and Serbia won the Group A and Group B tournaments respectively and gained promotion to Division II for the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships.


2008 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship
The 2008 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship was the inaugural junior female world ice hockey championship. It was held from 7 to 12 January 2008, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The championship is the junior ice hockey version of the women worlds, held under the auspices of the IIHF.


2008 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship
The inaugural competition featured two groups of nations in round robin play, followed by playoffs. There were eight national teams.


2008 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship, Format
The eight participating teams are divided up into two seeded groups as below. The teams will play each other once in a single round robin format. The top two teams from the group will proceed to the medal round, while the remaining teams will play in the placing games.


2008 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship, Ranking and statistics, Scoring leaders
List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals. If the list exceeds 10 skaters because of a tie in points, all of the tied skaters are shown.


2008 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship, Ranking and statistics, Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes; POS = PositionSource:


2008 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship, Ranking and statistics, Leading goaltenders
Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played 40% of their team's minutes are included in this list.


2008 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship, Ranking and statistics, Leading goaltenders
TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); SA = Shots Against; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = ShutoutsSource:


2008 INC-CCP MoU
The 2008 INC-CCP MoU (also known as Congress-China MoU) is a memorandum of understanding between the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) signed in 2008. The pact is signed to put in place a mechanism that would help regular high-level exchanges between them but the exact content of this document were never made public.


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Background, India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement
The primary opposition to the nuclear deal in India came from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) and its parliamentary allies (Communist Party of India, Revolutionary Socialist Party (India), All India Forward Bloc). On July 9, 2008, the Left Front withdrew support to the government reducing its strength to 276 in the Lok Sabha (the lower house of the parliament). The government survived a confidence vote in the Parliament on July 22, 2008 by 275-256 votes in the backdrop of defections from both camps to the opposite camps.


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Background, India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement
The MoU with CPC came shortly after the Left parties in India expressed their lack of trust in the Congress-led UPA government. The fact that China, though aware of the recent developments in India, decided to go ahead and sign this document shows it is trying to build a relationship with the Congress, and the Nehru-Gandhi family in particular, that goes beyond the UPA government.


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Background, 2008 Summer Beijing Olympics
Eighty heads of state and government were invited to the Beijing Olympics but neither the then Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh nor the then President of India was invited in the Olympics that the neighboring nation was hosting. Instead of inviting the head of the state or the government, the formal invitation went to the then Congress Chief, Sonia Gandhi.


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Background, 2008 Summer Beijing Olympics
After the questioning from Opposition parties and other, the officials said that the Prime Minister would not have gone and tried to defend the lack of invitation.


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Background, 2008 Summer Beijing Olympics
The MOU between Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of China was signed during this visit only.


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Signing of the MoU
India's then ruling Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of China (CPC) on 7 August 2008 signed a pact to put in place a mechanism that would help regular high-level exchanges between them. This development happened soon after party chief Sonia Gandhi arrived in Beijing with her family for the Olympics inaugural ceremony.


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Signing of the MoU
Before the signing of the MoU, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi held a meeting with Xi and other senior leaders of the Communist Party of China and held discussions on issues of mutual interest.


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Signing of the MoU
The MoU was signed by the Chinese vice-president and standing committee member of the CPC's politburo, Xi Jinping, and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi in the presence of his mother and party president Sonia Gandhi.