2009 Virginia gubernatorial election, General election
Vice President Joe Biden campaigned for Deeds in Henrico County, Virginia, a suburb of Richmond, Virginia on July 16. Also attending were Richmond Mayor Dwight Clinton Jones, state Senator A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico), and Virginia first lady Anne Holton.


2009 Virginia gubernatorial election, General election
On August 6, President Barack Obama and Governor Tim Kaine campaigned for Deeds in McLean, Virginia.


2009 Virginia gubernatorial election, General election
Deeds is from Bath County, Virginia, a rural area of fewer than 5,000 people, where John McCain received over 55% of the vote. McDonnell is from Virginia Beach, which McCain won with 49.9%.


2009 Vitonen - Finnish League Division 5
League tables for teams participating in Vitonen, the sixth highest league in the Finnish Soccer League system, in 2009.


2009 Viva World Cup
The 2009 VIVA World Cup was the third VIVA World Cup, an international tournament for football open to non-FIFA-affiliated teams, played in Padania.


2009 Viva World Cup
Three venues were bidding to host the tournament in 2010 :


2009 Viva World Cup
At the NF-Board general meeting in Milan (Italy), on 13 December 2008, it was decided to hold the Viva World Cup annually. The 2010 edition will be played in Gozo and priority was given to Iraqi Kurdistan to host the 2011 tournament.


2009 Viva World Cup
Occitania originally finished 5th, but having made one more substitution than allowed, the result was overturned, leaving Gozo as the winners of the 5th place playoff.


2009 Viva World Cup
The defending champions from the previous tournament were Padania, who went on to win the tournament.


2009 Viva World Cup, Squads
For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 2009 VIVA World Cup squads.


2009 Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros
The 2009 Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros, formerly known as the Seve Trophy, was played 24–27 September at Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche in France. The team captain for Great Britain and Ireland was Paul McGinley, with the captain for Continental Europe being Thomas Bjørn. Great Britain and Ireland won the Trophy for the fifth consecutive time.


2009 Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros, Format
The format remained the same for the fourth successive time. The teams competed over four days with five fourball matches on both Thursday and Friday, four greensomes matches on Saturday morning, four foursomes matches on Saturday afternoon and ten singles matches on Sunday. It means a total of 28 points are available with 14½ points required for victory. If the score finished at 14–14, then two players from each team would play the 18th using the greensomes format to find the winner.


2009 Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros, Format
There was a big reduction in the prize money for the 2009 event. Each member of the winner team received €65,000, the losing team €55,000 each, giving a total prize fund of €1,150,000.


2009 Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros, Teams
The teams were made up of five players from the World Rankings list and five players from the European points list following the conclusion of the Mercedes-Benz Championship on 14 September 2009. There were a number of players who qualified for the trophy, but pulled out. These include Pádraig Harrington, Sergio García, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Paul Casey.


2009 Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros, Day four, Singles
Anthony Wall injured his shoulder on Friday afternoon. He did not play on the Saturday and was still unfit to play in the singles on Sunday. Under the rules of the event a half was agreed with a player chosen by Thomas Bjørn to sit out the singles.


2009 Viña del Mar International Song Festival
The 2009 Viña del Mar International Song Festival was held from Monday 23 February until Saturday 28 February. This festival was the number 50, and had a special award for the 50 years, the "Gold Song", elected between the winner songs from 2001 to 2008 versions of Festival. Finally, "Gold song" in the folk contest was "Cuecas Al Sol" (2005 winner), and in the international contest was "Ayer te vi" (2001 winner).


2009 Viña del Mar International Song Festival
The television channels from the festival this year is "Canal 13" and "TVN", and was held in Viña del Mar, Chile


2009 Vodacom Challenge
The Vodacom Challenge celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2009 with the English Premier League side Manchester City touring South Africa and playing against two local PSL clubs, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. Kaizer Chiefs defeated star-studded Manchester City in the final to lift the title.


2009 Vodacom Challenge
This was the first time that Manchester City had taken part in the Vodacom Challenge.


2009 Vodacom Challenge, Tournament history
Originally known as the Vodacom African Challenge the competition was conceptualised and first played in 1999 as communications giant Vodacom sought to leverage their sponsorship of Soweto giants Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.


2009 Vodacom Challenge, Tournament history
The first year of the competition saw two of the giants of the African continent invited to the pre-season tournament. Asec Mimosa, the reigning African champions were joined by Tunisia's Espérance. Orlando Pirates walked away with the trophy after an emphatic 4-1 win over Espérance.


2009 Vodacom Challenge, Tournament history
The 2000 tournament started on a sour note when Morocco's Raja Casablanca, the new African champions, withdrew as it was felt that their participation was in conflict with Morocco and South Africa's battle to win the right to host the 2006 World Cup. Power Dynamos of Zambia were added as a late replacement, joining Ivorians Africa Sport who held the African Cup Winner’s Cup. The final between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs failed to live up to pre-match expectations, although it did provide a fascinating battle in midfield. Kaizer Chiefs walked away 1-0 winners.


2009 Vodacom Challenge, Tournament history
The 2001 Vodacom Challenge held special meaning for supporters from both Ghana and South Africa. Ghanaian clubs Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak were invited to play. The organizers dedicated the tournament to the 43 fans who had died at Ellis Park just a few months before, as well as the 126 people who perished at the Accra Sports Stadium during a match between Hearts and Kotoko just weeks before the Ellis Park tragedy. It was a sobering occasion for all, and a reminder that much was still to be done to ensure the safety of spectators across the continent. The final produced no goals and the match went to penalties with Kaizer Chiefs managing to retain the trophy they won the year before with a 3-2 win on penalties against Asante Kotoko.


2009 Vodacom Challenge, Tournament history
Asante Kotoko returned for the 2002 event, where they were joined by DRC outfit St Eloi Lupopo. The final was settled by a single spectacular goal from Musasa and Asante Kotoko became the first foreign side to lift the Vodacom Challenge trophy.


2009 Vodacom Challenge, Tournament history
St Eloi Lupopo returned to defend their title in 2003 and were joined by compatriots TP Mazembe. Kaizer Chiefs claimed their third title in the final after winning 3-2 on penalties after a goalless match. It was after this tournament that TP Mazembe's Felix Musasa joined Pirates.


2009 Vodacom Challenge, Tournament history
As had been the growing trend over the years, the 2004 Vodacom Challenge was dominated by shoot outs. TP Mazembe were back, this time joined by newcomers AS Vita. The final that pitted Kaizer Chiefs against AS Vita Club was disappointing until the dying minutes of the game when a goal from each side saw the match go to penalties. AS Vita went on to win the shoot-out 4-3.


2009 Vodacom Challenge, Tournament history
Defending champions AS Vita and Green Buffaloes of Zambia were invited the next year and both fell at the first hurdle setting up a dream final between Pirates and Chiefs. The final in Durban was a cracking match that provided great entertainment for the expectant crowd. Pirates held on to claim their second trophy after a long six-year wait.


2009 Vodacom Challenge, Tournament history
2006 saw a change in format with Chiefs and Pirates now taking on a European giant. Manchester United was named as the competition. Chiefs and Pirates each took on Man United in an exhibition match followed by a derby clash to determine who would play the visiting team in the final. Kaizer Chiefs represented South Africa in the final and after a nail-biting penalty shoot out, Kaizer Chiefs raised the new-look trophy in glory.


2009 Vodacom Challenge, Tournament history
Tottenham Hotspur, hoping to emulate Manchester United by visiting South Africa and winning the Premier League the next season were the international team in 2007. Spurs played Pirates in the Final and walked away with the Vodacom Challenge Final.


2009 Vodacom Challenge, Tournament history
Manchester United returned in 2008 to avenge their loss to Kaizer Chiefs in 2006. In a hard fought final, the Manchester United team with big names like Rooney, Ferdinand and Tevez lifted the trophy and once again the Vodacom Challenge trophy travelled to distant shores.


2009 Vodacom Challenge, Vodacom Challenge 2010
The 2010 Vodacom Challenge was skipped, due to the World Cup being organised in South Africa, during the months of June and July.


2009 Vodacom Challenge, Venues
Four cities served as the venues for the 2009 Vodacom Challenge.


2009 Vodacom Challenge, Manchester City Squad for 2009 Vodacom Challenge
Premier League team Manchester City announced on the 15 July 2009 that they will be bringing a full-strength squad to South Africa for the 10th anniversary of the Vodacom Challenge where they will tackle Soweto giants Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.


2009 Vodacom Challenge, Manchester City Squad for 2009 Vodacom Challenge
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2009 Vodacom Cup
The 2009 Vodacom Cup was the 12th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First Divisions.


2009 Vodacom Cup, Competition
There were 14 teams participating in the 2009 Vodacom Cup competition. These teams were geographically divided into two sections - the Northern Section and the Southern Section, each with seven teams. Teams would play all the teams in their section once over the course of the season, either at home or away.


2009 Vodacom Cup, Competition
Teams received four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points were awarded to teams that score four or more tries in a game, as well as to teams losing a match by seven points or less. Teams were ranked by points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).


2009 Vodacom Cup, Competition
The top four teams in each section qualified for the play-offs. In the quarter finals, the teams that finished first in each section had home advantage against the teams that finished fourth in the other section and the teams that finished second in each section had home advantage against the teams that finished third in the other section. The winners of these quarter finals then played each other in the semi-finals, with the higher placed team having home advantage. The two semi-final winners then met in the final.


2009 Vodacom Cup, Teams, Team Listing
The following teams took part in the 2009 Vodacom Cup competition:


2009 Vojko Herksel Cup
The 2009 Vojko Herksel Cup was the 4th Vojko Herksel Cup. Hold of Final tournament is Gospić. Winner of the four edition of the Šibenik Jolly who won Gospić Croatia Osiguranje. Vojko Herksel Cup was also the traditional Gospić Cup, which was the sixth time in a row.


2009 Volkswagen Challenger
The 2009 Volkswagen Challenger was a professional tennis tournament played on carpet courts. It was part of the 2009 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Wolfsburg, Germany between 23 and 29 February 2009.


2009 Volkswagen Challenger, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2009 Volkswagen Challenger, Champions, Men's Doubles
Travis Rettenmaier /  Ken Skupski def. Sergei Bubka /  Alexandre Kudryavtsev, 6–3, 6–4


2009 Volkswagen Challenger – Doubles
Carsten Ball and Izak van der Merwe were the defending champions but chose not to defend their title.


2009 Volkswagen Challenger – Doubles
Travis Rettenmaier and Ken Skupski won the title after defeating Sergei Bubka and Alexander Kudryavtsev 6–3, 6–4 in the final.


2009 Volkswagen Challenger – Singles
Louk Sorensen was the defending champion. He received the wild card, but he lost in the first round to future champion, Ruben Bemelmans. Bemelmans won in the final 7–6(5), 3–6, 6–3, against Stefano Galvani.


2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup
The 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup was the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup's second season. In 2009 10 races were set to take place on eight circuits. Both Virginia International Raceway and New Jersey Motorsports Park were doubleheader events hosting two rounds each. There are also four new tracks for the 2009 season, Miller Motorsports Park, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Autobahn Country Club, and Road America. Gone for the season are Iowa Speedway and Lime Rock Park.


2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup
Also new for this season is a new fuel from Hyperfuels, the official supplier for the TDI Cup. This year all the race cars, as well as all the vehicle/equipment transporters and generators used by the series, will run SynDiesel B5 Biodiesel. Late in the 2008 season, Pirelli announced that they would be the official tire supplier for the 2009 season.


2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, Race result links
Race #1 Race #2 Race #3 Race #4 Race #5


2009 Volleyball Copa Latina
The 2009 Copa Latina was first edition of the annual Women's Volleyball Tournament, organized by the Peruvian Volleyball Federation, played by four countries from May 14-18, 2009 in Lima, Peru.


2009 Voloshina
2009 Voloshina, provisional designation 1968 UL, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 27 kilometers in diameter.


2009 Voloshina
It was discovered on 22 October 1968, by Russian astronomer Tamara Smirnova at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula. The asteroid was named for WWII partisan Vera Voloshina.


2009 Voloshina, Classification and orbit
Voloshina orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.7–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (2,009 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.


2009 Voloshina, Classification and orbit
In March 1926, Voloshina was first observed as 1926 FF at Yerkes Observatory and one day later at Heidelberg Observatory. Its observation arc begins at Heidelberg, 62 years prior to its official discovery observation.


2009 Voloshina, Physical characteristics
Voloshina has been characterized as a carbonaceous C-type asteroid by Pan-STARRS photometric survey.


2009 Voloshina, Physical characteristics, Lightcurves
In May 2009, a rotational lightcurve of Voloshina was obtained from photometric observations by astronomers at the Oakley Southern Sky Observatory (E09) in Australia. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 5.896 hours with a brightness variation of 0.40 magnitude (U=3-).


2009 Voloshina, Physical characteristics, Lightcurves
In January and February 2014, astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory found a period of 2.94 and 5.907 hours with an amplitude of 0.32 and 0.27 magnitude, respectively (U=2/2).


2009 Voloshina, Physical characteristics, Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Voloshina measures between 21.19 and 34.8 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.0698 and 0.120.


2009 Voloshina, Physical characteristics, Diameter and albedo
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.0487 and calculates a diameter of 34.67 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.2.


2009 Voloshina, Physical characteristics, Diameter and albedo
An occultation of a star by 2009 Voloshina was observed in 2021.


2009 Voloshina, Naming
This minor planet was named in honor of Vera Danilovna Voloshina (1919–1941), a partisan of the Soviet Great Patriotic War (1941–1945), also known as the Eastern Front of the Second World War. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 September 1978 (M.P.C. 4481).


2009 Volta a Catalunya
The 2009 Volta a Catalunya was the 89th edition of the Volta. It took place between 18 May and 24 May, and was part of both the ProTour and the inaugural World Calendar. It began with a short individual time trial in Lloret de Mar and ended in Montmeló at the Circuit de Catalunya.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Teams
As the Volta a Catalunya is a UCI ProTour event, all 18 ProTour teams were invited automatically. They were joined by three Professional Continental teams.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 1
18 May 2009 – Lloret de Mar, 3.6 km (ITT)


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 1
The course for the brief individual time trial is perfectly flat.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 1
Despite clocking in ten seconds slower than he had on the identical course in the 2008 Volta, Thor Hushovd was the winner of the short individual time trial for the second year in a row, narrowly edging out Alejandro Valverde to don the first white jersey.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 2
This course was hilly, with three categorized climbs, including one about 15 kilometers from the finish.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 2
A four-man breakaway was away for much of the stage. They claimed the intermediate sprints and the first two climbs, putting Samuel Dumoulin and Lloyd Mondory, respectively, in the leading jerseys for those classifications. They were caught on the last climb of the day, the Alt de San Pere De Rodes, during which race leader Thor Hushovd was dropped and his Cervélo team decided to work for Xavier Florencio. A group of 54 riders was together at the finish for a final sprint, won by Matti Breschel. The race lead transferred to Alejandro Valverde, who was surprised to get it, since he did not contest the sprint and did not get any time bonuses.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 3
20 May 2009 – Roses to La Pobla de Lillet, 182.8 km


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 3
This was a mountainous stage, and it was thought to see a definitive split between those riders who aimed for the final podium and those who didn't. The stage started at sea level, but climbed to 1,031 meters after about 80 kilometers on the road. There were two other categorized climbs on the course, including a steep climb to 1,200 meters right before the end of the stage, which came on the descent from that climb.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 3
This stage saw race leader Alejandro Valverde extend his lead with a stage win. After the peloton, paced by his team Caisse d'Epargne, caught the morning's breakaway, Valverde himself attacked at the foot of the day's last climb, and the group of nine GC contenders who were able to hold his wheel contested the finish together.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 4
21 May 2009 – La Pobla de Lillet to Vallnord Sector Pal (Andorra),  175.7 km


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 4
This stage was undulating at first, and then became mountainous. The Coll del Port (a pass in Catalonia, not to be confused with the pass in France with a very similar name) was visited, and the finish into Andorra was an outside categorization climb, which began 10 kilometers from the finish line. It has been called the 2009 Volta's queen stage.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 4
This stage was conquered by a member of the morning's breakaway, Julián Sánchez. Sánchez and seven others who came clear of the peloton early on in the stage. While the others were absorbed before the Vallnord climb, Sánchez still had a 90-second lead at its foot and managed to stay away just long enough, giving victory in the queen stage of this UCI ProTour event to a non-ProTour team.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 4
The GC favorites who had otherwise dominated on the climb were within a kilometer of Sánchez at the finish, with Dan Martin coming the closest to catching him, for second on the stage and a slight time again against race leader Alejandro Valverde. Martin moved from sixth to second in the GC after the stage. As the stages that follow this one are all seen as potentially sprinters' stages, Valverde's team made it clear after this stage that they would work with the teams of the sprinters to ensure mass finishes the rest of the way and protect his 15-second lead over Martin.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 5
22 May 2009 – La Seu d'Urgell to Torredembarra, 201.3 km


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 5
A fair amount of descending faced the riders in this stage, being that it began at 670 meters in elevation and ended near sea level. Most of the descending took place right before the finish line.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 5
A four-man breakaway came clear of the peloton within the first 10 km of the stage. Their maximum advantage was 4' 30", with Steven Cozza attacking and staying out front for a short while as the peloton absorbed his three breakaway mates. Cozza was also eventually caught, and the finish was contested in a mass sprint, won by Katusha's Nikolay Trusov. Team Katusha came to the Volta thinking that Alexei Markov would be their primary sprinter, but Markov was not with the peloton at the finish. They therefore worked for Trusov in the sprint, as he narrowly edged out accomplished sprinter Thor Hushovd at the line. The top ten in the GC were unchanged by the day's results.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 6
This stage was expected to end in a mass sprint, in spite of the three categorized climbs the course featured. In the last 40 kilometers, there was only a very short climb and a lengthy flat stretch to the finish.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 6
The sprint indeed took place, with the man who was pipped at the line the day before, Thor Hushovd, coming across the line first to claim his second stage win of the Volta. The lead in the mountains classification transferred to Julián Sánchez, who was tied with Xavier Tondó by points, but got the jersey because of his victory on the outside categorization climb in Stage 4. The top ten in the GC were again unchanged, and with only a very short, very flat stage remaining, it was believed that they would be unchanged again for the end of the race.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 7
24 May 2009 – Centre d'Alt Rendiment to Circuit de Catalunya Montmeló, 110.8 km


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 7
This course climbed to just over 600 meters. The climb was originally uncategorized, but with Xavier Tondó and Julián Sánchez tied by points for the King of the Mountains jersey, race officials decided to offer points for the climb to have a definitive winner in that classification. The descent from that height took about 50 kilometers, with 10 flat kilometers to race before the finish at the race track in Montmeló.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 7
The short distance and relatively flat profile of the stage kept any breakaways from staying clear. Sánchez managed to outsprint Tondó to the summit of the climb to clinch the red jersey victory for the Contentpolis rider. The majority of the peloton was together for the finish, a sprint which was won by Columbia-High Road's Greg Henderson.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Riders' jersey progress table
In the 2009 Volta a Catalunya, three different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding the finishing times of the stages per cyclist, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass start stages, the leader received a white jersey with green stripes on the sleeves. This classification is considered the most important of the Volta a Catalunya, and the winner of the general classification is considered the winner of the Volta a Catalunya.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Riders' jersey progress table
Additionally, there was also a sprint classification, indicated with a blue jersey. In the sprint classification, cyclists got points for being one of the first three in intermediate sprints, with six points awarded for first place, four for second, and two for third.


2009 Volta a Catalunya, Riders' jersey progress table
There was also a mountains classification, indicated with a red jersey. In the mountains classifications, points are won by reaching the top of a mountain before other cyclists. All climbs were categorized, with most either first, second, third, or fourth-category, with more points available for the higher-categorized climbs. There was also an outside categorization climb at the end of Stage 4, which awarded even more points than the first-category climbs.


2009 Volta de Ciclismo Internacional do Estado de São Paulo
The 2009 Volta de Ciclismo Internacional do Estado de São Paulo (Portuguese for International Cycling Tour of the State of São Paulo) is the 6th edition of a multi-day road cycling stage race held in the state of São Paulo. This edition features 9 stages over 1289 km, disputed from August 22 to 30, 2009. The race is a 2.2 event in the 2008-2009 UCI America Tour. In this edition, the race has been nicknamed Tour of Brazil.


2009 Volta de Ciclismo Internacional do Estado de São Paulo, Classification and bonuses
In this edition of the race, time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds are awarded to the top 3 riders in each stage. Time bonuses of 3, 2 and 1 seconds are awarded to the first 3 riders at each intermediary sprint point. For the points classification, the top 5 riders in each stage are awarded 10, 7, 5, 3 and 2 points, respectively. The first 3 riders at each intermediary sprint receive 5, 3 and 2 points. Climbs are classified among 4 categories. The first 3 riders at each summit are awarded points in the mountains classification according to the category:


2009 Volta de Ciclismo Internacional do Estado de São Paulo, Classification and bonuses
The team classification accounts the times of the first 3 riders of each team in each stage.


2009 Volta de Ciclismo Internacional do Estado de São Paulo, Stages and Results, Stage 1: São Paulo
Held Saturday, August 22, 2009, on the Ponte Estaiada, in São Paulo. This prologue stage was a team time trial, for a total distance of 6.0 km. The stage was won by team Scott-Marcondes Cesar-São José dos Campos with a time of 7'44.831". Teams Padaria Real-Sorocaba and FAPI-Pindamonhangaba took second and third place, with times of 7'56.404" and 7'58.427", respectively. Curiously, bicycles aren't allowed in the Ponte Estaiada


2009 Volta de Ciclismo Internacional do Estado de São Paulo, Stages and Results, Stage 2: São Paulo to São José dos Campos
Held Sunday, August 23, 2009. This stage was 91.1 km long. A field of 122 riders finished with the same time of the stage winner, Hector Figueiras.


2009 Volta de Ciclismo Internacional do Estado de São Paulo, Stages and Results, Stage 3: São José dos Campos to Atibaia
Held Monday, August 24, 2009. This stage was 103.0 km long.


2009 Volta de Ciclismo Internacional do Estado de São Paulo, Stages and Results, Stage 4: Atibaia to São Carlos
Held Tuesday, August 25, 2009. This stage was 239 km long.


2009 Volta de Ciclismo Internacional do Estado de São Paulo, Stages and Results, Stage 5: São Carlos to Ribeirão Preto
Held Wednesday, August 26, 2009. This stage was 95.8 km long.


2009 Volvo World Match Play Championship
The 2009 Volvo World Match Play Championship was the 45th Volvo World Match Play Championship played, the first for two years and the first time at Finca Cortesín Golf Club. It was held from 29 October to 1 November, with the champion receiving €750,000. A new format was introduced, with the sixteen players split into four groups of four, with the winner of each group progressing to the semi-finals. Once again it was an official money event on the European Tour.


2009 Volvo World Match Play Championship, Qualification
3. The leading player, based upon their nationality, listed on the Official World Golf Ranking, from each of the following regions:


2009 Volvo World Match Play Championship, Qualification
4. The leading four players (not otherwise qualified) from the Official World Golf Rankings


2009 Volvo World Match Play Championship, Qualification
5. The leading four players (not otherwise qualified) from the Race to Dubai


2009 Volvo World Match Play Championship, Format
The sixteen players were split into four groups of four, seeded by their World Ranking. Within each group, every player played each other in a round robin format over full 18-hole matches. Each match completed the full 18 holes. Points were awarded based upon win (2), tie (1) or loss (0). The leading player from each group qualified for the semi-final knockout stage. In case of ties, aggregate number of holes won were used to determine the winner.


2009 Vorarlberg state election
The 2009 Vorarlberg state election was held on 20 September 2009 to elect the members of the Landtag of Vorarlberg.


2009 Vorarlberg state election
The governing Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) retained their majority with losses, while the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) recovered nearly all the losses it had suffered in 2004. The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) lost much of their support and fell to fourth place behind The Greens, who stayed essentially level with the strong result they achieved in 2004. Governor Herbert Sausgruber was re-elected by the Landtag.


2009 Vorarlberg state election, Background
In the 2004 election, the ÖVP achieved a strong result which allowed them to regain a comfortable majority. This was matched by major losses for the FPÖ, who fell from second to third place. Both the SPÖ and Greens also benefited. In addition, turnout fell catastrophically from 88% to just 60%.


2009 Vorarlberg state election, Electoral system
The 36 seats of the Landtag of Vorarlberg are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between four multi-member constituencies, corresponding to the districts of Vorarlberg. For parties to receive any representation in the Landtag, they must either win at least one seat in a constituency directly, or clear a 5 percent state-wide electoral threshold. Seats are distributed in constituencies according to the Hagenbach-Bischoff quota, with any remaining seats allocated at the state level, to ensure overall proportionality between a party's vote share and its share of seats.


2009 Vorarlberg state election, Contesting parties
The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag.


2009 Vorarlberg state election, Contesting parties
In addition to the parties already represented in the Landtag, four parties collected enough signatures to be placed on the ballot.


2009 Vuelta a Andalucía
The 2009 Vuelta a Andalucía was the 55th edition of the Vuelta a Andalucía cycle race and was held on 15 February to 19 February 2009. The race started in Jaén and finished in Antequera. The race was won by Joost Posthuma.


2009 Vuelta a Asturias
The 2009 Vuelta a Asturias was the 53rd edition of the Vuelta a Asturias road cycling stage race, which was held from 28 April to 2 May 2009. The race started and finished in Oviedo. The race was won by Francisco Mancebo of the Rock Racing team.


2009 Vuelta a Burgos
The 2009 Vuelta a Burgos was the 31st edition of the Vuelta a Burgos road cycling stage race, which was held from 5 August to 9 August 2009. The race started in Oña and finished at Lagunas de Neila. The race was won by Alejandro Valverde of the Caisse d'Epargne team.


2009 Vuelta a Castilla y León
The 2009 Vuelta a Castilla y León was the 24th edition of the Vuelta a Castilla y León road cycling stage race, started on 23 March in Paredes de Nava, and concluded on 27 March in Valladolid. The race was won by Levi Leipheimer.


2009 Vuelta a Castilla y León, Teams
Seventeen teams of up to eight riders started the race:


2009 Vuelta a Castilla y León, Stages, Stage 1
23 March 2009 - Paredes de Nava to Baltanás, 168.3 km (104.6 mi)


2009 Vuelta a Castilla y León, Stages, Stage 2
24 March 2009 - Palencia (ITT), 28.2 km (17.5 mi)


2009 Vuelta a Castilla y León, Stages, Stage 3
25 March 2009 - Sahagún to Estación Inv. De San Isiro, 156.9 km (97.5 mi)


2009 Vuelta a Castilla y León, Stages, Stage 4
26 March 2009 - Santa María Del Páramo to Galende-Laguna De Los Peces, 145.4 km (90.3 mi)


2009 Vuelta a Castilla y León, Stages, Stage 5
27 March 2009 - Benavente to Valladolid, 152.5 km (94.8 mi)


2009 Vuelta a Colombia
The 59th edition of the Vuelta a Colombia was held from June 6 to June 21, 2009. Stage nine was cancelled due to a landslide.


2009 Vuelta a España
The 2009 Vuelta a España was the 64th Vuelta a España. The event took place from 29 August to 20 September 2009. For only the second time in the race's history, it began away from Spanish soil, with the race not in fact reaching Spain until Stage 5.


2009 Vuelta a España
The 2009 Vuelta has been described as having an easy start and a hard finish. This is because of the short individual time trial and three perfectly flat stages in the Netherlands (along with another in Spain in the race's first week), and eight of the final fourteen stages being mountain stages, with four mountaintop finishes.


2009 Vuelta a España
The race was won by Spain's Alejandro Valverde who claimed his first grand tour victory.


2009 Vuelta a España, Teams
29 teams sought places in the race, of which 21 were initially invited to compete. Fuji–Servetto, one of two UCI ProTour teams omitted from the list of invited teams, appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and were subsequently granted the right to enter. Team Katusha are thus the only ProTour team absent from the race.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stages
For details see 2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11 and 2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21.


2009 Vuelta a España, Classification leadership
In the 2009 Vuelta a España, four different jerseys are awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding the finishing times of the stages per cyclist after deduction of time bonuses for high placings in stage finishes and at intermediate sprints, the leader receives a golden jersey. This classification is considered the most important of the Vuelta a España, and the winner of the general classification is considered the winner of the Vuelta.


2009 Vuelta a España, Classification leadership
Additionally, there is also a points classification, which awards a green jersey. In the points classification, cyclists receive points for finishing in the top 15 in a stage. The winner gets 25 points, second place 20, third 16, fourth 14, fifth 12, sixth 10, and one point per place less down the line, to a single point for fifteenth. In addition, some points can be won in intermediate sprints.


2009 Vuelta a España, Classification leadership
There is also a mountains classification, which awards a red jersey. In the mountains classifications, points were won by reaching the top of a mountain before other cyclists. Each climb is categorized, with most of the climbs being either first, second, third, or fourth category. There are also three "special category" climbs (equivalent to Hors Categorie in the Tour de France); these are the stage finishes on the Alto de Aitana, the Alto de Sierra Nevada, and the Sierra de La Pandera. These climbs award even more points than a first-category climb.


2009 Vuelta a España, Classification leadership
Finally, there is the combination classification. This is calculated by adding the rankings in the general, points and mountains classifications; the cyclist with the lowest combined ranking is the leader in the combination classification, and receives a white jersey.


2009 Vuelta a España, Classification leadership
There is also a classification for teams. In this classification, the times of the best three cyclists per stage are added, and the team with the lowest time is the leader.


2009 Vuelta a España, Classification leadership
If a cyclist leads two or more competitions at the end of a stage, he receives all those jerseys. In the next stage, he can only wear one jersey, and he wears the jersey representing leadership in the most important competition (golden first, then green, then granate, then white). The other jerseys that the cyclists owns are worn in the next stage by the second-place (or, if needed, third or fourth-place) rider in that classification.


2009 Vuelta a España, World Rankings points
The Vuelta was the penultimate event in the 2009 UCI World Ranking. The rankings leader, Alberto Contador, did not compete in the event, but five of the top ten did, including the race winner, Valverde, who earned enough points to ensure that the title was not yet decided. Valverde, however, remained banned from riding in Italy, and so did not take part in the final ranking event, the 2009 Giro di Lombardia.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11
These are the individual stages of the 2009 Vuelta a España, with Stage 1 on 29 August and Stage 11 on 9 September.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 1
The course for the first individual time trial was as flat as it gets; there were no rises in elevation whatsoever. The stage was one lap through TT Circuit Assen, a noted motorcycle course.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 1
The early time to beat was put up by Euskaltel–Euskadi rider Markel Irizar, who stopped the clock at 5' 43". His time was beaten by a trio of Liquigas riders who came about an hour after him. For a time, the Italian team held the top three positions, with Daniele Bennati, Roman Kreuziger, and Polish national champion Maciej Bodnar, and they took the lead in the teams' classification after the stage thanks to these results. Around the time the Liquigas trio finished their rides, rain began to fall, making the course more difficult for the riders to follow. It also caused Carlos Barredo to slip and nearly fall, losing several seconds, as he left the starthouse; subsequently, turf was put down over the ramp.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 1
After Tom Boonen and Tyler Farrar in turn posted provisional best times, Olympic time trial champion Fabian Cancellara took the course and stopped the clock in 5' 20" to win the stage and gain the first golden jersey. Cancellara expressed surprise at his win after the stage, saying he had come to the Vuelta mainly thinking of it as preparation for the world championships.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 2
30 August 2009 — Assen (Netherlands) to Emmen (Netherlands), 202 km


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 2
The first mass-start stage was also very flat. A fourth-category climb to all of 30 meters in elevation was the race's first. It did not afford any points for the mountains classification, though the first rider past the climb point got the first red jersey.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 2
A five-rider group was away for much of this stage. This breakaway comprised Francisco José Martínez, Tom Leezer, Dominik Roels, David García, and Lieuwe Westra. Westra had tried to make the breakaway to honor his recently deceased father, and his teammates with Vacansoleil wore black armbands in memorial as well. It was Leezer who was the first across the Relus climb to get the first mountains jersey, one that he was assured to hold through the next day, as the Stage 3 course had no categorized climbs on it.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 2
All but Westra were caught with 20 kilometers left to race. Westra fought on, but was caught 9 kilometers later, leading to the widely expected field sprint finish. Team Columbia–HTC did most of the work going into the finish, with everyone on that team but sprinter André Greipel pulling at the front of the peloton in the stage's final 5 kilometers. In the end, Milram's Gerald Ciolek was the winner, at the head of a sprint so close Ciolek himself was unsure he had won. A selection was made in the final 2 kilometers of the stage, with Alexander Vinokourov and Samuel Sánchez notably losing 18 seconds, and other groups who had been with the peloton losing up to and over a minute.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 3
31 August 2009 — Zutphen (Netherlands) to Venlo (Netherlands), 185 km


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 3
The string of Dutch flat stages continued. This course did not have a categorized climb, though it had an uncategorized hill about two-thirds of the way into the stage. The stage briefly visited Germany, and included some cobbled passages, which could have been skipped if the weather was inclement.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 3
The breakaway for this stage comprised Lars Boom, Johnny Hoogerland, and Jesús Rosendo. Though the two Dutch riders were decidedly more familiar with the weather conditions and the roads the course offered, it was Rosendo who stayed out front the longest. The breakaway's maximum advantage neared ten minutes, but the peloton had no trouble catching them, with Rosendo reeled in 20 kilometers from the finish.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 3
Team Columbia–HTC set up the sprint in the stage's final kilometers, just as they had all season, but it was not their main sprinter André Greipel who took the win, but rather leadout man Greg Henderson. Henderson was intending to lead Greipel in, but when he did not see the German in the stage's final 150 meters, he sprinted for the win himself, and edged out Borut Božič at the line. It was Team Columbia–HTC's 72nd win of the season.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 4
1 September 2009 —  Venlo (Netherlands) to Liège (Belgium), 224 km


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 4
This was another flat stage, though it had three fourth-category climbs. It visited some of the same roads used yearly by the Amstel Gold Race and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. With this stage finish, Liège is the only city that can boast having hosted stages of the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France, and now the Vuelta. After this stage, the riders traveled by plane to Catalonia for the continuation of the Vuelta on Spanish soil.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 4
With the three fourth-category climbs on course offering the Vuelta's first mountains points, this was an important stage in which to make the breakaway. Not only would the mountains classification red jersey go to a member of this breakaway, but so too would the combination classification white jersey, as qualification for it would be restricted to riders who had scored points in the mountains classification. The four who made the breakaway were Javier Ramirez, Lars Boom, Dominik Roels, and Sergey Lagutin.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 4
Boom topped two of the three climbs in first position to gain the red jersey, while Roels wound up in white. The breakaway's maximum advantage over the peloton was over 14 minutes, but still the peloton easily caught them long before the finish, with some 30 kilometers to go. After several attempted escapes, the end of this stage was again a field sprint, won this time by the man who was denied by a teammate the day before, André Greipel. A big crash caused majority of the field to fall or jam behind, which caused the top seven to be of riders from only two teams.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 4
The day was marked by consistent rainfall, which made the stage's final few kilometers perilous. Many riders crashed, including Jakob Fuglsang, who lost control of his bike and ran into a parked truck. While Fuglsang was able to continue, Charly Wegelius, Chris Horner, and Robert Kišerlovski would all put out before the race reached Spain. Many other riders sustained minor injuries, and the coming rest day, uncharacteristically early coming after four flat stages, was welcomed by much of the peloton.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 5
The first stage in the Tour of Spain to actually take place in Spain, this course offered the first real climb for the riders, the second-category Alto de Fatxas soon after the stage begun. A breakaway had already gained a lead of 4:30 before reaching the climb. The breakaway consisted of Julián Sánchez, Aitor Hernandez, José Antonio Lopez Gil, Julien El Fares, Matthé Pronk and Serafin Martinez. The group collected the set of climber's points for the day, with Aitor Hernández collecting the maximum to take the red jersey.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 5
On behalf of the sprinters, Stijn Devolder of Quick-Step lead the charge the catch the breakaway group. They were caught with 30 km to go. David de la Fuente and Philippe Gilbert both tried to make a late move at 7 km to go, but the Liquigas led peloton gave them no more than a 20-second advantage. Once the sprinters launched their assault, Tom Boonen looked to have the advantage, but André Greipel overtook him in the last few meters to take his second consecutive win and acquire both the green and yellow jerseys.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 6
This out-and-back stage in Xàtiva includes two third-category climbs never before visited in the Vuelta. The course concludes with the Vuelta's first finishing circuit, two laps which end at Xàtiva's Castle National Monument.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 7
The first race of any substance against the clock takes place on a Formula One urban racing circuit. It is almost perfectly flat, with only the gentlest of rises in elevation coming halfway into the circuit.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 8
6 September 2009 — Alzira to Alto de Aitana, 206 km


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 8
This is a difficult stage, with seven categorized climbs on course (three second-category and four third-category) serving as a warm-up for the special-category Alto de Aitana at the finish. The course is also longer than most typical mountain stages in a Grand Tour, at 206 km, and figures to be the Vuelta's first truly selective stage. This stage produced one of the biggest shocks of the race so far with the retirement of Andy Schleck, a pre-race favourite.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 9
7 September 2009 — Alcoy to Xorret del Cati, 188 km


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 9
The ninth stage of the Vuelta takes place between Alcoi and Xorret del Catí. The stage has a similar layout to that of the previous day: many mountain climbs and a mountain finish. However, this time the climb is not as long and steep as Aitana: Xorret del Catí is a short, explosive climb that requires sprockets of 25 and even 27 teeth.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 10
This stage started high in elevation and undulated a little before a drastic descent about two-thirds of the way into the course. The Alto de la Cresta del Gallo just before the finish kept the sprinters' teams from having anything to say on this day. A breakaway of 19 riders formed early in the race, but consecutive attacks on the Alto de la Cresta del Gallo produced a group of four that held on until the finish. Alexander Vinokourov, Ryder Hesjedal, Simon Gerrans and Jakob Fuglsang worked together until the finish was in sight. They then came close to a standstill as the leading riders began to jockey for a drafting position for the start of the sprint. Vinokourov was the first to jump, as Gerrans waited patiently behind and was able to hold off Hesjedal and Fuglsang to take the win.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 11
9 September 2009 — Murcia to Caravaca de la Cruz, 191 km


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stages, Stage 11
This stage sees the Vuelta leave Murcia. The course has three categorized climbs, one each in the first, second, and third categories, and none of which have been visited in the Vuelta previously.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21
These are the individual stages of the 2009 Vuelta a España, with Stage 12 on 11 September and Stage 21 on 20 September.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stages, Stage 12
11 September 2009 — Almería to Alto de Velefique, 174 km


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stages, Stage 12
Coming out of the second rest day, the peloton gets a course with over 3,500 meters in total climbing. It includes two visits to the Alto de Velefique, one coming after 55 km and the other at the finish line. There is another first and a third-category climb on the day.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stages, Stage 13
12 September 2009 — Berja to Sierra Nevada, 175 km


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stages, Stage 13
This is undoubtedly the queen stage of the 2009 Vuelta. The special-category Alto de Sierra Nevada at the finish is, at 2,520 metres, the highest point reached in the race. But it is far from all this course has to offer - the deceptively difficult and steep third-category Alto de Berja comes almost immediately and is followed by the first-category Puerto de la Ragua. The Vuelta has never before gone over the Puerto de la Ragua from this side, and it is more difficult than climbing it from the opposite side. Another first-category climb, the Alto de Monachil, occurs near the end of the stage, though it is essentially just the halfway point to the Alto de Sierra Nevada.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stages, Stage 14
13 September 2009 — Granada to La Pandera, 157 km


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stages, Stage 14
The riders have one more high mountain stage to go through before making it back to flat lands. Two third-category climbs and several uncategorized rises precede another special-category summit stage finish at the Sierra de La Pandera.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stages, Stage 15
This stage is branded as flat, though it begins at about 600 meters in elevation before descending to the valley below. It also includes the second-category Alto del Catorce por Ciento (which, despite its name, does not feature 14% gradients) 20 km from the finish.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stages, Stage 16
This is the easiest stage the peloton will have seen since Catalonia, with only two early third-category climbs to disrupt an otherwise flat overall profile.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stages, Stage 17
16 September 2009 — Ciudad Real to Talavera de la Reina, 175 km


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stages, Stage 17
This stage was thought to be a hard-fought reward for whichever sprinters fought their way through the heights wrought by the Vuelta's second week - it did not feature a single categorized climb. It was expected to see a mass sprint finish. Contrary to expectations, Française des Jeux's Anthony Roux was able to hold off the chasing peloton to take the win by just a few meters.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stages, Stage 18
17 September 2009 — Talavera de la Reina to Ávila, 175 km


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stages, Stage 18
This course has four categorized climbs, three of which are new to the Vuelta. The selection should take place on the first-category Puerto de Mijares, which comes at the halfway point of the stage.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stages, Stage 19
18 September 2009 — Ávila to La Granja de San Ildefonso, 175 km


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stages, Stage 19
This is the Vuelta's last mountain stage. It includes two passes over the first-category Puerto de Navacerrada, the second of which crests 17 km from the finish. There is also quite a lot of descending to do on this stage, as the four categorized climbs all begin and end at roughly the same elevation. The finish comes on the descent from the last pass over the Puerto de Navacerrada.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stages, Stage 20
The course for the final time trial is flat, with very gentle undulation.


2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stages, Stage 21
The Vuelta ended, by tradition, much like the Tour de France does, with a flat and largely ceremonial road stage. It ended in downtown Madrid at the Plaza de Cibeles.


2009 Vuelta a Murcia
The 2009 Vuelta a Murcia was the 25th edition of the Vuelta a Murcia cycle race and was held on 4 March to 8 March 2009. The race started in San Pedro del Pinatar and finished in Murcia. The race was won by Denis Menchov.


2009 Vuelta a Venezuela
The 46th edition of the annual Vuelta a Venezuela was held from Wednesday June 24 to Sunday July 5, 2009.


2009 Vuelta al Táchira
The 2009 Vuelta al Táchira is the 44th of the annual Vuelta al Táchira cycling competition. The race was held in San Cristóbal, Táchira from January 6 to January 17, 2009 on a 1,400-kilometre (870 mi) course.


2009 Vítkov arson attack
The  Vítkov arson attack occurred during the night of 18 / 19 April 2009. Three Molotov cocktails were thrown through the windows of a house inhabited by a Roma family. Three people were injured. The most seriously injured was a three-year-old girl named Natálie, who suffered life-threatening burns on 80% of her body.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Investigation
Before the attack, one of the perpetrators called a friend, who was at a discothèque. Asked about the call by her companion, the girl answered, "He said they are going on gypsies." A volunteer fireman, who was near the two young women in the discothèque overheard the conversation. On the next day he made the connection between the conversation and the arson attack, and contacted the police. The discothèque witness later faced death threats from right-wing extremists, as a result of which he refused to testify in court.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Investigation
However the lead was crucial, because investigators were able to identify and tap suspects' telephones, and so start uncovering the background to the attack. The police made no public reference to this lead. Officially they maintained that they had no direct leads, but were following up on the suspicion that the attack might be part of wider campaign of violence orchestrated by leaders of the Czech extreme right, and not an isolated incident. The fireman's contribution would be revealed only after the end of the investigation.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Investigation
The Internal Security Agency provided the police investigators with relevant information very quickly after the attack; as the investigation continued this unusual level of cooperation was maintained. The Agency's annual reports had routinely been flagging up  right wing extremist groups as a danger to national security, which explained its long-term close interest in them.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Investigation
While interviewing one of the suspects (without revealing any exceptional interest in him), police installed a listening device in his car. Later, as the evident lack of police progress caused the suspects to relax, the tapping of this car would prove vital in solving the case.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, David Vaculík
David Vaculík was the only member of the gang who remained silent both through the whole investigation and during the court trial, where he also waived his right to a final speech. According to the prosecution his silence followed the protocol of Combat 18. The media nicknamed him as The Lonely Wolf. Vaculík was the only member of the group who refused psychiatric evaluation designed to identify evidence of pyromania.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, David Vaculík
Vaculík suffered a minor burn wound on his hand when throwing the Molotov cocktail. Despite being in pain, he avoided visiting a pharmacy, instead asking a friend to buy him a cooling salve.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, David Vaculík
Vaculík was a supporter of the far-right. He had sent money to the right wing Czech Workers' Party in 2007 and 2008. He was a frequent participant in events and demonstrations organised by far-right groups.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, David Vaculík
According to the prosecution, the gang used Vaculík's car during the attack.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, David Vaculík
Vaculík's attorney Petr Kausta claimed that the evidence in the case was obtained illegally, and highlighted some alleged defects in the prosecution case. According to Kausta, the testimonies of other members of the group were mutually contradictory, as were the testimonies of the attacked family members, whose unreliability as witnesses was exacerbated by their own extensive criminal histories. After alleging that prosecution evidence had been unlawfully obtained, Kausta claimed that there remained no reliable untainted evidence that could convict his client. Kausta requested a full acquittal.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, Jaromír Lukeš
Jaromír Lukeš was long-term supporter of ultra-right wing politics in the Czech Republic, with ties to the neo-Nazi organisations "National Resistance" and "Autonomous Nationalists". He participated actively in the activities of the far-right Workers' Party which, having been effectively dissolved in February 2010, remains the only political party to have been banned in the Czechoslovak/Czech Republic since the fall of communism in 1989. Lukeš also sponsored some of the party's demonstrations.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, Jaromír Lukeš
Lukeš was described in his indictment as a "reckless selfish fellow". When living with Ms. Šanovská, the mother to one of his children, he "used to spend most of his time in pubs with friends". In the summer of 2008 he left his job and continued to live on welfare, while his partner was receiving maternity benefits. Later, after Lukeš lost the right to receive welfare, he lived off his partner, who in turn was wholly dependent on welfare and maternity benefits.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, Jaromír Lukeš
Ms. Martikanová, the mother of his other child, described him as a jobless homeless person, who had never taken care of his daughter. It was a third girlfriend, Zuzana Osadníková, who called him on the night of the attack, and whose reply "they are going on gypsies" was overheard by a volunteer fireman. This had led the investigators to target Lukeš' group.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, Jaromír Lukeš
According to the prosecution it was Lukeš who had selected the target of attack. He lived in the municipality of Radkov, only eight kilometers (5 miles) from Vítkov, and was also a trainee cook/waiter, enrolled in a course at a Vítkov college. According to one of his extremist friends, Lukeš was a simple man, "the executor who would do anything he is told to do in order to gain admiration". Lukeš confessed to being present during the attack. However he denied attempting to kill anyone and he also denied being an extremist. According to suspect Müller, Lukeš was the one who brought the whole idea of the attack to the members of the group.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, Jaromír Lukeš
The public outcry which followed the attack had been accompanied by public condemnation from the President and Prime Minister, both of whom called for the perpetrators to be sought and convicted:  this was totally unexpected by Lukeš. Lukeš became very frightened and nervous.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, Jaromír Lukeš
Lukeš, who suffers from a slight speech disorder, remained silent for the most of the trial. In his final speech, he said that he felt himself to be a victim of a political trial. He has never shown regret for the arson attack, nor apologized to the victims.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, Jaromír Lukeš
Lukeš' attorney Pavel Pěnkava asserted that his client was neither a neo-Nazi nor a co-author of the attack. He asked, without success, that Lukeš' actions to be tried not as a racially motivated attempted multiple murder, but as an offence under the bodily harm provision of the Criminal Code. This, following a conviction, would have reduced the available punishments to a prison term of 3–10 years of imprisonment. That would have been a much milder range of sentences than that available for the crimes alleged by the prosecution, and under which the court did convict Lukeš.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, Ivo Müller
Ivo Müller was another frequent participant in events and demonstrations by Czech far-right groups, despite having a name that is not Czech but German. Some years before the attack he had sponsored a demonstration of National Resistance in Bruntál. He had known Vaculík and Cojocaru since grammar school.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, Ivo Müller
Müller's former teacher testified that neither Müller nor Vaculík had any issues with Roma schoolmates, but on the contrary: they were friendly towards them.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, Ivo Müller
Müller cooperated with the investigation and pleaded guilty to throwing the Molotov cocktail. However, he claimed that he was told by Lukeš that the targeted house was not inhabited, and that it was merely a storehouse of stolen goods. In his final speech, Müller said: "I did not expect (the attack) to have such a catastrophic outcome. I want to apologize to the families of Sivák and Malýs. I regret that such a little child was injured."


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, Ivo Müller
Müller's attorney Markéta Políšenská claimed that racially motivated attempted multiple murder charges were unfounded. She submitted that her client's act should be judged either as "endangering the public" or as "causing bodily harm".


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, Václav Cojocaru
Václav Cojocaru, age 21, was the youngest of the group members. He also had a record of taking part in events organized by Czech far-right groups despite having a non-Czech surname. (Cojocaru is a common Romanian surname.) He claimed that he has joined the neo-Nazi scene "because he liked the clothes they wear". He was also a collector of WWII memorabilia.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, Václav Cojocaru
When younger, Cojocaru had been a member of the Scouts. A Scout leader described him as a "nice boy", who never had any issues with other children, including the Roma ones. When Cojocaru became a Scout leader, he had Romani children in his group and was perfectly friendly towards them.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, Václav Cojocaru
Cojocaru confessed to throwing one of the bottles, and to having provided fuel, a lighter and one of the glass bottles. However, he claimed that he had no idea what the group was up to.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, Václav Cojocaru
Cojocaru apologized for the act, but the prosecutor described his regret as insincere.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Perpetrators, Václav Cojocaru
Cojocaru's attorney Ladislav Myšák claimed that there was no evidence supporting the prosecution's charge of racially motivated attempted multiple homicide. According to him the attempted homicide charges were based merely on speculation, and he therefore requested "just punishment" for Cojocaru.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, The house
Most of the family had been squatting in the house since 1983: Pavel Kudrik joined the rest of them in 1999. Ownership of the house had become unclear following the ethnic expulsions of 1945 and the subsequent departure of Russian troops 45 years later. Only days before the arson attack six different people, all of them living in Germany, officially inherited the house. The attacked family supposedly had no idea about the inheritance proceedings, which had lasted for seven years. The new owners had indicated no particular interest in owning the property. They wanted it to be transferred directly to the ownership of a church, but this was impossible under Czech law. First the title needed to be transferred to them: only then they would be able to donate it.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, The house
The attacked family supposedly believed that the house had been purchased by their great-grandmother 40 years earlier for a price of 2000 crowns (less than US$100), but no such valid transfer could be evidenced. The ruin of the house rendered it unstable, and its remains had therefore to be torn down.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Victims
The most severely injured of the victims was Natálie Kudriková, aged 3, who suffered second- and third-degree burns over 80% of her body, and lost two of her fingers at the time of the attack. Later a third finger had to be surgically removed. She will probably never be able to grasp objects with her right hand, which was burned more severely than the left. According to expert witness Igor Dvořáček, the many long-lasting anaesthesia doses necessary for her treatment have also caused minor mental retardation.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Victims
The head of Vinohrady Hospital in Prague Burn Trauma Centre, Ludomír Brož, testified that burns sixteen times less extensive than those suffered by Natálie can threaten a child's life. She spent three months in an induced coma and a further five months in the hospital, during which time she underwent numerous plastic surgery operations, 20 of them being major ones. During the treatment she almost died three times, surviving only thanks to medical apparatus. She is the first child with such extensive burn wounds to have survived in the Czech Republic. In 2009 alone, the insurance company paid over 6 million CZK (about US$340,000) for Natálie's treatment. The insurance company will recover the debt from the convicted perpetrators if they have the money, but their ability to pay such an amount is currently next to null.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Victims
Natálie's mother, Anna Siváková, aged 27, suffered burns on 30% of her body. She spent 10 days at the intensive-care unit of the University Faculty Hospital in Ostrava, and was released from hospital after three weeks. The defense challenged her testimony because when she testified in court she was heavily under the influence of psychoactive drugs (prescribed by her psychiatrist after the attack). The attackers' lawyers also made much of her own extensive criminal history. She had been convicted eight times.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Victims
Siváková's partner, Pavel Kudrik, aged 33, suffered burns on his hands and back. He was released from hospital after 11 days. Initially treated in Opava, he was transferred to a different hospital after police found out that Kudrik was himself "on the run" and should have been behind bars at the time of the attack. His most recent conviction was for driving without a license. Mr Kudrik's criminal history included 14 convictions. After spending three days in prison, Kudrik was released on the President's order, later receiving a full Presidential pardon.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Victims
Siváková's mother, Vlasta Malá, was also living in the house. She did not suffer any injuries. After the attack she claimed that she had heard shouts of "Burn gypsies!" The defense challenged her testimony, citing differences between what she had told the investigators and what she testified at the court. Malá reacted by saying "Why should such details matter? They burned us!" However, Malá's own record included four criminal convictions, one of them for an assault on a public official.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Victims
Václav Malý, Malá's husband, was also living in the house. Malý was not injured, but he claimed damages for a very wide variety of consumer electronics he had stored in the house. The defense challenged this and asserted that the house was being used to store stolen goods, which Malý denied. Malý had been convicted 12 times.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Victims
Vlasta and Václav Malý helped three children, who were living in the house with Siváková, to escape the fire. Neither the Malýs nor the three children were hurt in the attack.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Response
The attack became one of the main issues discussed by the Czech media. The first reaction and the trial sentences were covered as headline news and closely observed. Many prominent figures, not only ones actively involved in the area of racism or with ethnic minorities, were expressing their opinions and comments on internet or the press outlets.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Response
Pavel Smolka, mayor of Vítkov, stated the family were sociable, had lived in the house for 27 years, and that the attack was incomprehensible for him. He also said the town hadn't had any extremist attacks against Roma until this one.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Response
Czech President, Václav Klaus, called the attack raw and repulsive crime and demanded exemplary punishment for the perpetrators. Czech Prime Minister, Mirek Topolánek, expressed his concern over the rising extremism and stressed the importance of fighting it. The minister of finance, Miroslav Kalousek, and the minister for human rights and minorities, Michael Kocáb, considered the attack to be a terrorist act.


2009 Vítkov arson attack, Response
The attack was sharply condemned by the Czech Roma organizations like Dženo, ROMEA, Slovo 21 and the Association of Roma in the Northern Moravia as a hideous and cowardly act. Also, these organizations organized watch patrols in order to protect other families, they criticized the sluggishness of both the Czech state organs and politicians, stating that these lead to the surge of extremist movements in the country, called the public for active opposition to Neo-Nazism and extremism in the Czech Republic and implored the Roma community not to get drawn into any provocations.


2009 W-League (Australia)
The 2009 W-League season was the second season of the W-League, the Australian national women's football (soccer) competition. The season was played over 10 rounds followed by a finals series. Sydney FC were both the champions and premiers after finishing the regular season at the top of the table and defeating Brisbane Roar 3–2 in the grand final.


2009 W-League (Australia), Regular season, Home and away season
The 2009 W-League season was played over 10 rounds, followed by a finals series involving the four highest placed teams, starting in October and completing in December 2009.


2009 W-League (Australia), Regular season, Home and away season, Round 4
Note (1): Jacqui Melksham was substituted off with the fourth official Airlie Keen, due to aggravating an ankle injury.


2009 W-League (Australia), Referees
The W-League features Women Referees and Assistant Referees from Australia. Referees include:


2009 W-League Grand Final (December)
The 2009 W-League Grand Final was the grand final of the second season of the Australian W-League football (soccer) competition. It was contested between premiers Sydney FC and third-placed Brisbane Roar at Toyota Stadium in Sydney on Saturday, 19 December 2009. Sydney FC became the second W-League champions after defeating the Brisbane Roar 3–2.


2009 W-League Grand Final (January)
The 2008–09  W-League Grand Final was the grand final of the inaugural season of the W-League, the premier league of football (soccer) in Australia. Top of the table in the regular season Queensland Roar hosted home-and-away third-placed Canberra United FC at Ballymore Stadium in Herston, Brisbane in the Saturday 17 January 2009 season decider. In a closely contested match, the Roar defeated United 2–0. Both the Roar's goals were scored in the first half of the match.


2009 WA State Challenge Cup
Western Australian soccer clubs from the top three State-Based Divisions competed in 2009 for the WA State Challenge Cup, known that year as the Soccer Pools State Cup. This knockout competition was won by Floreat Athena, their fifth title.


2009 WA State Challenge Cup, First round
All matches were completed by 29 March 2009. A total of 32 teams took part in this stage of the competition. All 12 Clubs from the State League Premier Division and Football West State League Division 1, and 8 clubs from the Sunday League Premier Division (the top 8 out of 12 from the previous year's league table) entered into the competition at this stage.


2009 WA State Challenge Cup, Second round
A total of 16 teams took part in this stage of the competition. All matches were completed by 31 May 2009.


2009 WA State Challenge Cup, Quarter finals
A total of 8 teams took part in this stage of the competition. All matches in this round were completed on 4 July 2009.


2009 WA State Challenge Cup, Semi finals
A total of 4 teams took part in this stage of the competition. All matches in this round were completed by 15 August 2009. The draw was as follows:


2009 WA State Challenge Cup, Final
The 2009 State League Cup Final was held at the neutral venue of Dorrien Gardens on 4 October 2009.


2009 WA State Premier League
The Football WA 2009 season was the 113th year of the football in Western Australia before the new banner of National Premier Leagues in 2014. The competition consisted of 12 teams, each playing a total of 22 games in the season with the premier team being Western Knights, marking their third premiership of the competition. The team to be relegated would be Canning City.


2009 WABA Champions Cup
The WABA Champions Cup 2009 was the 12th staging of the WABA Champions Cup, the basketball club tournament of West Asia Basketball Association. The tournament was held in Amman, Jordan between March 13 and March 21. The top three teams from different countries qualify for the 2009 FIBA Asia Champions Cup.


2009 WAC Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2009 WAC Men's Basketball Tournament, a part of the 2008-09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, was held March 10–14 at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada.


2009 WAC Men's Basketball Tournament
Regular season champion Utah State Aggies won the tournament, defeating host Nevada by ten points in the title game. The Aggies received the Western Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament; they were seeded eleventh in the West region and lost by a point in the first round to Marquette.


2009 WAC Men's Basketball Tournament
No other WAC teams were invited to the NCAA or National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Nevada and Boise Statelost in the first round of the CBI, and Idaho advanced to the second round of the CIT.


2009 WAFF Futsal Championship
The 2009 West Asian Futsal Federation Championship was held from to in Amman, Jordan. Iraq won the tournament.


2009 WAFL Grand Final
The 2009 West Australian Football League (WAFL) Grand Final was the culmination of the 115th season of the premier Australian rules football league in Western Australia. It was played at Subiaco Oval on 20 September 2009 and won by the South Fremantle Football Club who defeated the Subiaco Football Club by 18 points.


2009 WAFL Grand Final, Build up
Much curiosity from football fans preceded the contest. South Fremantle had finished on top of the ladder in season 2009, two games clear of Subiaco who had finished in second place. However Subiaco had won the previous three Premierships and this would be their fourth consecutive Grand Final appearance (and their sixth in seven years). Between them the two combatants had won every WAFL Premiership since 2004.


2009 WAFL Grand Final, Match summary
Early on South Fremantle had the bulk of the scoring opportunities, however of all these were not executed in effective manner, despite this the Bulldogs held a firm eleven point lead at the end of the first quarter.


2009 WAFL Grand Final, Match summary
Subiaco opened the second term in much better fashion and at one stage even looked like snatching the lead, South Fremantle steadied though to win the quarter and open a three-goal lead by the main break.


2009 WAFL Grand Final, Match summary
Whatever chances the Lions had of getting back into the contest were quickly dashed in the third quarter as South Fremantle ran rampant and opened up a match winning lead by the last change, with a resounding seven goal to two quarter.


2009 WAFL Grand Final, Match summary
The match was effectively over early in the final term, when the Bulldogs opened up a 53-point margin, save for a strong last ten minutes from Subiaco, South Fremantle had controlled virtually the entire match and deservedly went on to claim the flag. Ashton Hams was judged the best player and won the Simpson Medal.


2009 WAFL Grand Final, Other grand finals
Earlier in the day, South Fremantle also won the reserves grand final, defeating West Perth. South Fremantle's Hayden North, who was surprisingly left out of the league team, won the Merv McIntosh Medal as the best player. The previous evening saw Claremont win the colts premiership, defeating Peel Thunder Football Club, with Lewis Broome from Claremont winning the Mel Whinnen Medal as the best player.


2009 WAFL Grand Final, Aftermath
The win ensured South Fremantle's thirteenth WAFL Premiership and ended Subiaco's Premiership winning streak.


2009 WAFL season
The 2009 WAFL season was the 125th season of the West Australian Football League in its various incarnations. It saw South Fremantle break Subiaco’s dynasty that had seen the Lions a kick shy of a perfect season in 2008, winning their last ten games after the early part of the season was the most evenly contested since the nine-club competition began in 1997.


2009 WAFL season
In the end, however, the top four was the same as in 2008. Peel Thunder, with Dean Buszan back, at one point looked like they might achieve their first season with more wins than losses, but returned to their old ways, losing their last ten games by an average of sixty-two points, whilst East Fremantle did not build upon their excellent finish to 2008. 2008 wooden spooners East Perth turned out the biggest threat to the top four with seven wins from eight matches but failed in their last match against Subiaco.


2009 WAFL season, Home-and-away season, Round 13
Swan Districts record their biggest with fewer scoring shots, and the biggest in the WAFL since 1994


2009 WAFL season, Home-and-away season, Round 21
The Bassendean Oval draw produced the first season since 1969 with multiple drawn games; indeed the first time since 1970 when consecutive WANFL/WAFL/WASFL/Westar Rules draws had ever been closer apart than one season.


2009 WAFL season, Finals, Preliminary final
A wasteful 1.7 (13) in the last quarter kicks Swan Districts out of a second straight Grand Final berth.


2009 WAFL season, Finals, Grand Final
Subiaco fail to farewell retiring stars Stenglein, Fletcher, Smith, Maplestone and Pickett with a fourth successive flag, owing to the power of the Bulldogs’ “engine room”.


2009 WAFU Club Championship
The 2009 Wafu Club Championship is an association football competition that is contested between club sides in the WAFU/UFOA region.


2009 WAFU Club Championship
It is sometimes referred to as the Eyadema Unity Cup.


2009 WAFU Club Championship, Matches, Second Round
First leg were played August 21 to August 28 . Second leg were played September 17 to 19.


2009 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 2009 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was an American college ice hockey tournament in 2009 played between March 13 and March 21, at five conference arenas and the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Minnesota-Duluth won their third WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament and the Broadmoor Trophy and received the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.


2009 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
The first round of the postseason tournament featured a best-of-three games format. All ten conference teams participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded No. 1 through No. 10 according to their final conference standing, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with an identical number of points accumulated. The top five seeded teams each earned home ice and host one of the lower seeded teams.


2009 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
The winners of the first round series advanced to the Xcel Energy Center for the WCHA Final Five, the collective name for the quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship rounds. The Final Five used a single-elimination format. Teams were re-seeded No. 1 through No. 5 according to the final regular season conference standings, with the top three teams automatically advancing to the semifinals.


2009 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format, Conference Standings
Note: GP = Games Played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against


2009 WDF World Cup
The 2009 WDF World Cup was the 17th edition of the WDF World Cup darts tournament, organised by the World Darts Federation. It was held in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA from September 23 to 27.


2009 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship
The 2009 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship was a golf tournament that was played from February 25 to March 1, 2009, at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Marana, Arizona. It was the eleventh WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and the first of four World Golf Championships held in 2009.


2009 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship
The tournament marked the return of Tiger Woods to the PGA Tour, following eight months out of the sport after undergoing knee surgery shortly after his victory in the 2008 U.S. Open.


2009 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship
Geoff Ogilvy continued his success at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship defeating Paul Casey, who had not trailed in any of his first five matches, 4 and 3 in the final. It was Ogilvy's second win in the event, in which reached the final for the third time in four years. The victory also improved his already impressive match record in the event to 17 wins and 2 losses.


2009 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, Brackets
The Championship was a single elimination match play event. The field consisted of the top 64 players available from the Official World Golf Rankings as of the February 16 ranking, seeded according to the rankings. All of the top 64 players in the February 16 ranking participated in the event, the first time in the tournament's history that had happened.


2009 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
The 2009 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational was a professional golf tournament held August 6–9 over the South Course at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. It was the eleventh WGC-Bridgestone Invitational tournament, and the third of four World Golf Championships events held in 2009.


2009 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
World number 1 Tiger Woods won his 16th World Golf Championships title, which was his seventh Invitational title. This was his fourth Invitational title in as many starts, as he won three consecutive (2005, 2006, 2007) and missed the 2008 edition due to recuperation after leg surgery. He shot 268 (−12), four strokes ahead of runners-up Robert Allenby and Pádraig Harrington. This was Woods' 10th Invitational appearance and had yet to finish out of the top five; he was second in 2004 and fourth twice (2002, 2003).


2009 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Field
1. Playing members of the 2008 United States and European Ryder Cup teamsChad Campbell, Paul Casey (3,4,5), Stewart Cink (2,3,4,5), Ben Curtis (3,4), Jim Furyk (2,3,4), Sergio García (3,4,5), Søren Hansen (3,4), Pádraig Harrington (3,4,5), J. B. Holmes, Miguel Ángel Jiménez (3,4), Anthony Kim (3,4), Justin Leonard (3,4), Hunter Mahan (2,3,4), Graeme McDowell (3,4), Phil Mickelson (2,3,4,5), Kenny Perry (3,4,5), Ian Poulter (3,4), Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson (3,4,5), Steve Stricker (2,3,4,5), Boo Weekley, Lee Westwood (3,4), Oliver Wilson (3,4)


2009 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Field
2. Playing members of the 2007 United States and International Presidents Cup teamsStuart Appleby, Woody Austin, Ángel Cabrera (3,4,5), K. J. Choi, Ernie Els (3,4), Lucas Glover (3,4,5), Retief Goosen (3,4,5), Charles Howell III, Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson (3,4,5), Geoff Ogilvy (3,4,5), Nick O'Hern, Rory Sabbatini (3,4,5), Adam Scott (3,4), Vijay Singh (3,4,5), David Toms (3,4), Scott Verplank, Mike Weir (3,4), Tiger Woods (3,4,5)


2009 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Field
3. Top 50 players from the Official World Golf Rankings two weeks prior to eventRobert Allenby (4), Tim Clark (4,5), Luke Donald (4), Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño (4,5), Ross Fisher (4), Brian Gay (4,5), Mathew Goggin (4), Dustin Johnson (5), Shingo Katayama (4), Martin Kaymer (4,5), Søren Kjeldsen (4,5), Davis Love III (4,5), Rory McIlroy (4,5), Sean O'Hair (4,5), Álvaro Quirós (4,5), Jeev Milkha Singh (4,5), Camilo Villegas (4,5), Nick Watney (4,5)


2009 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Field
4. Top 50 players from the Official World Golf Rankings one week prior to eventThongchai Jaidee (5)


2009 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Field
5. Winners of Federation tournaments since the prior year's tournament with an Official World Golf Ranking Strength of Field Rating of 115 points or moreCameron Beckman, Christian Cévaër, Darren Clarke, Nick Dougherty, Nathan Green, Grégory Havret, Anthony Kang, Jerry Kelly, Danny Lee, Shane Lowry, Prayad Marksaeng, Pat Perez, Carl Pettersson, Richard Sterne, Marc Turnesa, Yang Yong-eun


2009 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Field
6. The winner of selected tournaments from each of the following tours:


2009 WGC-CA Championship
The 2009 WGC-CA Championship was a golf tournament that was contested from March 12–15 at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Doral, Florida. It was the tenth WGC-CA Championship tournament, and the second of four World Golf Championships events staged in 2009.


2009 WGC-CA Championship
Phil Mickelson won the tournament to capture his first World Golf Championships title.


2009 WGC-CA Championship, Field
1. Top 50 players from the Official World Golf Rankings two weeks prior to eventRobert Allenby (2,3), Stephen Ames (2), Stuart Appleby (3), Aaron Baddeley (2), Paul Casey (2,7), K. J. Choi (2,3), Stewart Cink (2,3), Tim Clark (2,3), Ben Curtis (2,3), Luke Donald (2), Ernie Els (2,3), Ross Fisher (2,6,7), Jim Furyk (2,3), Sergio García (2,3,6,7), Retief Goosen (2,6), Pádraig Harrington (2,6), Trevor Immelman (2,3), Miguel Ángel Jiménez (2,6), Dustin Johnson (2,4,5), Zach Johnson (2,4,5), Robert Karlsson (2,6), Shingo Katayama (2,9), Martin Kaymer (2,6), Anthony Kim (2,3), Justin Leonard (2,3), Hunter Mahan (2,3), Graeme McDowell (2,6), Rory McIlroy (2,7), Phil Mickelson (2,3,4,5), Geoff Ogilvy (2,4,5,7,10), Sean O'Hair (2), Louis Oosthuizen (2,7), Kenny Perry (2,3,4,5), Ian Poulter (2,6), Álvaro Quirós (2,7), Andrés Romero (2,3), Justin Rose (2), Rory Sabbatini (2), Adam Scott (2), Jeev Milkha Singh (2,6,8), Vijay Singh (2,3), Henrik Stenson (2,6,7), Richard Sterne (2,7,11), Steve Stricker (2,3,4,5), Camilo Villegas (2,3), Boo Weekley, Mike Weir (2,3,4), Lee Westwood (2,6), Oliver Wilson (2,6,7), Tiger Woods (2)


2009 WGC-CA Championship, Field
2. Top 50 players from the Official World Golf Rankings one week prior to eventPeter Hanson (6), Davis Love III


2009 WGC-CA Championship, Field
3. Top 30 from the final 2008 PGA Tour FedEx Cup points listBriny Baird, Chad Campbell, Ken Duke, Dudley Hart, Ryuji Imada, Billy Mayfair, Carl Pettersson, Kevin Sutherland, D. J. Trahan, Bubba Watson


2009 WGC-CA Championship, Field
4. Top 10 from the PGA Tour FedEx Cup points list two weeks prior to eventCharley Hoffman, Pat Perez (5), Nick Watney (5)


2009 WGC-CA Championship, Field
5. Top 10 from the PGA Tour FedEx Cup points list one week prior to eventJohn Rollins, Yang Yong-eun


2009 WGC-CA Championship, Field
6. Top 20 from the final 2008 European Tour Order of MeritDarren Clarke, Richard Finch, Søren Hansen, James Kingston, Søren Kjeldsen, Pablo Larrazábal


2009 WGC-CA Championship, Field
7. Top 10 from the European Tour Race to Dubai two weeks prior to event


2009 WGC-CA Championship, Field
8. Top 3 from the final 2008 Asian Tour Order of MeritMark Brown (10), Lin Wen-tang


2009 WGC-CA Championship, Field
9. Top 3 from the final 2008 Japan Golf Tour Order of MeritPrayad Marksaeng, Azuma Yano


2009 WGC-CA Championship, Field
10. Top 3 from the final 2008 PGA Tour of Australasia Order of MeritRod Pampling


2009 WGC-CA Championship, Field
11. Top 3 from the final 2008 Sunshine Tour Order of MeritThomas Aiken, Garth Mulroy


2009 WGC-HSBC Champions
The 2009 WGC-HSBC Champions was a golf tournament that was contested from 5–8 November 2009 at the Sheshan Golf Club in Shanghai, China. It was the first WGC-HSBC Champions tournament, and the fourth of four World Golf Championships events held in 2009.


2009 WGC-HSBC Champions
Phil Mickelson won the tournament, and claimed his second World Golf Championships title of the year and for his career. He won over Ernie Els by one stroke, and Mickelson shot a 17-under-par 271.


2009 WGC-HSBC Champions, Field
The following is a list of players for the 2009 WGC-HSBC Champions tournament. Winners of events are those between the 2008 HSBC Champions and the 2009 WGC-HSBC Champions. The 2008 HSBC-Champions was considered to be an Asian Tour event. However, in determining which were the top rated events, the strength of field for the previous year's event was used (i.e. the event between the 2007 and 2008 HSBC-Champions). Only those events with a strength of field of 40 or more were considered.


2009 WGC-HSBC Champions, Field
Paul Casey (5), Brian Gay, Retief Goosen, Jerry Kelly, Sean O'Hair, Rory Sabbatini, Nick Watney


2009 WGC-HSBC Champions, Field
Jason Dufner, Ernie Els, Pádraig Harrington, Steve Marino, Ian Poulter


2009 WGC-HSBC Champions, Field
Christian Cévaër, Nick Dougherty, Simon Dyson, Ross Fisher, Ricardo González, Peter Hedblom, Jeppe Huldahl, Michael Jonzon, Martin Kaymer, James Kingston, Søren Kjeldsen, Thomas Levet, Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy, Alex Norén, Álvaro Quirós, Scott Strange (10), Daniel Vancsik, Lee Westwood


2009 WGC-HSBC Champions, Field
Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, Sergio García (7), Peter Hanson, Francesco Molinari, Oliver Wilson


2009 WGC-HSBC Champions, Field
Gaganjeet Bhullar (OoM), Chapchai Nirat (OoM), Anthony Kang, Lin Wen-tang, Lam Chih Bing, Daisuke Maruyama (OoM, 8), Chinnaswamy Muniyappa (OoM), Jyoti Randhawa (OoM), Thongchai Jaidee


2009 WGC-HSBC Champions, Field
Yuta Ikeda (OoM), Ryo Ishikawa, Shingo Katayama, Prayad Marksaeng, Jeev Milkha Singh


2009 WGC-HSBC Champions, Field
Thomas Aiken (OoM), Jean Hugo (OoM), Garth Mulroy (OoM), Mark Murless (OoM), Richard Sterne


2009 WGC-HSBC Champions, Field
Robert Allenby (OoM), Mark Brown (OoM), Greg Chalmers (OoM), Danny Lee, Rod Pampling


2009 WGC-HSBC Champions, Field
Players in bold were added to the field through this category. Players listed in "()" already qualified in a previous category. Players listed with their name stricken did not play.


2009 WK-League
The 2009 WK League was the inaugural season of the WK League, the South Korean women's football league. It began on 20 April 2009 with the first matches of the regular season and ended on 16 November 2009 with the return leg of the Championship Final. The slogan of the 2009 season was "Beautiful Football".


2009 WK-League
A total of six teams competed in the 2009 season, playing each other four times during the regular season for a total of twenty matches per team.


2009 WK-League, All-Star Game
The six teams were split into two regions: Hyundai Steel Redangels, Seoul Amazones, and Suwon Facilities Management Corporation comprised the Central region, while the Southern region consisted of Busan Sangmu, Chungnam Ilhwa Chunma, and Daekyo Kangaroos. Both regions sent their best players for the All-Star Game.


2009 WK-League, All-Star Game
Kim Joo-hee of the Hyundai Steel Redangels was named player of the match.


2009 WKU Hilltoppers football team
The 2009 WKU Hilltoppers football team represented Western Kentucky University (WKU) during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was David Elson. WKU was an NCAA Division I FBS independent team in 2008, this year was their first year as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. The Hilltoppers played their home games at Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky.


2009 WKU Hilltoppers football team, Coaching change
On November 9, 2009, David Elson was officially released as WKU's head coach. He remained as head coach until the end of the 2009 season. He was replaced by Stanford's running backs coach Willie Taggart, a Western Kentucky University alumnus.


2009 WNBA All-Star Game
The 2009 WNBA All-Star Game was played on July 25, 2009 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, home of the Connecticut Sun. The game was the 9th annual WNBA All-Star Game. This was the second time Connecticut had hosted the basketball showcase, after previously hosting the 2005 game.


2009 WNBA All-Star Game, The All-Star Game, Coaches
The coach for the Western Conference all-stars was San Antonio Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes. The coach for the Eastern Conference was Indiana Fever coach Lin Dunn.


2009 WNBA Finals
The 2009 WNBA Finals was the championship series of the 2009 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Indiana Fever, top-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, faced the Phoenix Mercury, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference. The Phoenix Mercury defeated the Indiana Fever 3 games to 2 to win their second WNBA Finals title.


2009 WNBA Finals
The Fever made their first ever appearance in the Finals. The Mercury made their third appearance in the Finals.


2009 WNBA Finals
The Mercury's 23–11 record gave them home court advantage over Indiana (22–12).


2009 WNBA Finals, Road to the finals, Regular season series
The Fever and the Mercury split the regular season series:


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 1
Cappie Pondexter missed a game-winning tip-in at the fourth-quarter buzzer then scored seven of her 23 points in overtime Tuesday night to help the Mercury beat the visiting Fever 120–116 in the highest-scoring game in WNBA history.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 1
"Well, if you didn't like women's basketball," Phoenix coach Corey Gaines said, "I think you do now."


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 1
Pondexter, frustrated and in foul trouble in the first half, scored the final five points to close out Game 1 of the best-of-five series.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 1
Penny Taylor scored 23 points and newly crowned league MVP Diana Taurasi had 22 for Phoenix.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 1
Katie Douglas tied it with a 3-pointer for Indiana with 7.1 seconds left in regulation, then scored eight in overtime for the Fever to reach a career playoff high 30 points. Ebony Hoffman had a career-high 27 on 12 of 14 shooting as the Fever set a franchise scoring record in just the second 100-point game in the club's history.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 1
The Mercury and Fever each scored more points than any team previously in league history. The old mark was 115, of course by Phoenix, in an overtime victory over Sacramento on June 13.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 1
"It was fun," Taurasi said, "kind of showing a different side of women's basketball - how high a level it is. It's fun to be in the game and I'm sure it was fun to watch."


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 1
Indiana's Tamika Catchings had just eight points before fouling out with 2:42 left in overtime but harassed Taurasi into a 5 of 17 shooting night.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 1
Rookie DeWanna Bonner's two free throws put Phoenix ahead 105-102 with 14.2 seconds left in regulation, then after a timeout, the Fever got the ball to the open Douglas, who sank the 3 that tied it.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 1
The lead changed hands six times in overtime. Douglas' 15-footer gave Indiana its final lead at 116-115 with 1:40 left. Pondexter scored on a drive to put the Mercury ahead 117–116 with 1:27 to go, then sank a 16-footer with 20.2 seconds to go to make it 119–116. She finally finished off the Fever by making one of two free throws with 3 seconds to play.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 1
Ratings and viewership for Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on ESPN2 were up 39 percent (.43 rating vs. .31 rating for Game 1 of the '08 WNBA Finals) and 59 percent respectively (555,000 viewers vs. 348,000 viewers), making Game 1 the most viewed WNBA game on cable since Game 4 of the '07 WNBA Finals (Shock vs. Mercury) on ESPN2 (669,000).


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
Tamika Catchings fell one rebound shy of the first triple-double in WNBA finals history and the Indiana Fever beat the Phoenix Mercury 93–84 to square the best-of-five series 1–1.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
After scoring just eight points and fouling out in Game 1, Catchings had 19 points, 11 assists (tying a finals record) and nine rebounds to help the Fever steal home-court advantage in the series with the next two games in Indianapolis.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
"Series can swing either way really quick," Diana Taurasi said, "and it's swung in their favor pretty quick now."


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
The WNBA defensive player of the year for the third time, Catchings also harassed the league MVP Taurasi into a 7-for-22 shooting night. Taurasi finished with 20 points, going 2 of 10 on 3-pointers.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
There has not been a triple-double in any WNBA game since 2005 and it has happened only once in the playoffs. When Catchings, runner-up to Taurasi in the MVP voting, needed only two rebounds in the final six-plus minutes, it looked as if she would get there. But her ninth didn't come until there was just 28 seconds to play.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
The cold-shooting Mercury were without supersub Penny Taylor most of the second half. The Aussie, who scored all 14 of her points in the first half, took an elbow from Indiana rookie Briann January and left with a cut lip with 3:33 to play in the third quarter.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
January, a standout at nearby Arizona State, finished with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, 3 of 4 on 3-pointers.


2009 WNBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
The Mercury struggled on offense two nights after a 120–116 overtime victory in Game 1, the highest-scoring contest in WNBA history. Phoenix shot 39.7 percent for the game and was just 5 of 20 in the third quarter, when the Fever built a 17-point lead.