2011 Abkhazian presidential election, Background
The election was originally scheduled to take place in 2014, five years after the previous election; however, the Constitution of Abkhazia required an election to be held within three months after the unexpected death of incumbent president Sergei Bagapsh on 29 May. On 8 June the People's Assembly set the election date for 26 August. The MPs decided against earlier dates such as 20 August, which is immediately after the summer holidays, as the election is largely organised by teachers and to allow for repairs to school buildings to be completed, where many polling stations are located.


2011 Abkhazian presidential election, Background, Requirements and registration procedure
According to the Law on the Election of the President of the Republic of Abkhazia, candidates for the Presidency have to:


2011 Abkhazian presidential election, Background, Requirements and registration procedure
Prospective candidates have to be nominated between 27 June and 17 July. This can be done either by an initiative group of at least 10 people with a list of between 2000 and 2500 signatures, or by a political party registered with the Central Election Commission. The only parties registered in this way are United Abkhazia, the Forum of the National Unity of Abkhazia, the Party of the Economic Development of Abkhazia, the People's Party and the Communist Party. After the nomination period ends, the Central Election Commission will verify the signature lists and whether candidates satisfy the set requirements. To test the nominees' proficiency in Abkhaz, it has established a language commission. Registration of the candidates has to be completed before 27 July and two days after their registration the Central Election Commission has to make public the list of nominees whose candidacy had been approved.


2011 Abkhazian presidential election, Candidates
All three candidates who were nominated for the election successfully completed their registration: Acting President Alexander Ankvab, Prime Minister Sergei Shamba and opposition leader Raul Khajimba. Following their nomination, Shamba and his vice presidential candidate, Shamil Adzynba, as well as Khajimba and his running mate Svetlana Jergenia applied for registration on 16 July. Ankvab and his vice presidential candidate Mikhail Logua filed their application on 17 July. The three presidential candidates passed their Abkhaz language test on 20 July 2011. All candidates were registered by the CEC on 25 July and received their certificates on 26 July.


2011 Abkhazian presidential election, Campaign
The election campaign official began when the candidates received their registration certificates on 26 July. According to election law, Alexander Ankvab and Sergei Shamba had to take leave from their offices. Correspondingly, Parliament Speaker Nugzar Ashuba temporarily took over as Acting President and Vice-Premier Beslan Kubrava as Prime Minister.


2011 Abkhazian presidential election, Campaign
On 19 July, the League of Voters "For Fair Elections" held its first press conference to announce that it would monitor the upcoming election as in previous years.


2011 Abkhazian presidential election, Campaign, Media use, TV broadcasts
Each presidential candidate received three hours of free air time on national state television in the four weeks running up to election day, and each Vice Presential candidate one hour. During the first week, candidates had the choice between an hour of live interaction with voters and sending in a pre-recorded DVD. In the second week, the candidates, alone or assisted by no more than four associates, received one hour of live interaction with voters. In the third and fourth weeks, first the vice-presidential candidate and then the presidential candidates had the opportunity to answer alternatingly questions from voters and from officially registered media.


2011 Abkhazian presidential election, Campaign, Media use, TV broadcasts
Apart from these broadcasts, each candidate could send in commercials up to five minutes, which were broadcast on weekdays between 1 and 25 August, three times daily (8:00, 18:00 and 20:00).


2011 Abkhazian presidential election, Campaign, Media use, TV broadcasts
The order in which the broadcasts of candidates appeared was determined by draw, and was as follows:


2011 Abkhazian presidential election, Results
The CEC decided that in order to reduce costs and simplify the organisation of the election, there would be no separate polling stations and precinct election commissions for military units. Instead, it sent a letter to the Ministry of Defence requesting that soldiers should receive leave ten days before the election, allowing them to collect absentee ballots and thus vote in a polling station of their choosing.


2011 Abkhazian presidential election, Results
According to the Abkhazian electoral commission, preliminary results showed a first round victory for Ankvab over Shamba and Khajimba.


2011 Abkhazian presidential election, Results
The official results, released on 27 August, showed only small differences, and Alexander Ankvab was elected in the first round. He is to be sworn in on 26 September.


2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
The 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (formally the 2011 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) was the eighteenth and penultimate round of the 2011 Formula One season. It was held on 13 November 2011 at the Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island, a man-made island on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. It was the third running of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. As is customary with the race, it was the only twilight Grand Prix of the 2011 Formula One season, with a start time of 17:00 local time.


2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
The race was won by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. Second was Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, with Jenson Button coming third in the other McLaren.


2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Sebastian Vettel, having won both of the previous iterations of the race for Red Bull Racing-Renault, had been in pole position, but retired after a puncture in the first lap, near the second corner, which was his first retirement since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix, where he encountered a problem with his engine. As a result, this prevented him from equalling Michael Schumacher's record of 13 wins in one season, but Vettel did equal Nigel Mansell's 1992 record of 14 pole positions in one season. This was also the only race of 2011 in which neither Red Bull finished on the podium, as Vettel's teammate Mark Webber finished fourth.


2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Report, Background
Vitantonio Liuzzi returned to Hispania for the race, having been replaced by Narain Karthikeyan for the Indian Grand Prix to make way for him to drive in front of his home crowd.


2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Report, Background
Williams driver Pastor Maldonado took a ten-place grid penalty for exceeding his engine quota for the season. Drivers are entitled to use up to eight engines over the course of the season without penalty, but Maldonado's eighth and final engine was damaged beyond repair when he retired from the Indian Grand Prix.


2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Report, Background
In the week before the race, it was announced that the teams would trial several new compounds of tyre rubber in Friday practice, to offer tyre supplier Pirelli more feedback on their planned 2012 tyre compounds. Tyre supplier Pirelli brought its white-banded medium compound tyre as the harder "prime" tyre and the yellow-banded soft compound as the softer "option" compound, as opposed to the previous year where Bridgestone brought the red-banded super-soft compound as the option.


2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Report, Background
Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion Robert Wickens and runner-up Jean-Éric Vergne drove during free practice; Vergne drove for Toro Rosso, while Wickens drove for Virgin in place of Jérôme d'Ambrosio. GP2 Series champion Romain Grosjean also drove during free practice, for Renault.


2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Report, Background
The circuit included two DRS zones, each with their own independent detection points. The first detection point was located just before the Turn 7 hairpin, with its corresponding activation point positioned halfway down the long back straight; the second detection point was set after the exit of Turn 9, with its activation point adjacent to the secondary pit lane at Turn 10.


2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Report, Background
The drivers' representative on the stewards panel for the Grand Prix weekend was Derek Warwick.


2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
The first practice session saw Jenson Button set the fastest lap time, one tenth of a second ahead of Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton had set the early pace, using Pirelli's experimental development tyres, but Webber and Sebastian Vettel surpassed him, and Button set his fastest lap time as the session drew to a close. Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa experienced several off-track excursions between them. Romain Grosjean set a faster lap time than teammate Vitaly Petrov, though Petrov was forced to abandon his car during his final run with engine troubles. Rubens Barrichello was also forced out with technical problems, failing to set a lap time.


2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
The second session was known for two separate incidents at Turn 1; Vettel spun and became stuck in the outside barrier early in the session, while Alonso crashed at the same place. Hamilton went on to set the fastest time, two-tenths faster than Button's fastest time in the first session.


2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
Qualifying began with dusk approaching in Abu Dhabi, with Vettel looking to equal Nigel Mansell's record of 14 poles in a season. In the first session Rubens Barrichello had an oil leak, therefore unable to set a lap time, but was allowed to race. He joined the Lotuses, HRTs and Virgins in failing to make it to the second part of qualifying. In the second qualifying session, which took place as the sun went down, there was a red flag mid way, due to a loose bollard, which Massa drove over but escaped without damage.


2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
When the bollard was removed the session resumed. Sauber, Renault, Toro Rosso, and the remaining Williams car of Pastor Maldonado were all knocked out. Pastor Maldonado had been given a 10 place grid penalty for a ninth engine, so started in 23rd, just in front of his teammate on the back row of the grid. Hamilton led most of the final qualifying session, only to be beaten to pole position by Vettel, on Vettel's last lap. The order then followed with Button in 3rd, Webber 4th, then Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, Schumacher, Sutil, and di Resta, having not set a time in order to save tyres for the race.


2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Report, Race
Vettel led into the first corner, but an unexplained puncture on his left rear tyre caused him to spin off the track at Turn 2 and suffer his first retirement of the season. Hamilton led the race afterwards, and won the race mostly untroubled. Alonso finished second after he overtook Button on lap 1, Button eventually finished third. Webber dropped to behind Alonso at the start, but remained fourth after Vettel's retirement. He battled with Button throughout the race, but to no avail, eventually finishing fourth. He was followed by Felipe Massa, the two Mercedes, the two Force Indias, and the two Saubers - with Kobayashi taking the final point and Pérez missing out in eleventh. Jérôme d'Ambrosio, Sébastien Buemi and Daniel Ricciardo were the other retirements of the race.


2011 Abuja United Nations bombing
The 2011 Abuja bombing was a car bomb explosion on Friday, 26 August 2011 in the Nigerian capital Abuja's UN building that killed at least 21 and wounded 60. A spokesperson from the Sunni Islamist group Boko Haram later claimed responsibility.


2011 Abuja United Nations bombing
At about 11:00 WAT in the diplomatic zone in the centre of the city the car bomb vehicle broke through two security barriers. Then its driver detonated the bomb after crashing it into the UN reception area. The bomb caused devastation to the building's lower floors. The building is said to be the headquarters for about 400 UN employees but it is not clear how many were inside the building at the time of the attack.


2011 Abuja United Nations bombing
A wing of the building collapsed and the ground floor of the building was badly damaged. Emergency services were quickly on the scene removing dead bodies from the building and rushing the wounded to hospital. Cranes have been brought to the blast site to move the mass of rubble and ensure that no-one is trapped there.


2011 Abuja United Nations bombing
The blast killed at least 21 people and injured 73. The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Viola Onwuliri, said: "This is not an attack on Nigeria but on the global community. An attack on the world." UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the attack as an 'assault on those who devote themselves to helping others' The attack is the first suicide bombing in Nigeria to attack an international organisation.


2011 Abuja United Nations bombing
In September 2011 the Nigerian Department of State Security alleged that Mamman Nur was the mastermind behind the attack and offered a ₦26 million (US$160,000) bounty. Also four men appeared in an Abuja magistrates' court charged with organising the bombing, and were remanded in custody to a federal high court hearing.


2011 Abuja police headquarters bombing
The 2011 Abuja police headquarters bombing was believed to be the first suicide bombing in Nigeria's history. The attack occurred on 16 June 2011, when a suicide bomber drove a car bomb onto the premises of the Louis Edet House in Abuja, the headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force. He may have been trying to kill Inspector-General of Police Hafiz Ringim, whose convoy he followed into the compound, but he was stopped by security before he could do so.


2011 Abuja police headquarters bombing
It was confirmed that the bomber and a traffic policeman were killed, although authorities said there may have been up to six casualties.


2011 Aceh Singkil Regency earthquakes
2011 Aceh Singkil earthquake that occurred 59 kilometers northeast of Singkil, Singkil, Aceh with a magnitude of 6.7 at 00:55 am on September 6, 2011 (17:55 UTC 5 September 2011). According to BMKG, this earthquake was at a depth of 78 km. However, according to the USGS, the quake was located at a depth of 91 km.


2011 Aceh Singkil Regency earthquakes
The earthquake was also felt to Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Kedah and Penang in Malaysia. The intensity was MM III in George Town, Penang and MM II in Kuala Lumpur.


2011 Aceh Singkil Regency earthquakes, Geology
This earthquake was in Semangko Section and was felt up to Banda Aceh, Binjai, Kabanjahe, Pakpak Bharat and Stabat.


2011 Aceh Singkil Regency earthquakes, Impact
The earthquake caused damage from mild to severe to school buildings, government offices, places of worship, and homes in various regions. This earthquake left ten people dead.


2011 Aceh Singkil Regency earthquakes, Statistics
Until the second day after the earthquake, the data obtained from the Post Disaster Porch Subulussalam record the number of damaged houses reached 2281 units (133 were severely damaged). 74 damaged schools, with details of 48 heavily damaged, 26 lightly damaged. In addition, 31 houses of worship or Musalla heavily damaged, 49 lightly damaged, and seven damaged.


2011 Aceh Singkil Regency earthquakes, Statistics
A total of eight government offices were slightly damaged and three were severely damaged. Five health centers were slightly damaged, one heavily damaged, and one damaged. The home office as many as 16 units each of nine minor damage, 5 moderate damage, and 2 heavily damaged.


2011 Aceh Singkil Regency earthquakes, Response
Head of Public Relations at the Bureau Secretariat Hukmas Aceh, Usamah Elmadny to Serambi reported, the panic of Government aid to earthquake victims in Aceh Singkil and Subulussalam has arrived at the scene on Wednesday (7 / 9) morning.


2011 Aceh Singkil Regency earthquakes, Response
According to Usama quoting Social Kadis Aceh, Nasir Gurumud, the first phase of assistance to be dispatched on Tuesday night in the form of 10 000 eggs, 500 boxes of instant noodles, 1,200 cans of sardines, 300 liters of cooking oil, 1,000 pieces of shirt collar, robe 1,000 sheets, 200 package of family kits, 100 sheets of blue tarpaulin, 100 pieces of mattresses, 200 packets foodware, and 600 kilograms of salted fish has arrived in Subulussalam and have been distributed to victims, both in Subulussalam and Singkil.


2011 Aceh Singkil Regency earthquakes, Response
On Wednesday afternoon yesterday, the team Dinsos Aceh with BPBA also moved into the disaster zone to make sure everything is insurmountable well. In that group, he participated two representatives of the Director General of Disaster Affairs of RI that will do the monitoring.


2011 Aceh Singkil Regency earthquakes, Response
"The governor of Aceh, had been due to leave yesterday to lead the party well, but respect the existence of an important visit from the Military Attache of Singapore, as well as meetings with the Director General of Regional Autonomy Kemendagri, so he was forced to delay his departure and delegate tasks and responsibilities related to SKPA," said Osama. "The governor will continue to Singkil in 1–2 days," said Usamah.


2011 Acropolis International Basketball Tournament
The Acropolis International Tournament 2011 was a basketball tournament held in OAKA Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece, from August 23 until August 25, 2011. This was the 25th edition of the Acropolis International Basketball Tournament. The four participating teams were Greece, Brigham Young University, Bulgaria and Italy.


2011 Acropolis Rally
The 2011 Acropolis Rally was the seventh round of the 2011 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over 17–19 June, and was based in Loutraki, 85 kilometres (52.8 mi) outside the country's capital, Athens. The rally was also the fourth round of the Super 2000 World Rally Championship. The Acropolis Rally returned to the WRC calendar for the first time since 2009, after the event was not run in 2010.


2011 Acropolis Rally
Sébastien Ogier took his third victory in five starts, having overtaken team-mate Sébastien Loeb on the final day of the event. Ogier's winning margin was 10.5 seconds, with Mikko Hirvonen a further three seconds behind in third place. Juho Hänninen claimed SWRC honours with an overall eighth-place finish.


2011 Acropolis Rally, Results, Power Stage
The "Power stage" was a live, televised 4.00 km (2.49 mi) stage at the end of the rally, held in Loutraki.


2011 Adelaide Film Festival
The 5th Adelaide Film Festival took place in Adelaide, Australia, from 24 February to 6 March 2011. Katrina Sedgwick was again Festival Director. Julietta Sichel was the head of the jury for the main competition. Judy Davis received the 2011 Don Dunstan Award for her contribution to the Australian film industry on the opening night of the Festival. The glass statuette was presented by Australian filmmaker Fred Schepisi.


2011 Adelaide Film Festival
A special screening of the 2010 Restoration Version of Fritz Lang's classic sci-fi epic Metropolis was shown with a new score, written by The New Pollutants. This original score was conceived, composed and recorded over a 12-month period, and had its world premiere at the 2005 Adelaide Film Festival.


2011 Adelaide Film Festival
The festival opened with Mrs Carey's Concert, directed by Bob Connolly and Sophie Raymond, and closed with Mad Bastards, directed by Brendan Fletcher. The film poster for the festival featured a man projecting a film from within himself, illustrating the theme "See Within."


2011 Adelaide Film Festival
The Canadian film Incendies won the International Award for Best Feature Film.


2011 Adelaide Film Festival, Competition, Jury
The following people were selected for the In Competition Jury:


2011 Adelaide Film Festival, Competition, In Competition
The following films were selected for the In Competition section:


2011 Adelaide Film Festival, Awards
The International Award for Best Feature Film was won by the Canadian film Incendies directed by Denis Villeneuve.


2011 Adelaide Film Festival, Awards
The Audience Award for Best Feature Film was won by Snowtown.


2011 Adelaide Film Festival, Awards
The Audience Award for Best Documentary was won by Senna.


2011 Adelaide Film Festival, Awards
The Audience Award for Best Short Film was won by The Palace.


2011 Adelaide Football Club season
The 2011 AFL season was the Adelaide Football Club's 21st season in the AFL. Neil Craig coached from round 1 to round 18, but was replaced by Mark Bickley who coached from round 19. Nathan van Berlo was appointed captain and the leadership group consisted of Scott Stevens, Ben Rutten, Michael Doughty and Scott Thompson.


2011 Adelaide Football Club season, Squad
Statistics are correct as of start of 2010 season. Flags represent place of birth.


2011 Adelaide Football Club season, NAB Cup
The 2011 NAB Cup was competed in a new format for the first time since 2003. Adelaide played two games on 11 February 2011, against Melbourne and Port Adelaide. Melbourne defeated Adelaide in the first game 0.5.4 (34) – 0.3.6 (24), but the team defeated cross town rivals Port Adelaide 0.6.4 (40) – 0.1.2 (8).


2011 Adelaide Football Club season, NAB Cup
Adelaide didn't make it into the second round of the NAB Cup, but were to play NAB Challenge/practice matches for the rest of the competition. Adelaide played Fremantle at Thebarton Oval on 26 February. They won by 74 points 22.8 (140) – 10.6 (66). They then played Carlton at Visy Park on 4 March, losing by 34 points 15.10 (100) – 11.10 (76). In the final preseason match of 2011, Adelaide played Richmond, again at Visy Park on the 11th, this time coming up the winners by 68 points 18.14 (122) – 8.6 (54).


2011 Adelaide Sevens
The 2011 Adelaide Sevens, promoted as the International Rugby Sevens Adelaide 2011, was a rugby sevens tournament that was part of the IRB Sevens World Series in the 2010–11 season. It was the Australian Sevens leg of the series, held over the weekend of 2–3 April 2011 at the Adelaide Oval in South Australia.


2011 Adelaide Sevens
The competition was won by New Zealand who defeated South Africa 28–20 in the Cup final.


2011 Adelaide Sevens
This was the final edition of the Adelaide Sevens, though not of the Australian leg of the IRB Sevens. The Gold Coast became the new host for the next four events beginning in 2011–12. The Gold Coast tournament was moved to the start of the calendar for the IRB series, opening the season in November 2011.


2011 Adelaide Sevens, Format
The teams were drawn into four pools of four teams each. Each team played the other teams in their pool once, with 3 points awarded for a win, 2 points for a draw, and 1 point for a loss (no points awarded for a forfeit). The top two teams from each group progressed to quarter-finals in the main competition, with the winners of those quarter-finals competing in cup semi-finals and the losers competing in plate semi-finals. The bottom two teams from each group progressed to quarter-finals in the consolation competition, with the winners of those quarter-finals competing in bowl semi-finals and the losers competing in shield semi-finals.


2011 Adelaide Sevens, Pool stage
Play on the first day of the tournament consisted of matches between teams in the same pool on a round robin basis. The following is a list of the recorded results.


2011 Adelaide Sevens, Knockout stage
Play on the second day of the tournament consisted of finals matches for the Bowl, Plate, and Cup competitions. The following is a list of the recorded results.


2011 AdvoCare 500
The 2011 AdvoCare 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race scheduled to be held on September 4, 2011, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, but was rescheduled to September 6, 2011 because of Tropical Storm Lee. Contested over 325 laps, it was the 25th race of the 2011 Sprint Cup Series season. Jeff Gordon's win, the 85th of his Cup Series career, gave him sole possession of the record for most Cup wins in NASCAR's "modern era" (1972–present), surpassing Darrell Waltrip. Gordon also took sole possession of third place on the all-time Cup Series wins list, ahead of Waltrip and Bobby Allison. The race was also known for being the first NASCAR race since 2007 to be run on a Tuesday.


2011 AdvoCare 500, Report, Background
Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of ten  intermediate to hold NASCAR races; the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway. The standard track at Atlanta Motor Speedway is a four-turn quad-oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long. The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.


2011 AdvoCare 500, Report, Background
Before the race, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson led the Drivers' Championship with 830 points, and Matt Kenseth stood in third with 798 points. Carl Edwards was fourth in the Drivers' Championship with 795 points, and Kevin Harvick was fifth with 782 points. Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Tony Stewart rounded out the first ten positions. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 153 points, 19 points ahead of Ford. Toyota, with 133 points, was 25 points ahead of Dodge in the battle for third. Stewart was the race's defending champion.


2011 AdvoCare 500, Report, Practice and qualifying
Two practice sessions were held before the Sunday race, one on Friday and the other on Saturday. The first session lasted 80 minutes, while the second session ran for 90 minutes. During the first practice session, Brad Keselowski was quickest, ahead of Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer in second and third. Martin Truex, Jr. was scored fourth quickest, while Mark Martin was fifth. In the second and final practice session, Gordon was scored quickest, as Stewart and Bowyer followed in the second and third positions. Keselowski was scored in the fourth position, while Greg Biffle followed in fifth.


2011 AdvoCare 500, Report, Practice and qualifying
During qualifying, forty-seven cars were entered, but only forty-three would be able because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Kasey Kahne clinched his eighth career pole position, with a time of 29.775 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Bowyer. Kyle Busch qualified third, Brian Vickers took fourth, and Gordon started fifth. Kenseth, Edwards, Truex, Jr., Newman, and Kurt Busch rounded out the first ten positions. The four drivers that failed to qualify for the race were T. J. Bell, David Stremme, Geoffrey Bodine, and Tony Raines.


2011 AdvoCare 500, Report, Practice and qualifying
After winning the pole position, Kahne stated, "It was definitely not a perfect lap, but it was a little better than what everyone else did. I've ran better laps than that before and not been on the pole. You never know what you're going to get, but the track is pretty slippery right now and I like it like that." He also commented, "We need to win if we want to make the Chase. Right now we're one of the ones on the outside looking in." Bowyer, who qualified second, was relieved because of his good starting position: "A good qualifying run is a breath of fresh air for all of us. We need a good run desperately." He continued, "She was loose, holy cow! It was a handful for all of us."


2011 AdvoCare 500, Report, Race
The race, the 25th in the season, was scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. EDT. However, because of inclement weather from Tropical Storm Lee, NASCAR moved the start time twenty minutes earlier than the scheduled time. The race was not able to be held as expected on September 4, 2011 and was rescheduled on September 6, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. EDT. The race was televised live in the United States on ESPN. This race was the first NASCAR race to be held on a Tuesday since 2007.


2011 Aegon Championships
The 2011 Aegon Championships (also known traditionally as the Queen's Club Championships) was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 109th edition of the Aegon Championships and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Queen's Club in London, United Kingdom, in the club's 125th year. The tournament was scheduled to take place between 6 and 12 June 2011, however the finals were delayed to 13 June 2011 due to rain. The field was headlined by the 2008 champion and current world number one Rafael Nadal, four-time champion Andy Roddick, 2009 champion Andy Murray and defending champion Sam Querrey.


2011 Aegon Championships
In the singles competition, the defending champion Sam Querrey lost in round three, paving the way for Andy Murray to win his second title; Murray became the first Briton since Gordan Lowe to win multiple Queen's titles. While in the doubles the defending champion was absent, Bob and Mike Bryan won their 4th Aegon doubles title, their first since 2005.


2011 Aegon Championships, Finals, Doubles
Bob Bryan /  Mike Bryan defeated  Mahesh Bhupathi /  Leander Paes,  6–7(2–7), 7–6(7–4), [10–6]


2011 Aegon Championships, Entries, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2011 Aegon Championships – Doubles
Novak Djokovic and Jonathan Erlich were the defending champions, but Djokovic decided not to compete, and Erlich chose to play at Halle instead.


2011 Aegon Championships – Doubles
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan won the title, defeating Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes 6–7(2–7), 7–6(7–4), [10–6] in the final.


2011 Aegon Championships – Singles
Sam Querrey was the defending champion but was eliminated by James Ward in the third round, ensuring that, for the sixth straight year, the defending champion would not be able to defend his title.


2011 Aegon Championships – Singles
Andy Murray won in the final 3–6, 7–6(7–2), 6–4 against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.


2011 Aegon Championships – Singles, Seeds
The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2011 Aegon Classic
The 2011 Aegon Classic was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 30th edition of the event. It took place at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham, United Kingdom, originally scheduled for 6–12 June 2011, but the final was rescheduled to 13 June 2011 due to rain. Unseeded Sabine Lisicki won the singles title.


2011 Aegon Classic, Finals, Doubles
Olga Govortsova /  Alla Kudryavtseva defeated  Sara Errani /  Roberta Vinci 1–6, 6–1, [10–5]


2011 Aegon Classic – Doubles
Cara Black and Lisa Raymond were the defending champions, but only Raymond decided to compete in 2011. She partnered up with Liezel Huber, but they were eliminated in the semifinals by Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.


2011 Aegon Classic – Doubles
Olga Govortsova and Alla Kudryavtseva defeated Errani and Vinci in the final 1–6, 6–1, [10–5].


2011 Aegon Classic – Singles
Li Na was the defending champion, but chose not to compete after winning the French Open singles title the previous week.


2011 Aegon Classic – Singles
Sabine Lisicki won the title, defeating Daniela Hantuchová in the final 6–3, 6–2.


2011 Aegon Classic – Singles, Seeds
The top eight seeds received a bye into the second round.


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Barnstaple
The 2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Barnstaple was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the fourth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2011 ITF Women's Circuit. It took place in Barnstaple, Great Britain between 23 and 29 October 2011.


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Barnstaple, WTA entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Barnstaple, WTA entrants, Other Entrants
The following player received entry from a Lucky loser spot:


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Barnstaple, Champions, Doubles
Eva Birnerová /  Anne Keothavong def. Sandra Klemenschits /  Tatjana Malek, 7–5, 6–1


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Barnstaple – Doubles
Andrea Hlaváčková and Michaëlla Krajicek were the defending champions, but Hlaváčková chose not to participate. Krajicek competed with Caroline Garcia, but lost in the semifinals to Eva Birnerová and Anne Keothavong.


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Barnstaple – Doubles
Eva Birnerová and Anne Keothavong won the title defeating Sandra Klemenschits and Tatjana Malek in the final 7–5, 6–1.


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Barnstaple – Singles
Alison Riske was the defending champion, but lost in the first round to Andrea Hlaváčková.


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Barnstaple – Singles
Anne Keothavong won the title defeating Marta Domachowska in the final 6–1, 6–3.


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Bath
The 2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Bath was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the first edition of the tournament which was part of the 2011 ATP Challenger Tour and the 2011 ITF Women's Circuit. It took place in Bath, Great Britain between 21 and 27 March 2011.


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Bath, ATP singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Bath, WTA singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Bath, WTA singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received entry as a lucky loser from the qualifying draw:


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Bath, Champions, Men's Doubles
Jamie Delgado /  Jonathan Marray def. Yves Allegro / Andreas Beck, 6–3, 6–4


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Bath, Champions, Women's Doubles
Tímea Babos /  Anne Kremer def. Marta Domachowska /  Katarzyna Piter, 7–6(5), 6–2


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Bath – Men's Doubles
Jamie Delgado and Jonathan Marray defeated Yves Allegro and Andreas Beck in the final 6–3, 6–4.


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Bath – Men's Singles
Dmitry Tursunov claimed the title, defeating Andreas Beck 6–4, 6–4 in the final.


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Bath – Women's Doubles
This is the first edition of the tournament. Tímea Babos and Anne Kremer won the tournament after defeating Marta Domachowska and Katarzyna Piter 7–6(5), 6–2 in the final.


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Bath – Women's Singles
Stefanie Vögele won the first edition of the tournament, defeating Marta Domachowska 6–7(3), 7–5, 6–2 in the final.


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Shrewsbury
The 2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Shrewsbury will be a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It will be the fourth edition of the tournament which is part of the 2011 ITF Women's Circuit. It will take place in Shrewsbury, Great Britain between 19 and 25 September 2011.


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Shrewsbury, WTA entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Shrewsbury, Champions, Doubles
Maria João Koehler /  Katalin Marosi def. Amanda Elliott /  Johanna Konta, 7–6(7–3), 6–1


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Shrewsbury – Doubles
Vitalia Diatchenko and Irena Pavlovic were the defending champions, but both players chose not to participate. Maria João Koehler and Katalin Marosi won the title, defeating Amanda Elliott and Johanna Konta 7–6(7–3), 6–1 in the final.


2011 Aegon GB Pro-Series Shrewsbury – Singles
Eva Birnerová was the defending champion, but chose not to participate. Mona Barthel won the title, defeating Heather Watson 6–0, 6–3 in the final.


2011 Aegon International
The 2011 Aegon International was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 37th edition of the event for the women and the 3rd edition for the men. It was classified as a WTA Premier tournament on the 2011 WTA Tour and as an ATP World Tour 250 series on the 2011 ATP World Tour. The event took place at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club in Eastbourne, United Kingdom from June 11 through June 18, 2011. The men's doubles final was originally scheduled to take place on June 17, but due to rain delays it was eventually played on June 19 at Roehampton instead.


2011 Aegon International, ATP entrants, Other entrants
The following player(s) were promoted into the main draw as Special Exempts:


2011 Aegon International, ATP entrants, Other entrants
The following player(s) were promoted into the main draw as Lucky Losers:


2011 Aegon International, Champions, Women's doubles
Květa Peschke /  Katarina Srebotnik defeated  Liezel Huber /  Lisa Raymond, 6–3, 6–0


2011 Aegon International – Men's Doubles
Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the first round by Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram who won the tournament.


2011 Aegon International – Men's Doubles
The final was first abandoned due to rain, but eventually played with Erlich and Ram defeating Grigor Dimitrov and Andreas Seppi in the final, 6–3, 6–3.


2011 Aegon International – Men's Singles
Michaël Llodra was the defending champion, but chose not to compete.


2011 Aegon International – Men's Singles
Andreas Seppi won the title, defeating Janko Tipsarević in the final after Tipsarević retired with Seppi leading 7–6(7–5), 3–6, 5–3.


2011 Aegon International – Men's Singles Qualifying
The qualifying singles of the 2011 Aegon International took place from June 13th to 18th, 2011 in Eastbourne, Great Britain.


2011 Aegon International – Women's Doubles
Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs were the defending champions, but Stubbs decided not to participate. Raymond played alongside Liezel Huber, but defeated 1st seed Květa Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik them  6–3, 6–0 in the final.


2011 Aegon International – Women's Singles
Marion Bartoli won the title, defeating Petra Kvitová in the final 6–1, 4–6, 7–5 to win the Women's Singles tennis title at the 2011 Eastbourne International. Bartoli won the title after saving a match point Lucie Šafářová had against her in the first round. Ekaterina Makarova was the defending champion, but lost to Kvitová in the second round.


2011 Aegon International – Women's Singles
This tournament was notable for being the first in which Serena Williams competed since her victory at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, after battling a foot injury. She lost in the second round to Vera Zvonareva.


2011 Aegon International – Women's Singles Qualifying
This article displays the qualifying draw of the 2011 Aegon International.


2011 Aegon Pro-Series Loughborough
The 2011 Aegon Pro-Series Loughborough was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the second edition of the tournament which was part of the 2011 ATP Challenger Tour and the 2011 ITF Women's Circuit. It took place in Loughborough, Great Britain between 7 and 13 November 2011.


2011 Aegon Pro-Series Loughborough, ATP singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2011 Aegon Pro-Series Loughborough, WTA entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2011 Aegon Pro-Series Loughborough, Champions, Men's Doubles
Jamie Delgado /  Jonathan Marray def. Sam Barry /  Daniel Glancy, 6–2, 6–2


2011 Aegon Pro-Series Loughborough, Champions, Women's Doubles
Tara Moore /  Francesca Stephenson def. Malou Ejdesgaard /  Amanda Elliott, 3–6, 6–2, [10–3]


2011 Aegon Pro-Series Loughborough – Men's Doubles
Henri Kontinen and Frederik Nielsen were the defending champions but decided not to participate. Jamie Delgado and Jonathan Marray won the title, defeating Sam Barry and Daniel Glancy 6–2, 6–2 in the final.


2011 Aegon Pro-Series Loughborough – Men's Singles
Matthias Bachinger was the defending champion but decided not to participate.


2011 Aegon Pro-Series Loughborough – Men's Singles
Tobias Kamke won the title defeating Flavio Cipolla in the final 6–2, 7–5.


2011 Aegon Pro-Series Loughborough – Women's Doubles
Jocelyn Rae and Jade Windley were the defending champions, but both chose not to participate.


2011 Aegon Pro-Series Loughborough – Women's Doubles
Tara Moore and Francesca Stephenson won the title defeating Malou Ejdesgaard and Amanda Elliott in the final 3–6, 6–2, [10–3].


2011 Aegon Pro-Series Loughborough – Women's Singles
Lara Michel was the defending champion, but chose not to participate.


2011 Aegon Pro-Series Loughborough – Women's Singles
Tara Moore won the title defeating Myrtille Georges in the final 7–6(7–5), 5–7, 6–4.


2011 Aegon Trophy
The 2011 Aegon Trophy was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was part of the 2011 ATP Challenger Tour and the 2011 ITF Women's Circuit. It took place in Nottingham, Great Britain between May 28 and June 5, 2011.


2011 Aegon Trophy, ATP entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2011 Aegon Trophy, WTA entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2011 Aegon Trophy, Champions, Men's Doubles
Colin Fleming / Ross Hutchins def. Dustin Brown /  Martin Emmrich, 4–6, 7–6(8), [13–11]


2011 Aegon Trophy, Champions, Women's Doubles
Kimiko Date-Krumm /  Zhang Shuai def. Raquel Kops-Jones /  Abigail Spears, 6–4, 7–6(7)


2011 Aegon Trophy – Men's Doubles
Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski were the defending champions but decided not to participate together. Skupski played alongside Carsten Ball. However, they lost to Daniel Cox and James Ward in the quarterfinals. Fleming partnered up with Ross Hutchins. They won the title, defeating Dustin Brown and Martin Emmrich 4–6, 7–6(8), [13–11] in the final.


2011 Aegon Trophy – Men's Singles
Ričardas Berankis was the defending champion, but chose not to participate. Gilles Müller won this tournament, defeating Matthias Bachinger 7–6(4), 6–2 in the final.


2011 Aegon Trophy – Women's Doubles
Sarah Borwell and Raquel Kops-Jones were the defending champions. They both participated, but competed with different partners. Borwell played alongside Melanie South, while Kops-Jones decided to play with Abigail Spears. Kimiko Date-Krumm and Zhang Shuai won the final against Kops-Jones and Spears 6–4, 7–6(7).


2011 Aegon Trophy – Women's Singles
Elena Baltacha was the defending champion, but chose not to participate. Eleni Daniilidou defeated Olga Govortsova 1–6, 6–4, 6–2 in the final to win the tournament.


2011 Aerobic Gymnastics European Championships
The 7th Aerobic Gymnastics European Championships was held in Bucharest, Romania  November 9–13, 2011.


2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings
The 2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings were a pair of bombings in the Afghan capital of Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. The Kabul suicide bombing took place at around noon local time, on the day when Muslims commemorate Ashura, an annual holy day throughout the Muslim world particularly by the Shi'a Muslims.


2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings
The first attack took place at the gate of a Shi'a shrine in Kabul and was caused by a suicide bomber. The second incident took place in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, where a bomb was affixed to a bicycle that exploded near a mosque shortly after the Kabul blast. The suicide blast in Kabul resulted in the deaths of more than 70 civilians, which included women and children, while the Mazar-i-Sharif blast claimed at least 4 lives. The third was in the southern city of Kandahar, where five people received injuries. The total number of dead in all the attacks reached about 80, while over 160 more were injured.


2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings, Attacks, Kabul
A suicide bomber attacked the Abul Fazl Mosque in the Murad Khane neighborhood of Kabul on 6 December 2011, which claimed more than 50 lives. Reports suggested that the suicide bomber was carrying a backpack and may have been full of explosives. The blast took place at around 12 noon (07 30 GMT) at the gate of the Abu Fazl shrine, which is a place mostly visited by Shias. Hundreds of Afghans had gathered to commemorate Ashura, the day on which Husayn ibn Ali the grandson of Muhammad along with 72 followers were murdered in Kerbala, Iraq. According to the statement released by Interior Ministry, a man wearing suicide vest blew himself up inside the shrine where Shi'ite mourners were observing the martyrdom of Hussayn.


2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings, Attacks, Mazar-i-Sharif
The second bomb took place near the Blue Mosque in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, where four people were killed. The bomb was reportedly hidden on a bicycle, and went off shortly after the Kabul blast.


2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings, Victims
More than 70 people were killed following the explosion at the Abu Fazl Mosque in Kabul, while 4 people were killed in Mazar-i-Sharif, taking the total death toll to at least 74. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul confirmed that one of the dead was a United States citizen. A number of local and international photojournalists were present when the Kabul bomb went off. Images began appearing in which children were seen screaming or lay dead.


2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings, Responsibility
Ali Sher-e-Khuda, a man claiming to belong to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, told BBC News that his group was behind the attacks. According to Mark Toner, spokesman for U.S. Department of State, "It's been responsible for many attacks within Pakistan. So it's clearly a threat to both countries, and it's precisely the kind of organisation that the secretary (of state) was trying to address when she went to Pakistan in calling for Pakistan to do more to combat this kind of extremist terrorist activity within its own borders."


2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings, Responsibility
In June 2012, two men from Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan named Rahim Gul and Habibullah confessed to transporting the suicide bomber from Peshawar, Pakistan. The Attorney General of Afghanistan, Mohammad Ishaq Aloko, stated that "The attack was planned and organized in Peshawar and executed on the holy day." He said "the bombing was an attempt to create division between Afghan Sunni and Shiite Muslims", and alleged that "the Pakistani intelligence service was involved in the attack."


2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings, Responsibility
Initially, Afghan Interior Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi had accused the Taliban of organising the suicide attack inside a shrine in Kabul but Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid denied involvement. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said he would discuss the matter with Pakistan.


2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings, Reactions
Hundreds of people had joined funeral processions held the next day. The attack was also condemned by leaders of different ethnic groups said that it was aimed at creating a sectarian war in the country but that they would not turn to violence and instead would stand united in condemning the attack. The United Nation Security Council also condemned the attack.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown
On 5 August 2011, a U.S. CH-47D Chinook military helicopter operating with the call sign Extortion 17 (pronounced "one-seven") was shot down while transporting a Quick Reaction Force attempting to reinforce a Joint Special Operations Command unit of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the Tangi Valley in Maidan Wardak province, southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown
The resulting crash killed all 38 people on board including 17 US Navy SEALs, 2 United States Air Force Pararescue, 1 United States Air Force Combat Control Team member, one pilot and two crewmen of the United States Army Reserve, one pilot and one crewman of the United States Army National Guard, seven members of the Afghan National Security Forces, and one Afghan interpreter, as well as a U.S. military working dog.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown
At 31 U.S. military personnel killed, the shoot down of Extortion 17 represents the greatest single-incident loss of U.S. lives in Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan, surpassing the 16 lost in the downing of Turbine 33, a 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) MH-47 helicopter, during Operation Red Wings on 28 June 2005.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Background
In March 2009, the U.S. 10th Mountain Division established a base in Tangi Valley after increased Taliban activity in the area. U.S., French and Afghan National Police forces carried out a three-day sweep of the area after which the area was deemed secure. In April 2011, U.S. forces turned over control of Combat Outpost Tangi to Afghan government forces. However, the Afghan government forces did not occupy the base, which was seized by the Taliban shortly after the departure of U.S. forces.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Background
U.S. forces continued to carry out operations in the area (mostly via helicopter and using special forces), encountering resistance from Taliban fighters on several occasions. For example, on 8 June 2011 a Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter was engaged from five to six locations (i.e., points of origin) with 14 rocket-propelled grenades, forcing the crew to abort the mission.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Timeline
After US intelligence services discovered in 2011 that senior Taliban leader Qari Tahir was possibly in Tangi Valley, Wardak province, Afghanistan, local US forces launched a mission to apprehend or kill him. At 22:37 (local time) on the night of 5 August, a platoon of 47 U.S. Army Rangers left at forward operating base in Logar Province via two CH-47D transport helicopters, one of which would later be involved in the accident. After a twenty-minute flight (around 23:00), the two Chinook helicopters landed near the compound ostensibly containing Tahir, offloaded the Ranger platoon, and returned to base.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Timeline
The mission was deemed high risk; two AH-64 Apache helicopters, an AC-130 gunship, and other additional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft supported the troop transports on their approach, and remained with the ground forces afterwards. 17 U.S. Navy SEALs remained in reserve at the forward operating base.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Timeline
As the Rangers approached the target compound, ISR aircraft observed several people leaving the compound. This group grew in number over the course of the night, but US forces were—at first—too preoccupied to engage. At 23:30, one of the Apache support helicopters engaged in a brief skirmish with a different group of eight Taliban fighters 400 m (440 yd) north of the compound, killing six.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Timeline
Separately, ISR aircraft continued to observe the unengaged group from the compound. Originally just two people, the group eventually accumulated a total of 9–10 fighters, and the special operations task force commander and the Immediate Reaction Force commander became concerned that it might include Tahir. At 01:00, they decided to engage the group with the SEAL reserves.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Timeline
Almost an hour later (01:50), the aviation brigade commander approved a new landing zone for infiltration of the SEAL team. The landing zone had been examined for a previous mission, but had not yet been used.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Timeline
At 02:00, the special operations task force commander and the Immediate Reaction Force commander decided to add additional (non-SEAL) reinforcements, increasing the size of the team to 33. In order to speed disembarkation, all troops were loaded on a single CH-47D helicopter for transport; the other Chinook would approach the landing zone second as a decoy. Around 02:23, the two helicopters departed the forward base.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Timeline
Meanwhile, the group of Taliban fighters split in two. At 02:15, one group of three Taliban fighters took a position in a stand of trees; the remaining 6–7 men entered a building located some 2 km (1.2 mi) from the target compound. Going forward, the two AH-64 Apache helicopters would be engaged in tracking those two groups of Taliban, and hence unable to provide surveillance or fire support to the inbound helicopter carrying the SEAL team.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Timeline
Six minutes prior to reaching the landing zone, the empty CH-47D left the formation as planned. The helicopter carrying the SEALs proceeded to the landing zone alone, without external lighting. During the Ranger insertion earlier that night, the CH-47D had approached from the south; this time, it approached from the northwest. The helicopter made its last radio transmission stating it was one minute away from the landing zone, then descended to an altitude of 100–150 ft (30–46 m) and slowed to a speed of 50 kn (58 mph; 93 km/h) as it approached the landing zone.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Timeline
Around 02:38, the helicopter was fired upon and shot down by a previously undetected group of Taliban fighters approximately 220 m (240 yd) south of the helicopter. The group fired 2–3 RPG rounds from a two-story building, the second of which struck one of the three aft rotor blades of the helicopter. The resulting explosion destroyed the aft rotor assembly. In less than five seconds, the helicopter crashed, killing all occupants, and approximately 30 seconds later one of the AH-64 Apache helicopters radioed in the crash.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Timeline
Six minutes later, the Rangers concluded securing the compound, detained several people, and then began to move (on foot) towards the crash site. They reached the crash site at 04:12, and found no survivors. Several minutes later a 20-man Pathfinder team (specializing in downed-aircraft rescue and recovery) arrived at the site as well.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Timeline
By 16:25 all of the remains were taken from the crash site via ground convoy and transported to Combat Outpost Sayyid Abad. Recovery of wreckage from the crash site lasted until 9 August 2011.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Victims
The 31 American deaths represent the greatest loss of U.S. military lives in a single incident in the, by then, decade-long war in Afghanistan that began in 2001.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Victims
Fifteen of the Navy SEALs that were killed were members of the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), while the other two Navy SEALs killed in the helicopter shootdown were from an unidentified West Coast-based SEAL unit. The five other Navy casualties were NSW (Naval Special Warfare) support personnel; in addition to these, three AFSOC operators, one Combat Controller and two Pararescuemen, all members of the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, died in the crash. Their deaths are the greatest single loss of life ever suffered by the U.S. Special Operations community in the 24-year history of the U.S. Special Operations Command.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Aftermath
In the afternoon of 6 August, a flash flood swept through the area washing away parts of the wreckage.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Aftermath
Early media reports suggested the Army had been tardy to recover flight recorders from the downed Chinook, and, as a consequence, the recorders had been swept away by the flood. These reports were erroneous; the CH-47D airframe does not contain "black boxes" (although the MH-47 variant does have a flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder).


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Aftermath
For years after the downing of Extortion 17, there were many theories about a possible government cover-up. The official statement from US Central Command states that a Taliban fighter scored a lucky shot with a rocket propelled grenade on the CH-47 Chinook helicopter. It was reported that the Taliban fighters had no information of the helicopter's flight path and that they had been in the right place at the right time. A Department of Defense official asserted that there were no leaks from the Afghans.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Aftermath
Doubts about this story were raised by families and other concerned citizens despite the fact that the US Navy SEAL team aboard Extortion 17 had been a different squadron than had carried out the raid that killed Osama bin Laden three months earlier. The theories suggest that there had been leaked information from Afghan forces to the Taliban about the mission, allowing the Taliban to plan and carry out the strike against Extortion 17.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Response
"The U.S. military helicopter carrying special operations forces to a night-raid in the Tangi Valley of Wardak Province, was most likely brought down by a rocket-propelled grenade, according to military officials."


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Response
A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, confirmed that eight of the movement's fighters had been killed in the assault on the compound. He said: "They wanted to attack our Mujahideen who were in a house, but our Mujahideen resisted and destroyed a helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade."


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Later accounts
Subsequent reports stated that on the night the U.S. military helicopter had been delivering reinforcements to personnel of the 75th Ranger Regiment, another special operations unit engaged in a night raid on a compound to kill or capture a senior Taliban leader. During the battle US forces observed a small group of Taliban trying to flee the scene. The group probably contained the commander and a few of his bodyguards while the remaining Taliban fighters offered resistance in an effort to buy the group enough time to escape. In order to prevent this US forces called in for support.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Later accounts
Other reports alleged that the Taliban had laid an elaborate trap for U.S. special operations forces, luring them in with false information. A senior Afghan government official, speaking anonymously, said that Taliban commander Qari Tahir had fed U.S. forces false information about a meeting of insurgent leaders and fighters waited for the helicopter from both sides of a steep valley: "The Taliban knew which route the helicopter would take. That's the only route, so they took positions on either side of the valley on mountains and as the helicopter approached, they attacked it with rockets and other modern weapons. It was brought down by multiple shots."


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Reporting of event, Television
On 12 August 2011, Jim Lehrer of the PBS NewsHour, announced that he would report the Honor Roll at the end of the program with names and photographs of all 30 men. He said, "And now, to our honor roll of American Service Personnel killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Yesterday, the Pentagon released the names of the 30 troops-- Navy SEALs, soldiers, and airmen, killed in the helicopter downed by insurgents in eastern Afghanistan last weekend. Here, in silence, are the names and photographs of all 30 men." ABC News reported that a helicopter was shot down today by Afghan insurgents. NBC News reported that The Pentagon released the names of the 30 Americans who were killed last weekend on Thursday.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Reporting of event, Newspapers
The New York Post reported that The Pentagon released 30 names from the crash. Kevin Sieff and Greg Jaffe of The Washington Post, reported that U.S. officials confirmed the deaths including 22 SEALs. The Seattle Times, and The New York Times also reported it.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Subsequent events
After the shoot-down of Extortion 17, the insurgent responsible used a two-way radio to brag to others about the act. American signals intelligence aircraft intercepted these transmissions, and subsequently tracked the individual and his accomplice. American intelligence officials identified this individual as "OBJECTIVE GINOSA." On the night of 8 August 2011, an F-16 dropped four GBU-54 "Laser JDAM" bombs on the man, his accomplice, and four associates in the Chak Valley, which lies to the west of the Tangi Valley. Monitored and controlled by a Joint Terminal Attack Controller at Forward Operating Base Shank via a General Atomics MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, all six were killed and positively confirmed killed by the bomb strike and subsequent attacks by a Lockheed AC-130 gunship and two Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Subsequent events
On 10 August 2011, the U.S. military stated that the insurgent who fired the rocket-propelled grenade had been killed only two days afterward in an F-16 airstrike, saying only that intelligence gained on the ground provided "a high degree of confidence" that the person was among those killed in the airstrike from two days earlier, but providing no other details.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Subsequent events
During the same Pentagon news conference in which he announced that the F-16 airstrike had incapacitated "less than 10" of the insurgents involved, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander in Afghanistan John R. Allen said the military investigation into the helicopter downing would also review whether small-arms fire or other causes might have contributed to the downing.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Subsequent events
Following the withdrawal of U.S. forces in April 2011, Tangi valley became a major staging area for attacks on Kabul (located just 60 miles away). Tangi valley remained under Taliban control until April 2013, when over 1000 Afghan security forces personnel launched an offensive in an effort to clear the area of Taliban fighters.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Subsequent events
In October 2011, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that an investigation carried out following the shootdown concluded "that all operational decisions, linked to the incident, were deemed tactically sound". The article states that the helicopter crashed after an RPG round impacted the aft rotor assembly.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Subsequent events
In 2013, Jason Chaffetz said he would hold an investigation of the United States House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security into the matter. At the subsequent hearing in February 2014, Pentagon representative Garry Reid defended the decision to undertake the mission, and denied that the Taliban had any advance knowledge of it; rather, he said that militants had occupied a strong tactical position without knowledge of the helicopter's flight path.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Subsequent events
In 2017, Air Force Captain Joni Marquez, the firing officer on an AC-130 gunship which accompanied Extortion 17 on the final flight, made a similar claim. Ranger assault helicopters had already engaged the enemy and killed six of eight insurgents, causing the other two to retreat. "I had the sensor operators immediately shift to the eight insurgents the helicopters had taken out," Marquez told Circa, in her first interview about the incident. "Two were still alive." Captain Marquez claims that had the AC-130 been allowed to fire on the remaining enemy insurgents, Extortion 17 would not have been shot down. Warnings from her crew to turn the Chinook back or cancel their mission went unheeded.


2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown, Subsequent events
American rules of engagement were tightened by Gen. Stanley McChrystal in 2009, in order to improve American counterinsurgency strategy. McChrystal cited a previous "overreliance on firepower and force protection" and the need to reduce civilian casualties and win the cooperation of the local population.


2011 Africa Cup
The 2011 Africa Cup was the eleventh edition of this tournament. The competition has been restructured into several tiers, based on the IRB rankings.


2011 Africa Cup
The top sixteen teams played in Division 1, which is divided into four groups of four teams. The remaining teams played in Division 2.


2011 Africa Cup, Group 1A
Group 1A will be held from 7–12 November in Kenya.


2011 Africa Cup, Group 1A
Morocco and  Namibia relegated in division 1/B for 2012 Africa Cup


2011 Africa Cup, Group 1B
Group 1B was held from 12–18 June in Uganda. The teams competing:


2011 Africa Cup, Group 1B
Uganda and Zimbabwe promoted to pool A of 2012 Africa Cup


2011 Africa Cup, Group 1B
Ivory Coast relegated too poll C of 2012 Africa Cup


2011 Africa Cup, Group 1C
Group 1C was held from 21–25 June in Cameroon. The teams competing :


2011 Africa Cup, Group 1D
Group 1D was held on 29 July in South Africa. The teams competing :


2011 Africa Cup, Division 2 (North)
Division 2 (North) was held from 23–30 July in Mali.


2011 Africa Cup, Division 2 (South)
Division 2 (South) was held from 9–16 October in Rwanda.


2011 African Badminton Championships
The 2011 African Badminton Championships is an continental badminton championships  organized by the Badminton Confederation of Africa. This championships were held in Marrakesh, Morocco between 4-12 May .


2011 African Cross Country Championships
The 1st African Cross Country Championships was an international cross country running competition for African athletes which was held on 6 March 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa. Organised by the Confederation of African Athletics, it marked the start of a new continental competition for Africa following the decision by the IAAF to alter the scheduling of the World Cross Country Championships from every year to a biennial format.


2011 African Cross Country Championships
The event consisted of four race categories, featuring senior and junior races for men and women. The Kenyan athletes took a complete sweep of the competition, winning all the individual medals and the four team titles. Mercy Cherono, a former World Junior Champion, took the women's senior title while the less well-known John Mwangangi won the men's senior race. Japhet Korir and Caroline Chepkoech won the men's and women's junior gold medals, respectively. Sigosi Chesonane, representing the host nation, was the only non-Kenyan to reach the top five in an event, finishing fifth in the men's senior race.


2011 African Cross Country Championships
Although Kenya dominated the competition, none of its runners at the African event ran at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships two weeks later. Athletics Kenya sent the best performers at that year's Kenya Cross Country Championships to the world event, while those ranking seventh to tenth in the national race were sent to the event in Cape Town. The continent's second foremost nation in cross country, Ethiopia, did not send any athletes to the competition.


2011 African Cross Country Championships
The Kenyan team's jubilant celebrations led to the entire squad of 30 runners and officials missing their flight for Nairobi, scheduled later that day at Cape Town International Airport.


2011 African Fencing Championships
The 2011 African Fencing Championships were held in Cairo, Egypt from 21 to 25 July.


2011 African Fencing Championships, Medal summary, Women's events
Two nations only, Egypt and Algeria, entered a team in women's foil.


2011 African Futsal Championship
The 2011 African Futsal Championship was the 4th edition of this tournament which took place on 3-17 April 2011 in Burkina Faso, but the tournament was ultimately cancelled.


2011 African Futsal Championship, Qualified nations
Burkina Faso was an automatic qualifier as the host country. Libya also received an automatic berth for winning the previous edition.


2011 African Futsal Championship, Draw
The draw was scheduled to take place on 9 October 2010 but was postponed till further notice.


2011 African Futsal Championship, Draw
The Confederation of African Football announced that the 2011 Futsal Championship has been cancelled. Burkina Faso withdrew from hosting the event which was meant to start at the beginning of April and a replacement could not be found therefore the championship wasn't held.


2011 African Futsal Championship, Draw
A separate qualifying tournament was organized for qualification to the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup.


2011 African Handball Champions League
The 2011 African Handball Champions League was the 33rd edition, organized by the African Handball Confederation, under the auspices of the International Handball Federation, the handball sport governing body. The tournament was held from October 21–30, 2011 in Kaduna, Nigeria, contested by 13 teams and won by Al Zamalek Cairo of Egypt.


2011 African Handball Champions League, Draw
Étoile du Congo Flowers JSE Skikda Niger United Primeiro de Agosto


2011 African Handball Champions League, Preliminary round, Group A
* Note:   Advance to quarter-finals   Relegated to 9-13th place classification


2011 African Handball Champions League, Preliminary round, Group B
* Note:   Advance to quarter-finals   Relegated to 9-13th place classification


2011 African Handball Champions League, Preliminary round, Group C
* Note:   Advance to quarter-finals   Relegated to 9-13th place classification


2011 African Handball Cup Winners' Cup
The 2011 African Handball Cup Winners' Cup was the 27th edition, organized by the African Handball Confederation, under the auspices of the International Handball Federation, the handball sport governing body. The tournament was held from April 14–22, 2011 at the Palais Polyvalent des Sports de Warda in Yaoundé, Cameroon, contested by 8 teams and won by Zamalek Sporting Club of Egypt.


2011 African Handball Cup Winners' Cup, Preliminary rounds, Group A
* Note:      Advance to semi-finals      Relegated to 5th place classification      Relegated to 7th place classification


2011 African Handball Cup Winners' Cup, Preliminary rounds, Group B
* Note:      Advance to semi-finals      Relegated to 5th place classification      Relegated to 7th place classification


2011 African Judo Championships
The 2011 African Judo Championships were the 32nd edition of the African Judo Championships, and were held in Dakar, Senegal from 14 April to 17 April 2011.


2011 African Junior Athletics Championships
The 2011 African Junior Athletics Championships were held at the University of Botswana Stadium in Gaborone, Botswana from 12 to 15 May. It was the tenth edition of the continental athletics tournament for African athletes aged 19 years or younger. Over 700 athletes from 28 countries announced their desire to participate in the event over four days of track and field competitions, which featured 22 events from men and 22 events for women.


2011 African Junior Athletics Championships
South Africa topped the medal table with thirteen gold and silver medals. Ethiopia and Egypt both won six events, while Kenya and Nigeria rounded out the top five. Seventeen nations reached the medal table at the competition. El Mehdi Kabbachi was a double gold medallist for Morocco, winning both the men's long and triple jump competitions. Namibian thrower Charlene Engelbrecht won both her country's medals with runner-up performances in the shot put and discus.


2011 African Junior Athletics Championships
Among the other medallists, Uganda's Annet Negesa took an 800 m/1500 m double, including a Ugandan record in the latter event. The women's Egyptian record in the high jump was broken by Besnet Moussad Mohamed, who won gold. Aynalem Eshetu of Ethiopia improved the African record to win the women's 5000 m walk. Her teammate Magiso Manedo excelled in the sprints: she won the 400 m, set an Ethiopian record to take the 200 m silver medal and anchored the 4×400 metres relay team to another national record and the bronze medal.


2011 African Junior Athletics Championships
Outside of the medallists, strong performances came from javelin fourth-placer Adriaan Beukes, who broke the Botswana record, and Phumlile Ndzinisa of Swaziland ran Swazi records in the 200 m and 400 m finals. Further to this, Egypt's Hamada Mohamed (fourth in the 800 m) set an Egyptian junior record.


2011 African Nations Championship
The 2011 African Nations Championship was the second edition of the African Nations Championship tournament. Each participating nation was represented mostly  by players who play in their respective local divisions. The competition was hosted in Sudan from February 4 to 25, 2011. Tunisia won their first title by defeating Angola in the final 3–0.


2011 African Nations Championship, Draw
The remaining twelve countries was categorized into three hats according to the following criteria in order of priority:


2011 African Nations Championship, Draw
Sudan (Assigned to A1) DR Congo (Assigned to C1) Ghana Senegal


2011 African Nations Championship, Group stage, Tie-breaking criteria
Where two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria:


2011 African Nations Championship Final
The 2011 African Nations Championship Final was a football match to determine the champions of the CHAN 2011 tournament and took place on the 25th of February 2011the match was contested by Tunisia and Angola. Tunisia defeatedAngola by 3–0, Tunisia winning their first title. Before this match the two teams met in the group stages and it finished 1-1.


2011 African Nations Championship Final, Background
Angola defeated hosts and Sudan on penalties after a stormy 1-1 draw and secured a place in the final against Tunisia. Tunisia also needed a shootout after a 1-1 deadlock following extra time before eliminating neighbours Algeria and reaching final. Angola won 4-2 on penalties and Tunisia 5-3 to set up a repeat of a Group D clash in Port Sudan which was drawn when the southern Africa nation scored deep in stoppage time.


2011 African Nations Championship Final, Match, Summary
Angola started off well piling feverish pressure on the Carthage Eagles through the right flank but lacked a lot of polish with their finishing. Both teams raised the adrenalin levels of their fans with Tunisia coming close to scoring in the 13th minutes but the Palancas Negras’ man between the woodworks Lama made a point blank save. Three minutes after, Zouhaier came close to scoring but the Angolan goalkeeper anticipated well to block it from his post.


2011 African Nations Championship Final, Match, Summary
Traoui Mejdi’s powerful drive in the 20th minutes was punched aside by Lama who was well positioned to deny the Eagles their first goal. Chedli Adel sent the Carthage fans on their foot at the Merreikh Stadium in the 37th minutes but he missed the post by an inch. Their one-two-one-two upfront kept mesmerizing the Angolan guardsmen but their finishing were poorly executed. The dingdong battle continued into the interval. The north Africans returned from the interval much determined.


2011 African Nations Championship Final, Match, Summary
They set the stadium alive two minutes into the second half when Traoui Mejdi tapped in the ball from waist level with a perfect right foot from a Zouhaier cross from the left flank. Tunisia’s onslaughts began paying off from the 74th minute when Zouhaier doubled their lead with a fine left foot roll of the ball that went past Lama straight into the woodwork. As the game wears on substitute Darragi Ousama of Esperance put the final nail on the coffin in the 80th minutes to gift the north Africans the ultimate.


2011 African Nations Championship qualification
The qualification phase for the 2011 African Championship of Nations began in March 2010. These games did not count towards the FIFA rankings.


2011 African Nations Championship qualification
The inaugural edition of the competition featured eight teams, while this edition featured sixteen.


2011 African Nations Championship qualification, Qualification Zones
Qualification was divided into the CAF Zoning system. Each Zone had either two or three teams that qualified for the final tournament.


2011 African Nations Championship qualification, Zone West B
Ivory  coast, Ghana and Niger qualify for the final tournament.


2011 African Nations Championship qualification, Central-East Zone, Preliminary Round
There was only one leg played due to Somalia being unable to host international fixtures.


2011 African Nations Championship qualification, Central-East Zone, First Round
There was only one leg played due to Somalia being unable to host international fixtures.


2011 African Nations Championship qualification, Central-East Zone, Second Round
The Tanzania vs Rwanda match was pushed forward to May 1 due to Rwanda’s hosting of the CECAFA Kagame Cup from 15–29 May.


2011 African Nations Championship qualification, Central-East Zone, Second Round
Uganda  and  Rwanda  qualify for the final tournament, along with host Sudan.


2011 African Nations Championship qualification, Southern Zone, Second Round
Angola, South Africa and Zimbabwe qualify for the final tournament.


2011 African Nations Championship squads
Below is a list of squads used in the 2011 African Nations Championship.


2011 African Nations Championship squads, Group B, South Africa
South Africa chose a "Developmental" squad which mostly consisted of players from the third tier in South African football.


2011 African Olympic Qualifier (field hockey)
The 2011 African Olympic Qualifier was the second edition of the African field hockey qualification tournament for the Summer Olympics for men and women. It was held from 2 to 11 September in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.


2011 African Olympic Qualifier (field hockey)
Six teams competed in the men's tournament, while four women's teams participated. The winner of each tournament qualified for the field hockey competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics. More teams were originally entered, but later withdrew.


2011 African U-17 Championship
The 2011 African U-17 Championship was a football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament took place in Rwanda. The top four teams qualified for the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup.


2011 African U-17 Championship qualification, Preliminary round
The first leg matches were played on either the 9th, 10th or 11 April 2010. The second leg matches were played on either the 23rd, 24th or 25 April 2010. The winners advanced to the First Round.


2011 African U-17 Championship qualification, First round
The first leg matches were played on either the 27th, 28th and 29 August 2010, except for the Somalia vs Egypt match, who was played in Egypt on 6 September. The second leg matches were played on either the 10th, 11th and 12 September 2010. The winners advanced to the Second Round.


2011 African U-17 Championship qualification, Second round
The first leg matches were played on either the 6th or 7 November 2010. The second leg matches were played on either the 20th or 21 November 2010, except for the Burkina Faso vs Reunion match, who was played on 26 November. The winners advanced to the Finals.


2011 African U-20 Championship
The 2011 African Youth Championship was a football tournament for the Under-20 level national teams in Africa. It was due to be held in Libya from 18 March to 1 April. Following political unrest in the region, CAF decided to postpone the tournament, before deciding that South Africa would be the new hosts, with games taking place between 17 April and 2 May.


2011 African U-20 Championship
As the Championship also acted as a qualifier for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, the tournament would have to be played before the end of June 2011.


2011 African U-20 Championship
The tournament was won by Nigeria, who beat Cameroon in the final, to win their sixth title.


2011 African U-20 Championship, Venues
Johannesburg has been named as venue of Orange African Youth Championship 2011. Matches was played at two stadiums in Johannesburg. Dobsonville Stadium, home of Moroka Swallows and Bidvest Stadium, home of Wits University. Rand Stadium, was originally selected as a host stadium, but was dropped in favour of Bidvest Stadium.


2011 African U-20 Championship, Final tournament, Knockout stage
The teams that reached this phase qualified for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup.


2011 African U-20 Championship qualification
This page details the process of the 2011 African Youth Championship qualification phase. The qualifiers consisted of three rounds of two legged matches. Some countries had a bye to the First Round. The winners of the Second Round matches qualified for the finals. South Africa entered the qualifiers as they were originally not the hosts.


2011 African U-20 Championship qualification, Preliminary round
The first leg was played on either 16, 17 or 18 April 2010. The second leg was held on either 30 April, 1 or 2 May 2010. The winners advanced to the First Round.


2011 African U-20 Championship qualification, Preliminary round
Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Rwanda, Mali, Ivory Coast, Benin, Gambia, Sudan, Zambia, Congo, Burkina Faso, Angola and Morocco all received byes to the First Round.


2011 African U-20 Championship qualification, First round
The First Round first leg matches were held on 23, 24 and 25 July 2010. The second leg matches were held on 6, 7 and 8 August 2010. The winners qualified for the Second Round.


2011 African U-20 Championship qualification, Second round
The Second Round first leg matches were played on 24 to 26 September 2010. The second leg matches were played on 22 to 24 October 2010. The winners of the aggregate of the two legs qualified for the Finals.


2011 African Weightlifting Championships
These are the results of the 2011 African Weightlifting Championships.


2011 African Women's Handball Champions League
The 2011 African Women's Handball Champions League was the 33rd edition, organized by the African Handball Confederation, under the auspices of the International Handball Federation, the handball sport governing body. The tournament was held from October 21–30 in Kaduna, Nigeria, contested by 9 teams and won by Atlético Petróleos de Luanda of Angola.


2011 African Women's Handball Champions League, Preliminary round, Group A
* Note:      Advance to semi-finals qualification      Relegated to 7-9th classification


2011 African Women's Handball Champions League, Preliminary round, Group B
* Note:      Advance to semi-finals qualification      Relegated to 7-9th classification


2011 African Women's Handball Champions League, Preliminary round, Group C
* Note:      Advance to semi-finals qualification      Relegated to 7-9th classification


2011 African Women's Handball Champions League, Preliminary round, Semifinals qualification - Group D1
* Note:      Advance to semi-finals      Relegated to 5th place classification


2011 African Women's Handball Champions League, Preliminary round, Semifinals qualification - Group D2
* Note:      Advance to semi-finals      Relegated to 5th place classification


2011 African Women's Youth Handball Championship
The 2011 African Women's Youth Handball Championship was the 3rd edition of the tournament, organized by the African Handball Confederation, under the auspices of the International Handball Federation. The tournament was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from August 7 to 13, 2011.


2011 African Women's Youth Handball Championship
Angola was the champion and the tournament qualified the top four teams to the 2012 world championship.


2011 African Women's Youth Handball Championship, Preliminary round
6 teams were drawn into two groups of three, with the two top teams of each group playing the semifinals while the two third-placed teams played for the 5th place.


2011 African Youth Championship squads
This article will display the squads for the 2011 African Youth Championship. Only players born on or after 1 January 1991 are eligible to play.


2011 African Youth Championship squads
Each participating national association must submit a list of up to 40 players to the CAF administration on or before 16 February 2011 (sixty days before the first game of the final tournament).


2011 African Youth Championship squads
Only 21 of the 40 players listed are authorised to take part in the final tournament. The final squad of 21 players must be submitted on or before 7 April 2011 (ten days before the first game of the final tournament).


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season
The 2011 season for the Ag2r–La Mondiale cycling team began in January at the Tour de San Luis and ended in October at the Chrono des Nations. As a UCI ProTeam, they were automatically invited and obligated to send a squad to every event in the UCI World Tour.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season
Ag2r had a meager 2011 season, managing only six victories. The pinnacle of the team's season was certainly the Giro d'Italia. John Gadret, one of the team's leaders, won the undulating 11th stage to Castelfidardo. Though he was outclassed by the race's truly elite riders, particularly so by Giro champion Alberto Contador, he finished the race in fourth place overall, easily the best final placing in a Grand Tour in the team's history. Hubert Dupont also rode very strongly in this race, to 12th place overall and some high stage placings as well.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season
While the team got several top tens in single-day races from Anthony Ravard, the only such race they (and he) actually won was the lightly heralded Châteauroux Classic. They finished second-to-last in the UCI World Tour rankings, better only than Vacansoleil–DCM.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, One-day races, Spring classics
The team had very little success in the single-day races in 2011. Near the beginning of the season, Nocentini rode to a podium finish and a seventh place, respectively, at the Gran Premio dell'Insubria-Lugano and the similarly named Gran Premio di Lugano the next day. Ravard also took a seventh place that day, at Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne. In March, Mondory rode to sixth place at Le Samyn. Later in March, Hinault took eighth at the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen – Harelbeke, a race dominated by Leopard Trek's Fabian Cancellara. The next day, Mondory took the team's best result in a single-day race which counted towards the UCI World Tour rankings by finishing fifth at Gent–Wevelgem.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, One-day races, Spring classics
In April, Nocentini rode to tenth place at the GP Miguel Induráin, and Roche did likewise at Paris–Camembert, as did Goddaert in Tro-Bro Léon. The team was greatly outclassed at the monument classics of the spring season, with their best placings being 41st at Milan–San Remo, 17th at the Tour of Flanders and Paris–Roubaix, and 39th at Liège–Bastogne–Liège.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, One-day races, Spring classics
The team also sent squads to the Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise, the Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi, the Trofeo Laigueglia, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Les Boucles du Sud Ardèche, Cholet-Pays de Loire, Dwars door Vlaanderen, the Route Adélie de Vitré, the inaugural Flèche d'Emeraude, the Scheldeprijs, the Grand Prix de Denain the Tour du Finistère, the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne, the Eschborn–Frankfurt city loop, the Grand Prix of Aargau Canton, the Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan, and Boucles de l'Aulne, but placed no higher than 12th in any of these races.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, One-day races, Fall races
Shortly after the Tour de France, Ag2r had one of their better single-day finishes of the season with Chérel taking fifth place at Polynormande. Ravard had a string of top-ten placings in the later season, coming third at Paris–Brussels, eighth at the Grand Prix d'Isbergues, and seventh at Paris–Bourges. Ravard was also the rider responsible for the team's lone single-day victory of the season at the Châteauroux Classic, where he raced as the defending champion and took his third career win in the event. Ravard won a large field sprint, a victory which he felt validated his career. He had been considering retirement due to a medical abnormality, as a muscle in his left leg is twice the size of the same muscle in his right.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, One-day races, Fall races
The team also had good showings from Nocentini at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal (ninth place), Mondory at the Grand Prix de la Somme (second place), Montaguti at the Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato (third place), Bouet at the Tour de Vendée (third place), and Roche at the Giro del Piemonte (fifth place). Roche also took the team's best placing at the fall monument, the Giro di Lombardia, but was a relatively distant 16th on the day.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, One-day races, Fall races
The team also sent squads to the Clásica de San Sebastián, Vattenfall Cyclassics, the GP Ouest–France, the Grote Prijs Jef Scherens, the Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, the Grand Prix de Fourmies, the Grand Prix de Wallonie, Binche–Tournai–Binche, Giro dell'Emilia, the GP Bruno Beghelli, Paris–Tours, and the Chrono des Nations, but finished no higher than 14th in any of these races.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Stage races
The team was very successful at the Étoile de Bessèges in February. In stage 2, Mondory and Ravard finished in the first two positions after a full field sprint. Mondory took the stage win, and Ravard assumed the overall race leadership. Since he had also finished second in the first stage, Ravard also took the lead in the points classification. With two further top-ten placings later on, Ravard ended the race by winning both the overall and points titles, though he briefly lost both for a stage. The squad finished on the same time as Vacansoleil–DCM for the teams classification, but the Dutch team won the award. Thanks to a second-place finish on the final and most difficult stage of the Tour Méditerranéen, Péraud finished in that same position overall.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Stage races
It was not until much later in the season that the team took their other victories. In August, Ravard won a stage at the Tour du Poitou-Charentes, outkicking FDJ's top sprinter Yauheni Hutarovich at the front of a field sprint so fast that the first ten riders to finish opened up a three-second time gap on the rest of the field. In October, at the new Tour of Beijing, Roche took the team's final win of the season. He, along with Philip Deignan and Chris Froome had broken away on the final climb of stage 3, 15 km (9.3 mi) from the finish line, and managed to stay away from the fast-charging peloton by a single second. Roche won the three-up sprint.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Stage races
The team had a small measure of success winning lesser classifications at stage races, doing so at the Étoile de Bessèges, the Giro del Trentino, the Tour de Suisse, the Route du Sud, Paris–Corrèze, and the Tour du Poitou-Charentes.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Stage races
The team also sent squads to the Tour de San Luis, the Tour Down Under, the Volta ao Algarve, the Three Days of West Flanders, Paris–Nice, Tirreno–Adriatico, the Volta a Catalunya, the Tour of the Basque Country, the Circuit de la Sarthe, the Tour de Romandie, the Circuit de Lorraine, Bayern–Rundfahrt, the Critérium du Dauphiné, the Eneco Tour, the Tour du Limousin, and Circuit Franco-Belge, but did not achieve a stage win, classification win, or podium finish in any of them.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
Ag2r's squad for the Giro d'Italia had as its leader Gadret, the 13th-place finisher in the 2010 Giro who aimed to improve upon that placing and ride to a top ten finish. Dessel and Nocentini were named to the squad to aim for stage wins and breakaway representation. The team's showing in the stage 1 team time trial was mediocre at best, as they came home 16th of the 23 teams, 49 seconds off the winning pace set by HTC–Highroad.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
Montaguti finished near the front of the field in the Giro's first two road races, taking tenth in the mass sprint finish to stage 2, and likewise tenth in stage 3 when the field was a little more split up. Gadret tried to bridge to the leader on the road (Martin Kohler) in stage 5 one of that stage's many dirt road sections, but he experienced mechanical trouble and finished well down on the day, losing almost a minute to the race's top riders. Gadret lay in 26th place after eight stages, which was the eve of the race's first summit finish, at Mount Etna.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
Gadret was ninth on Etna, losing over a minute to stage winner, new race leader, and eventual Giro champion Alberto Contador, but only 17 seconds to the race's other top riders, and he put in time to the vast majority of the field. The ride moved him up 11 places in the overall standings. Gadret showed his best form, and cunning, in stage 11. With Contador suggesting that he may tactically surrender the jersey on this stage, the expectation was that the victor would come from a member of the morning breakaway.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
Instead, the Lampre–ISD team mounted a strong chase to bring the breakaway riders back. Their leader Michele Scarponi later admitted that he had hoped to be the day's winner, but Gadret took the diminished peloton by surprise with a well-timed attack on the stage's final kilometer to claim the first Grand Tour stage win of his career.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
Gadret and Dupont then showed climbing prowess in the first of three consecutive high mountain stages that preceded the second rest day. While Contador and José Rujano were easily the strongest riders on the day, the Ag2r tandem broke away from the peloton behind and secured third and fourth positions on the day. Gadret was third, which afforded him a time bonus in addition to the actual time taken. This moved him into the top ten for the first time in the race, in eighth. Dupont also entered the top ten after this stage, at tenth place.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
With sixth place the next day on Monte Zoncolan and attrition to other riders, Gadret moved up further, to fifth place. Dupont finished eighth on this stage to move up to eighth overall. Gadret gained further time against the vast majority of the field in the Giro's queen stage, stage 15, by finishing fifth and moving up to fourth place in the overall standings. Dupont struggled, coming in 22nd on the day, to fall to 15th overall. Gadret finished the race in fourth place, holding it after each of the remaining stages.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
Dupont took back a little time against some of the other riders in the field in stages 17 and 20, to improve his final position to 12th. Gadret's fourth place was the team's best overall placement in a Grand Tour in their history, bettering the sixth place attained by Cyril Dessel in the 2006 Tour de France.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
Gadret rode both the Giro and the Tour in 2010, an arrangement which resulted in some controversy when he refused to grant Roche, the squad's leader for the race, his wheel after the Irishman had punctured at a particularly inopportune time. This coupled with Gadret's recuperation after the extremely difficult Giro, and his admission that he prefers the Italian Grand Tour in any event, led to speculation as to whether the two would both be named to the squad. He claimed he would ride only to support Roche, if he rode at all. Lavenu stated that Gadret's impressive Giro had grown his standing with the team, and that the feud between him and Roche had been forgotten, so he hoped Gadret would ride the Tour. Confident of his recovery abilities, Gadret did indeed start the Tour.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
The team had only modest accomplishments in the Tour. They had another mediocre performance in the team time trial, coming in 13th of 22 teams this time around. Hinault contested four sprint finishes in the first half of the Tour, but did not pose a serious challenge for victory in any of them, with fourth place in stage 3 his best result. Before stage 11, Gadret withdrew from the race due to fatigue stemming from the Giro. He had been in 66th place, 25'09" behind race leader Thomas Voeckler. Roche lay 13th at this point, 3'45" down.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
He entered the top ten the next day despite losing time, since attrition to other riders moved him up to tenth place. He lost significant time in stage 14 on the Plateau de Beille, however, ceding six minutes to the race's top riders and falling to 18th. However, this stage also revealed Péraud as a rider to watch. He finished with the elite group, which lost time to just three riders, and vaulted from 19th in the overall classification up to 12th.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
Péraud's position held steady for the next three days, in stages won by sprinters and breakaways. In stage 18, which finished at the Col du Galibier, Péraud finished a modest 16th, but this result moved him into the top ten overall. He dropped back out of the top ten the next day on Alpe d'Huez by finishing 12th and sufficiently behind Pierre Rolland that the younger Frenchman took his place, but regained tenth overall the next day in Grenoble thanks to his super time trial skills. He held tenth the next day to finish as the team's best-placed rider. Roche's final position was 26th.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
Again following the pattern of 2010, Roche also rode the Vuelta as Ag2r's squad leader. He hoped to improve upon both his dismal Tour, which he admitted was hampered by a crash sustained shortly beforehand at the Critérium du Dauphiné, and his seventh overall in the 2010 Vuelta. Their performance in the third Grand Tour team time trial of the season was even worse than the first two, as they were a paltry 19th of 22, immediately putting Roche 42 seconds off the pace.


2011 Ag2r–La Mondiale season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
Roche led the peloton across the finish line in stage 3, but since it was for fifth place after breakaway riders took all the time bonuses, it had no substantial effect on his overall placing. Roche showed strongly on the Valdepeñas de Jaén climb in stage 5, finishing just 7 seconds behind stage winner Joaquim Rodríguez. However, since this final climb was rather short, time gaps were small throughout the field, and this performance only gained Roche one place in the overall standings, moving him up to 25th.