2012 World Snooker Championship, Tournament summary, Semi-finals
The semi-finals were played as the best of 33 frames held over four sessions on 4 and 5 May. Carter met Maguire, and led 5–3 after the first session. Maguire made a 142 break in frame 15, but still trailed after the second sessionby four frames. The pair shared the eight frames of the third session, with Carter leading 14–10. Carter then won three of the next five to win the match 17–12. Earlier in the season, Carter had considered retiring from the game, due to struggles with Crohn's disease. Hendry, acting as a pundit for BBC sport, commented how Carter had "frustrated" Maguire during the match.


2012 World Snooker Championship, Tournament summary, Semi-finals
O'Sullivan met Stevens in the other semi-final. This was O'Sullivan's ninth world championship semi-final, and Steven's fifth. O'Sullivan led the match 5–3 after the opening session, but won six of the eight in the second to lead 11–5. The pair shared the eight frames of the third session, leaving O'Sullivan 15–9 ahead. Stevens took the first frame in the fourth session, before O'Sullivan made a break of 130 in frame 26, and won the next frame to complete a 17–10 victory. Snooker pundit John Parrott enlikened playing O'Sullivan to be as difficult as "hold[ing] a tiger by the tail".


2012 World Snooker Championship, Tournament summary, Final
The final was played on 6 and 7 May as the best of 35 frames held over four sessions between Carter and O'Sullivan. This was the second time that the pair had met in the final of the event, with O'Sullivan defeating Carter 18–8 in the 2008 final. This was O'Sullivan's fourth world championship final, having won the prior three, whilst Carter was featuring in his second. Carter had never beaten O'Sullivan in 11 previous attempts in ranking events before this match.


2012 World Snooker Championship, Tournament summary, Final
O'Sullivan made two century breaks in the opening session, including a 141 break in the eighth frame, the highest in a world championship final to date. The previous record was 139 made by O'Sullivan in the 2001 final. The pair were tied at 3–3, but O'Sullivan won the final two frames of the session to lead 5–3. O'Sullivan won four of the next six to lead 9–5, and led 10–7 overnight. A break of 101 by O'Sullivan saw him lead 11–7 and he then won the next three frames to lead 14–7. Carter won the next three frames, including a century break, before O'Sullivan won the final frame of the session to lead 15–10. Only four frames were played in the final session, as O'Sullivan won three of them to complete a 18–11 victory.


2012 World Snooker Championship, Tournament summary, Final
This was O'Sullivan's fourth championship, and was the oldest person to win the event since Dennis Taylor in 1985. O'Sullivan praised the work of Steve Peters, his sports psychologist, for the victory, saying: "I wouldn't have been playing if it wasn't for Steve... I've stuck in there. I've had to face things that I didn't want to face." Carter would comment that his opponent was "the better man", but that he was disappointed to lose. This was the twelfth meeting between the pair in ranking competitions, with O'Sullivan winning all of them. Carter would eventually defeat O'Sullivan at the event in the second round of the 2018 World Snooker Championship. After the event, O'Sullivan announced he would take a six months sabatical from the sport, however, he only played one competitive match before the following year's event, which he also won.


2012 World Snooker Championship, Main draw
Shown below are the results for each round. The numbers in parentheses beside some of the players are their seeding ranks (each championship has 16 seeds and 16 qualifiers). The draw for the first round took place on 16 April 2012, one day after the qualifying, and was broadcast live by Talksport.


2012 World Snooker Championship, Qualification draw, Preliminary qualifying
The preliminary qualifying rounds for the tournament were for WPBSA members not on the Main Tour and took place on 5 April 2012 at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield.


2012 World Snooker Championship, Qualification draw, Qualifying
The qualifying rounds 1–4 for the tournament that took place between 6 and 12 April 2012 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. The final round of qualifying took place between 14 and 15 April 2012 at the same venue. Robert Milkins made the 87th official maximum break during his round four qualifying match against Xiao Guodong on 11 April 2012. This was the second maximum break of Milkins' career.


2012 World Snooker Championship, Century breaks, Main stage centuries
A total of 71 century breaks were made during the main stage of the World Championship. For every century break that was made during the 17-day championship in Sheffield, the title sponsor, Betfred, donated £200 to World Snooker's official charity for the 2011/2012 season, Haven House Children's Hospice, with the promise of topping it up to £25,000 if 75 centuries were made. However, Betfred boss Fred Done donated the full £25,000, despite being four centuries short of the target.


2012 World Snooker Championship, Century breaks, Qualifying stage centuries
A total of 60 century breaks were made during the qualifying stage of the World Championship, the highest a maximum break made by Robert Milkins.


2012 World Snowboarding Championships
The 2012 World Snowboard Championships (WSC) took place in Oslo, Norway from February 10–19, 2012. 240 riders from approximately 35 countries competed in slopestyle and halfpipe disciplines.


2012 World Snowboarding Championships
The 2012 World Snowboarding Championships is the first championships run by snowboarders since 1999. It is developed and owned by the Ticket To Ride (TTR) and World Snowboard Federation (WSF). It is organized by Snowboard-VM 2012 AS – the local organizing company owned by The Arctic Challenge, The Norwegian Snowboard Federation and Oslo Vinterpark. The WSC got a full backing by the global snowboard community as expressed by the unanimous vote at the TTR and WSF general assemblies in Barcelona, May 2010.


2012 World Snowshoe Championships
The 2012 World Snowshoe Championships was the 5th edition of the global snowshoe running competition, World Snowshoe Championships, organised by the World Snowshoe Federation and took place in Quebec City on 11 March 2012.


2012 World Snowshoe Championships, Results
The race held on the distance of 10 km, has compiled two different ranking (male and female) overall, it was the mass start system and more than 100 competitors participated.


2012 World Sprint Speed Skating Championships
The 2012 World Sprint Speed Skating Championships were a long track speed skating event held on 28 and 29 January 2012 in Olympic Oval, Calgary, Canada.


2012 World Sprint Speed Skating Championships, Men championships, Sprint results
Stefan Groothuis skated a new points record (136.810), the previous record belonged to Jeremy Wotherspoon (137.230 [2003])


2012 World Sprint Speed Skating Championships, Men championships, Sprint results
NQ = Not qualified for the second 1000m (only the best 24 are qualified)DQ = disqualified


2012 World Sprint Speed Skating Championships, Women championships, Sprint results
The previous record of 149.305 set by Cindy Klassen in 2006 was beaten by Yu Jing and Christine Nesbitt, both of whom skated in the same pair for the second 1000m.


2012 World Sprint Speed Skating Championships, Women championships, Sprint results
NQ = Not qualified for the second 1000m (only the best 24 are qualified)DQ = disqualified


2012 World Sprint Speed Skating Championships, Rules
All participating skaters are allowed to skate the two 500 meters and one 1000 meters; 24 skaters may take part on the second 1000 meters. These 24 skaters are determined by the samalog standings after the three skated distances, and comparing these lists as follows:


2012 World Team Championship
The  World Team Championship 2012 (WTC 2012) was played from 1 to 4 July 2012 in Beijing, China. It was the second edition of the  World Pool-Billiard Association World Team Championship for  pool teams.


2012 World Team Championship
The event was won the Chinese Taipei team by a 4–0 victory in the final against Japan. The defending champion Great Britain was eliminated in the semi-finals against the eventual champion.


2012 World Team Championship, Format
Each participating team consisted of four to five players, including at least one female player. The games consisted of two sets in the disciplines eight-ball, nine-ball and ten-ball with the two 8-ball matches were played in men's singles. The woman played a 9-ball and a 10-ball match. The two 10-ball matches were played as a double, whilst 9-ball was played in singles.


2012 World Team Championship, Format, Prize money
A total of $300,000 in prize money was distributed, the winning team received $80,000. Below are the prize money per team indicated.


2012 World Team Championship, Participating teams
Teams were split into six groups of four, with the top two from each group progressing. Teams were made up of either four or five players. Teams representing each nation are shown below:


2012 World Team Table Tennis Championships
The 2012 Liebherr World Team Table Tennis Championships were held at the Westfalenhallen in Dortmund, Germany from March 25 to April 1, 2012. It was the 51st edition to be contested. 120 men's teams and 92 women's teams were allocated to different divisions according to the final ranking of the previous World Team Table Tennis Championships and the ITTF World Team Rankings. The winner of the first division, called the Championship Division, was crowned as the new champion.


2012 World Team Table Tennis Championships
To be eligible to have a team entered for the team events in 2012 Summer Olympics, the ITTF member association must have participated in the tournament. The ranking of the 2012 Championships was taken into account for the Olympic qualification after the final world Olympic qualification tournament, which was held from May 10 to May 13.


2012 World Team Table Tennis Championships, Seeding
The Championship Division comprised 24 teams. The top 18 teams of the Championship Division at the 2010 World Team Championships were guaranteed a spot in the championship division. The top two teams of the Second Division in 2010 automatically advanced to the Championship Division in 2012. The other four spots were announced according to the ITTF World Team Rankings published in February, 2012.


2012 World Team Table Tennis Championships, Seeding
China  Germany  Japan  South Korea  Hong Kong  Russia  Belarus  Hungary  Czech Republic


2012 World Team Table Tennis Championships, Seeding
Austria  Sweden  Poland  North Korea  Portugal  Spain  Singapore  Chinese Taipei  Croatia


2012 World Team Table Tennis Championships, Seeding
Singapore  China  Japan  Germany  South Korea  Hong Kong  Hungary  Netherlands  Chinese Taipei


2012 World Team Table Tennis Championships, Seeding
Poland  Croatia  Romania  North Korea  Russia  Spain  United States  Ukraine  Belarus


2012 World Team Table Tennis Championships – Men's team
The Men's team tournament of the 2012 World Team Table Tennis Championships was held from March 25 to April 1, 2012. at Dortmund, Germany. The draw was held on February 22.


2012 World Team Table Tennis Championships – Women's team
The Women's team tournament of the 2012 World Team Table Tennis Championships was held from March 25 to April 1, 2012. at Dortmund, Germany. The draw was held on February 22.


2012 World TeamTennis season
The 2012 World TeamTennis season is the 37th season of the top professional tennis league in the United States. Before the start of the 2012 season, the St. Louis Aces announced they would not compete this year. The Newport Beach Breakers changed their name to the Orange County Breakers.


2012 World TeamTennis season, Competition format
The 2012 World TeamTennis season included 8 teams, split into two conferences (Eastern and Western). The Eastern Conference and Western Conference had 4 teams each. Each team played a 14 match regular season schedule, with 7 home and 7 away matches. World TeamTennis’s playoff format consisted of the top two teams in each conference playing a semifinal on either September 14 (Eastern Conference) or September 15 (Western Conference), and the winners of each match playing in the final on September 16, 2012.


2012 World Thoroughbred Rankings
The 2012 World Thoroughbred Rankings was the 2012 edition of the World Thoroughbred Rankings. It was an assessment of Thoroughbred racehorses issued by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) in January 2012. It included horses aged three or older which competed in flat races during 2011. It was open to all horses irrespective of where they raced or were trained.


2012 World Touring Car Championship
The 2012 World Touring Car Championship season was the ninth season of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, and the eighth since its 2005 return. The championship, which was open to Super 2000 cars, began with the Race of Italy at Monza on 11 March and ended with the Guia Race of Macau at the Guia Circuit on 18 November, after twenty-four races. Robert Huff won the Drivers' Championship and Chevrolet won the Manufacturers' Championship.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers contested the 2012 FIA World Touring Car Championship.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Calendar
Each meeting consists of two races of approx 50 km each.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round One – Italy
Having dominated the previous season, and still being the only factory-supported team in 2012, the factory Chevrolets were expected to dominate qualifying, but instead it was Gabriele Tarquini in his Lukoil SEAT who took a surprising pole position. The leading Chevrolet of defending champion Yvan Muller was second, only six-hundredths behind Tarquini, with his teammates Robert Huff and Alain Menu on the second row. Rickard Rydell, in a one-off outing, took fifth in a fourth Chevrolet supplied by Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden. Pepe Oriola took pole in the Yokohama class by qualifying seventh.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round One – Italy
The standing start for Race 1 saw no incidents in the first chicane, but that was not the case later in the lap as Huff and Menu touched while battling for third, and went into the gravel. Both drivers lost out, Huff dropping to sixth and Menu well outside the top ten.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round One – Italy
Tarquini and Muller soon began a battle for the lead, which eventually ended up in Muller's favour after Tarquini made a mistake on lap 4. Rydell ran third briefly, but was passed by a recovering Huff mid-race, and the Brit then passed Tarquini as the latter struggled with fading tyres. Muller started off his title defence with a win ahead of Huff, Tarquini and Rydell. Sixth place was enough for Pepe Oriola to win the Yokohama trophy.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round One – Italy
Aleksei Dudukalo and Oriola, who were supposed to start second and fourth in the reverse-grid Race 2, both suffered problems before the race began, the former did not even start whereas the latter started from the pitlane. Norbert Michelisz led away at the start, ahead of Tom Coronel and Stefano D'Aste. The Chevrolet trio were battling for fifth at the start of lap 2 when Huff tagged Muller at the first chicane, sending him into a spin.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round One – Italy
Muller went backwards through the chicane but was able to correct it and not lose any places; Tarquini came out the big loser in this having to retire after hitting Huff. After this incident, the Chevrolets then closed in on the lead BMWs and picked them off one by one. Leader Norbert Michelisz made a better fight for his position and kept Muller at bay repeatedly until he hit a pigeon with three laps left. Michelisz lost straight-line speed as a result and was passed by Muller later that lap, Menu and Huff soon followed. The Chevrolets held station after that, with Muller making it a double, whereas Michelisz had lost so much pace that he was also passed by Stefano D'Aste who took the Yokohama trophy.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Two – Spain
Fresh from his double victory at Monza, defending champion Yvan Muller continued his form by taking pole by a comfortable margin. Gabriele Tarquini qualified second in his SEAT, with Tom Coronel making it three manufacturers in the top three by qualifying third. Pepe Oriola was fourth and the first of the Yokohama Trophy drivers, while Muller's Chevrolet teammates Robert Huff and Alain Menu could manage only fifth and ninth respectively.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Two – Spain
Tarquini got a better jump than Muller initially, but Muller made full use of the inside line to keep his lead at the start. Once ahead, he rapidly drove away from the field and cruised to victory, with his lead peaking at 8 seconds at one stage before he backed off at the end. Tarquini had a much harder time in second, with Coronel attacking him throughout the race, but was unable to get past and had to settle for third despite seeming to have a quicker car. Huff and Menu finished fourth and fifth, with sixth enough for Pepe Oriola to win in the Yokohama category.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Two – Spain
In the second race, Stefano D'Aste led early on from pole. Menu, who started second briefly lost out to Franz Engstler before regaining it and then closed down D'Aste, eventually passing him just after mid-distance. Later, oil on the track at turn 10 caused chaos as the top three of Menu, D'Aste and Engstler all went off; Tom Coronel was the beneficiary and moved into second place right behind Menu.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Two – Spain
On the last lap, there was a minor collision as Coronel attempted to pass, which sent Menu into a slide but he was able to hold it and take the win. Coronel was less than a second behind in second, and D'Aste was third as well as being the Yokohama winner. Yvan Muller could manage only eighth as he also was caught out by the oil and went off track.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Three – Morocco
At the start of Q2, Tom Coronel set the pace in his ROAL Motorsport BMW and looked set to take pole position until the final minutes when the factory Chevrolets of Alain Menu and Robert Huff went quicker. Championship leader Yvan Muller had to settle for fourth, with the Independents category pole being taken again by Pepe Oriola. On the morning of the race, Gabriele Tarquini, who qualified fifth, had his Q2 times disallowed after his car was deemed underweight, and so would have to start 12th.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Three – Morocco
The three Chevrolet drivers led away at the start, Menu followed by Huff and Muller, and in the middle of the field, a collision between local driver Mehdi Bennani and James Nash sent the latter into the wall and brought out the safety car. Later around the lap, Coronel was tagged by Alex MacDowall and sent spinning out of the top ten, MacDowall also lost out after having to go down an escape road as a result. After the race resumed, the Chevrolets had an incident free run and took a 1–2–3 finish, Menu winning from Huff and Muller, with Pepe Oriola finishing fourth and taking his third Yokohama category win. Team Aon scored their first points as Tom Chilton finished seventh.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Three – Morocco
A quick repair job from Team Aon meant that James Nash was sent out in time to take his pole position in Race 2. The Brit led from the start, but he soon came under pressure from Franz Engstler. The Chevrolet trio of Muller, Huff and Menu were sixth, seventh and eighth at the end of the first lap, but with the long straights suiting their superior top-end speed, they were able to pick the others off one by one. By the end of lap 5, Muller was in second place behind Nash.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Three – Morocco
One lap later, he had taken the lead with Huff following him through, Menu wasn't left out and took third soon after. Chevrolet took another 1–2–3 finish, in reverse order of Race One, with Muller the winner, Huff second and Menu third. Stefano D'Aste took another Yokohama trophy win by finishing fifth despite starting outside the top ten.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Four – Slovakia
Qualifying was full of surprises as Norbert Michelisz took pole position for Zengő Motorsport and BMW's first pole after withdrawing its full factory effort. Aleksei Dudukalo took a career-best second ahead Lukoil Racing Team teammate Gabriele Tarquini. The Chevrolet team surprisingly struggled, with Yvan Muller sixth, Robert Huff seventh and Alain Menu ninth.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Four – Slovakia
Michelisz held off his pursuers at the start but was quickly under attack from the Lukoil cars of Tarquini and Dudukalo. On the third lap, Tarquini overshot his braking and bumped into the back of Michelisz, sending him wide and this allowed both Tarquini and Dudukalo to go through. Michelisz dropped down to third and suffered even more a lap later when Muller spun him round; the Frenchman was given a drive-through penalty as a result.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Four – Slovakia
Tarquini was able to build a gap to the rest of the field and took the first non-Chevrolet win of the season, with Dudukalo completing a Lukoil Racing 1–2 and taking the Yokohama class victory. The Russian had briefly lost second to Pepe Oriola after going off track, but regained it and the Yokohama trophy lead after the latter suffered a puncture with two laps to go. Alain Menu finished third to close the gap to Muller to nine points, while Michelisz had to make do with sixth.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Four – Slovakia
The reversed top 10 grid for Race 2 saw the Chevrolets closer to the front, and Robert Huff wasted no time moving up from fourth on the grid to the lead by turn 3. He built a gap early on, before Muller moved into second and closed his teammate down. Menu moved into third before being passed by Tarquini on the third lap, and then retired with a wheel rim failure a lap later. Once clear of Menu, Tarquini then closed the gap to the leading two Chevrolets but was unable to pass Muller.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Four – Slovakia
Huff benefited from the presence of Tarquini as Muller was forced to defend from him, and built a gap and took his first win of the season. Tarquini hit Muller on the last lap sending him into a slide, but Muller was able to control it and stay ahead of Tarquini to the flag. Pepe Oriola made up for his Race 1 disappointment by winning the Independents class with a fifth-place finish.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Five – Hungary
Unlike in Slovakia, Chevrolet had absolutely no problems in qualifying as they took a 1–2–3, with Yvan Muller taking pole three-tenths ahead of Robert Huff, and Alain Menu a further two-tenths back in third. The Independents category pole was taken by Mehdi Bennani who qualified fifth in the Proteam Racing BMW.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Five – Hungary
In the rolling start for Race 1, Gabriele Tarquini immediately got alongside the two Chevrolets on the front row, only to hit Huff at the first corner and damage his rear suspension, forcing him to retire and causing a chain reaction in which local driver Norbert Michelisz was pushed off. Mehdi Bennani briefly moved into second before being pushed back to fourth at turn 3 by the Chevrolets who now led 1–2–3. They quickly left the rest of the field behind and Yvan Muller took an unchallenged victory ahead of Rob Huff. Huff had to fend off a mid-race attack from Alain Menu who despite staying within a second of Huff throughout the race had to settle for third. Bennani finished fourth, over 10 seconds behind the Chevrolets, but as a comfortable winner in the Yokohama class.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Five – Hungary
It was Norbert Michelisz who got the best start from fifth on the grid in Race 2 as he quickly got alongside and then past poleman Franz Engstler to lead into turn 1. As Engstler got shuffled back into the back, Michelisz pulled out a gap on the second place battle between Pepe Oriola and Bennani, which was joined later on by Alain Menu. On lap 9, Bennani made a move on Oriola into turn 1 but this left the door open for Menu who got past both of them to move into second.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Five – Hungary
Menu then began to close in on Michelisz but ran out of laps and Michelisz took the overall (and Independents) win in front of his home fans. Bennani finished third, which was his first outright podium. Rob Huff spent the whole race in traffic and finished seventh, but still gained points on Yvan Muller who ended up tenth after losing places by going off track on the last lap.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Six – Austria
On a circuit full of long straights, it was no surprise at all that the Chevrolet team dominated proceedings in qualifying with a 1–2–3, Robert Huff taking his first pole of the season ahead of Yvan Muller, with Alain Menu again having to make do with third. The Yokohoma category pole went to Alex MacDowall in the bamboo-engineering Chevrolet, the Brit qualifying an impressive fifth overall.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Six – Austria
Huff led into the first corner from the rolling start but on a track where slipstreaming is paramount, had no chance of getting away from Muller and Menu. Muller especially put Huff under intense pressure for long periods of the race, using the tow to get alongside him on multiple occasions. Huff was able to hold Muller off and take his second win of the season, with Menu finishing a close third. Alex MacDowall won the Independents class, his first of the season after finishing in sixth place.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Six – Austria
Aleksei Dudukalo had pole for Race 2, but it was Tom Coronel who led the early stages of the race. At the end of the first lap, Muller and Huff were seventh and eighth, but using the slipstream effect and their superior top speed, picked off the cars in front rapidly. On lap 4, Muller passed Coronel to take the lead, Huff took second a lap later and Menu who had lost out to his teammates at the start moved into third at half-distance.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Six – Austria
The second half of the race was strewn with punctures for the front-wheel drive Chevrolets and SEATs. Tiago Monteiro, Alex MacDowall and Menu all crashed out as a result of punctures, whereas Dudukalo, teammate Gabriele Tarquini and Pasquale Di Sabatino were forced to pit for new rubber. Muller and Huff had broken clear of the rest of the pack, but were then told by the team to back off and hold station. However, Muller's left front tyre punctured on the last lap with four corners left, Huff took the lead only to suffer the same fate at the last corner.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Six – Austria
Coronel in second got held up behind the slowing Chevrolet, and Stefano D'Aste swept around the outside of both Huff and Coronel to take the overall win along with the Yokohama win. Huff held off Coronel on the line to take second, and with Muller limping home in eighth place, was able to cut Muller's championship lead down to eight points.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Seven – Portugal
Gabriele Tarquini, in his Lukoil Racing SEAT took his second pole position of the season, three-tenths ahead of championship leader Yvan Muller. Norbert Michelisz qualified in third place ahead of Robert Huff and took pole in the Independents class. Alain Menu, racing in special Vaillante colours after French comic book racer Michel Vaillant, struggled and could only manage ninth.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Seven – Portugal
At the start, Muller drove around the outside of Tarquini into turn 1 and took the lead, Huff did the same to Michelisz and moved into third. Tarquini was under pressure from Huff in the early stages but held him off and valiantly stuck with Muller throughout the race. Muller won his sixth race of the year, with Tarquini and Huff both under a second behind him as they completed the podium. Michelisz finished a lonely fourth and took the Independents class win by 14 seconds. Menu fought back to fifth but as a result of Muller's win, dropped 50 points behind in the championship.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Seven – Portugal
It was Pepe Oriola who had pole for Race 2, but he was jumped off the line by Menu and Tom Coronel. Menu, in Vaillante colours promptly distanced himself from the rest of the field by building up a 6-second lead within 4 laps, and took a comfortable win. Oriola passed Coronel on the third lap to claim second and stayed there for the remainder of the race, taking the Yokohama win as well as his first outright podium.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Seven – Portugal
Behind third-placed Coronel, a heated battle for fourth took place between Tarquini, Muller and Huff, culminating in an incident with three laps left when Tarquini tagged Huff and spun into the back of Muller, sending him off track. Huff came through to take fourth whereas Tarquini retired as a result of damage and Muller dropped to sixth before passing Alberto Cerqui to finish fifth.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Eight – Brazil
The Chevrolets qualified 1–2–3 just like they did in the previous year's race, with championship leader Yvan Muller taking his third pole of the season ahead of Alain Menu and Robert Huff. Michel Nykjær, driving in a one-off outing in the bamboo-engineering Chevrolet qualified in fourth, only behind the factory trio and was on pole in the Independents category.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Eight – Brazil
The start of Race 1 was incident free, Muller moving into the lead ahead of Menu while Huff came under attack from a fast-starting Gabriele Tarquini but held off the Italian. The three Chevrolets then left the rest of the field behind and took their sixth 1–2–3 finish of the season, with Muller taking yet another win leaving Menu to settle for second and Huff third. Nykjær, driving his first race of the season, finished fifth behind Tarquini and took the win in the Yokohama category.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Eight – Brazil
For Race 2, Darryl O'Young, supposed to start fourth, had to start from the back after mechanical issues forced extended repairs on his car. Norbert Michelisz led the early stages before the safety car was called after a crash for Charles Ng. At the restart, Michelisz was passed by Gabriele Tarquini and the three Chevrolets, led by Huff. New race leader Tarquini came under attack from Huff, who got past at two-thirds distance. With Tarquini holding up his teammates, Huff was able to pull away and take his third win of the season. Menu finished second after passing Tarquini with three laps left, but the Italian was able to hold off Muller and take third. Michelisz had to make do with fifth but took the Independents class win.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Nine – USA
At Chevrolet's home race, Alain Menu took pole position, his first since Morocco with a late qualifying lap. Gabriele Tarquini qualified second for Lukoil SEAT, two-tenths behind Menu. The other two Chevrolets of Yvan Muller and Robert Huff had to settle for third and fourth. Pole in the Yokohama category was taken by Norbert Michelisz, who qualified fifth overall.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Nine – USA
There was minor contact between Menu and Tarquini at the second corner on the first lap in Race 1, as a result of which the latter was pushed wide and dropped down to fifth. Menu kept the lead of the race, but was quickly under pressure from Yvan Muller. The Frenchman passed Menu on lap 4 to take the lead, with Huff following him though into second. Things became worse for Menu a lap later, when he had to pit for repairs after a power steering issue and was knocked out of contention. Muller and Huff left the rest of the field behind, and Muller took his eighth win of the season ahead of Huff. Norbert Michelisz finished third behind the Chevrolets and took the Independents win.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Nine – USA
Poleman Stefano D'Aste went off on the first lap of Race 2, and so Mehdi Bennani lead the early stages. Franz Engstler was second but he soon came under attack from Muller. On lap 4, Bennani spun off into the barriers and Engstler, having kept Muller behind him, took the lead. The battle between Engstler and Muller reached a head a lap later when Muller spun Engstler around at turn 6. Engstler rejoined at the tail of the top ten, whereas Muller led but was given a drive-through penalty.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Nine – USA
The penalty dropped Muller to the tail of the field, and Huff inherited the lead and held it for the rest of the race to win. Michelisz pressured Huff throughout the second half of the race but settled for second place and another Yokohama class win, with Gabriele Tarquini completing the podium. Muller finished out of the points, and as a result, Huff's win took him level on points with Muller with 3 rounds left. Alain Menu recovered to fourth after a poor start, which left him 48 points behind his teammates in the championship.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Ten – Japan
Unsurprisingly, the Chevrolets set the pace in qualifying, as it swept the top three spots on the grid. Alain Menu took his second consecutive pole position, with Yvan Muller alongside on the front row and Robert Huff in third. The Yokohama category pole went to Alex MacDowall in his bamboo-engineering Chevrolet, MacDowall having qualified fourth only behind the three factory cars.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Ten – Japan
Menu led from pole at the start, and there was minor contact between Muller and Huff as they battled for second behind him. Muller came away with his second place intact. Gabriele Tarquini moved into fourth and was able to keep up with the pace of the Chevrolets early in the race, but dropped off as the race progressed. Chevrolet took another unchallenged 1–2–3, and on a track where overtaking is difficult, kept their formation at the end of the first lap as Menu won with Muller second and Huff third. MacDowall's fifth place was enough for him to take the Yokohama class win.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Ten – Japan
Once again, Stefano D'Aste had pole in the reverse grid race, and unlike at Sonoma, he kept the lead at the start. D'Aste soon came under pressure from Pepe Oriola who seemed to be faster but was unable to pass due to the nature of the track. Later in the race, D'Aste was able to pull away and take his second overall (and fifth Independents) win of the year, with Oriola second after holding off Gabriele Tarquini. The difficulty in passing also stymied the Chevrolets as they could only finish fourth, fifth and sixth. Rob Huff was the lead Chevrolet in fourth and this combined with Muller's sixth place meant that the duo left Japan tied on points.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Eleven – China
After a close qualifying session, Alain Menu took another pole position ahead of Chevrolet teammate Yvan Muller, the duo being separated by two just hundredths of a second. Norbert Michelisz, in the Zengő Motorsport BMW qualified in third and took the Independents class pole to increase his class lead. The third Chevrolet of Robert Huff had to make do with fourth on the grid.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Eleven – China
From pole, Menu led into the first corner and Huff moved from fourth to second, whereas there was contact between Muller and Michelisz. That resulted in a domino effect and there were more incidents in the mid-pack during the third and fourth corners, which resulted in a spread out field, cars being spun to the back, and others having to pit and retire with damage. One of those was Muller, who had to retire with a broken rear suspension.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Eleven – China
Since no safety car was called, Menu and Huff were left well clear of the rest of the field and took a comfortable 1–2 for Chevrolet, Menu taking his fifth win of the season. Stefano D'Aste was another beneficiary of the first lap chaos as he moved into third and stayed there unchallenged for the duration of the race, also taking the Independents win along with it.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Eleven – China
Tom Coronel had a clean start from pole in Race 2 and led into the first corner. There was contact behind him between Alex MacDowall and Norbert Michelisz, with both drivers going off track. Menu benefited from that to move into fourth place, ahead of his teammates, by jumping both of them on the line despite starting behind them.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Eleven – China
As the race progressed, he was able to use the straight line speed of the Chevrolet to pass the cars in front one by one, and took the lead on lap 4. Muller and Huff were not far behind and passed Coronel on the next lap to move into second and third. Muller then chased after Menu and attacked him a few laps later, but misjudged his move and hit the back of the Swiss driver sending him off the track and into a half spin.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Eleven – China
Muller himself went wide as a result, and Huff once again inherited the lead, with Menu rejoining third behind Muller. Huff went on to win, whereas Muller and Menu continued to battle for what was now second, switching places two more times with Muller ultimately taking the place. Stefano D'Aste finished fifth and took a double win the Independents class, and moved into contention for the Independents title as both Michelisz and Pepe Oriola struggled.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Eleven – China
After the race, Muller was given a thirty-second time penalty for the contact with Menu and it dropped him to thirteenth and out of the points, with Menu promoted to second and Coronel to third. As a result, Rob Huff led the championship by 35 points over Menu, and Muller in third was 41 points behind.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Twelve – Macau
Robert Huff, arriving with the championship lead, took the 5 points for pole position and to further extend his lead. His two title rivals and Chevrolet teammates, Yvan Muller and Alain Menu qualified second and third, but Muller was seven-tenths and Menu a second slower than Huff's qualifying time. The Independents class pole was taken by bamboo-engineering's Darryl O'Young, in his home race.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Twelve – Macau
In Race 1, Muller got a better start than Huff and grabbed the lead. Further down the field, there was a collision between Stefano D'Aste and Mehdi Bennani at Lisboa corner which blocked the track briefly. No safety car or red flag was called as the cars were running again quickly, but this left the top six of Muller, Huff, Menu, Gabriele Tarquini, Tiago Monteiro and Darryl O'Young half a minute clear of the rest of the field.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Twelve – Macau
The crash forced many cars into the pits to retire, including Norbert Michelisz, Pepe Oriola and D'Aste, the three drivers in the Independents championship battle. Despite needing only second place to seal the championship, Huff attacked Muller and passed him on lap 4. Later on the same lap however, he crashed into a barrier and damaged his suspension, forcing him into the pits for repairs. Muller reclaimed the lead but came under attack from Menu, who attempted to pass on the penultimate lap but could not.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Twelve – Macau
Muller held on to win and reduce the gap to Huff to 17 points, with Menu's second place leaving him 19 points behind Huff and keeping him in contention as well. Tiago Monteiro took third place, his first podium of the season and Honda's first in the championship. O'Young was the only Independent car to not lose half a minute in the track blockage on the first lap and so he cruised to his first Independent category win of the season.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Twelve – Macau
The reversed grid had Alex MacDowall on pole in the second race, but he was jumped off the line by Norbert Michelisz. Behind him, Menu had a much better start than his teammates and was up to fourth, whereas Muller and Huff were seventh and eighth. MacDowall passed Michelisz for the lead at the start of the second, and the Hungarian was passed by Menu later in the same lap. MacDowall made a mistake on lap 3 and dropped to fourth behind Menu, Michelisz and Pepe Oriola, Michelisz's main rival in the Independents class.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Twelve – Macau
At the start of lap 4, MacDowall came under attack from Muller and made contact with the latter, spinning him into the barrier and bringing out the safety car. Huff moved into fourth ahead of Muller who had to slow to avoid the spinning MacDowall. When the race restarted, Oriola attacked Michelisz for second but outbraked himself and crashed into the back of Michelisz at Lisboa, ending with both in the barriers and out of the race, and promoting Huff to second and Muller to third.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Season report, Round Twelve – Macau
The safety car was brought out for the second and final time as there was not enough time to clear the two cars. The race finished in safety car conditions, and Chevrolet took a 1–2–3 in its final WTCC race as a manufacturer, Menu the winner ahead of Huff and Muller. Huff's second place was enough for him to secure his first drivers championship, 12 points ahead of Menu and 20 ahead of Muller. In the Independents category, with Michelisz, Oriola and MacDowall all ending up in the barriers, Darryl O'Young was left to make it a double win. Norbert Michelisz took the Independents class title despite not scoring any points in Macau, as his two main rivals Oriola and Stefano D'Aste also scored no points.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Results and standings, Standings, Drivers' Championship
Championship points were awarded on the results after the second qualifying session at each event as follows:


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Results and standings, Standings, Drivers' Championship
Championship points were awarded on the results of each race at each event as follows:


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Results and standings, Standings, Drivers' Championship
† — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Results and standings, Standings, Manufacturers' Championship
Championship points were awarded on the results after the second qualifying session at each event as follows:


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Results and standings, Standings, Manufacturers' Championship
Championship points were awarded on the results of each race at each event as follows:


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Results and standings, Standings, Manufacturers' Championship
Only the two best placed cars of each manufacturer earned points.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Results and standings, Standings, Yokohama Trophies
World Touring Car Championship promoter Eurosport Events organised the Yokohama Drivers' Trophy and the Yokohama Teams' Trophy within the 2012 FIA World Touring Car Championship.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Results and standings, Standings, Yokohama Trophies
Eligibility for the Yokohama Drivers' Trophy was decided by Eurosport Events, taking into consideration the Team's CV and records, the Driver's CV and records and the car's technical characteristics.


2012 World Touring Car Championship, Results and standings, Standings, Yokohama Trophies
All the teams taking part in the championship were eligible to score points towards the Yokohama Teams' Trophy, with the exception of teams which incorporated a car manufacturer's name in the team's name.


2012 World U-17 Hockey Challenge
The 2012 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge was an ice hockey tournament held in Windsor, Tecumseh and La Salle,  Ontario, Canada, between December 29, 2011, and January 4, 2012. The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge is held by Hockey Canada annually to showcase young hockey talent from across Canada and other strong hockey countries. The primary venues used for the tournament were the WCFU Centre in Windsor, Tecumseh Arena in Tecumseh and the Vollmer Culture and Rec Centre in La Salle.


2012 World University Netball Championship
The 2012 World University Netball Championship was hosted at the Good Hope Centre in Cape Town, South Africa between 2 July and 7 July 2012. The tournament was organised by the Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire and University Sport South Africa. It was the inaugural tournament of the World University Netball Championship. It was won by Great Britain who defeated the host nation, South Africa 53–49 in the final. Jamaica finished third after defeating Northern Ireland 41–30 in the bronze medal match.


2012 World University Netball Championship, Participants
Initially, eighteen countries indicated that they would send teams. However by June 2012, when the draw was made for the tournament, only seven had confirmed their participation. These were South Africa, Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Jamaica, Namibia, Uganda and the United States. Australia and New Zealand where among the countries that had dropped out. Before the tournament started, a late entry by Zimbabwe saw the number of participants increase to eight. It was initially planned that Ireland would send an All-Ireland team, featuring players from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. However no players from the Republic were selected for the final squad. As a result, it was a Northern Ireland team, in effect, that competed in the tournament.


2012 World University Netball Championship, Format
When there was just seven teams due to participate, it was planned for all seven teams to play each other once in a group stage. The top four teams would then qualify for the semi-finals. However with the addition of Zimbabwe it was decided to split the eight teams into two groups of four. All eight teams qualified for the quarter-finals, with the final group tables deciding the quarter-final draw.


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship
The 2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship was held from February 18 to 25 at the Uiam Ice Rink in Chuncheon City, South Korea.


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Qualification, Qualification event
Slovakia and Italy qualified from the qualifying event held in November 2011 in Lohja, Finland.


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams
Third: Ina ForrestSecond: Jack SmartLead: Sonja GaudetAlternate: Jim ArmstrongCoach: Joe Rea


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams
Third: Liu WeiSecond: He JunLead: Xu GuangqinAlternate: Zhang QiangCoach: Li Jianrui


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams
Third: Egidio MarcheseSecond: Emanuele SpelorziLead: Angela MenardiAlternate: Rosanna MenazziCoach: Giulo Regli


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams
Third: Jostein StordahlSecond: Terje RafdalLead: Sissel LøchenAlternate: Per FagerhøiCoach: Thoralf Hognestad


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams
Third: Marat RomanovSecond: Aleksandr ShevchenkoLead: Svetlana PakhomovaAlternate: Oxana SlesarenkoCoach: Margarita Nesterova


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams
Third: Tom KillinSecond: Gregor EwanLead: Angela MaloneAlternate: Jim GaultCoach: Tony Zummack


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams
Third: Branislav JakubecSecond: Dušan PitoňákLead: Monika KunkelováAlternate: Alena KánováCoach: Frantisek Pitoňák


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams
Third: Jung Seung-wonSecond: Noh Byeong-ilLead: Kang Mi-sukAlternate: Bang Min-jaCoach: Park Kwon-il


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams
Third: Glenn IkonenSecond: Patrik KallinLead: Anette WilhelmAlternate: Gert ErlandssonCoach: Tomas Nordin


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, Teams
Third: David PalmerSecond: James JosephLead: Penny GreelyAlternate: Timothy KellyCoach: Steve Brown


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship – Qualification Event
The qualification event of the 2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship was held from November 5 to 10, 2011 at the Kisakallio Sports Institute in Lohja, Finland, which hosted the qualification event for last year's World Wheelchair Championships. The event's two top finishers, Slovakia and Italy, qualified for the main tournament in Chuncheon City, South Korea.


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship – Qualification Event
The two qualification spots were determined as follows: The nine teams played each other once in the round-robin. At the conclusion of the round robin, the top four teams advanced to the playoffs. Tie-break games were necessary to decide on the top four teams. The playoffs followed the first and second rounds of the page playoff system. In the first round of playoffs, the first seed played the second seed and the third seed played the fourth seed.


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship – Qualification Event
The winner of the 1 vs. 2 game, Slovakia, qualified for the World Championships, while the loser of the 1 vs. 2 game, Italy, played the winner of the 3 vs. 4 game, Finland, in the Second Place Game. The winner of the Second Place Game, Italy, qualified to the World Championships.


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship – Qualification Event, Teams
Third: Martin TlukSecond: Stepan BenesLead: Michaela CharvátocáAlternate: Jana BřinčilováCoach: Jiri Marsa


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship – Qualification Event, Teams
Third: Henrik HarlevSecond: Preben NielsenLead: Rosita JensenAlternate: Sussie NielsenCoach: Per Christensen


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship – Qualification Event, Teams
Skip : Vesa HellmanSecond: Sari KarjalainenLead: Tuomo AarnikkaAlternate: Riita SärösaloCoach: Lauri Ikävalko


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship – Qualification Event, Teams
Third: Caren TotzauerSecond: Martin SchlittLead: Uwe RaschkeAlternate: Heike MelchiorCoach: Bernd Weißer


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship – Qualification Event, Teams
Third: Egidio MarcheseSecond: Emanuele SpelorziLead: Angela MenardiAlternate: Rosanna MenazziCoach: Giulio Regli


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship – Qualification Event, Teams
Third: Takashi SakatayaSecond: Hiroshi WachiLead: Aki OgawaAlternate: Ayako SaitohCoach: Michiaki Saito


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship – Qualification Event, Teams
Third: Ojars BriedisSecond: Maris DzelskalnsLead: Polina RozkovaAlternate: Vita MieziteCoach: Artis Zentelis


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship – Qualification Event, Teams
Third: Felix WagnerSecond: Claudia HüttenmoserLead: Eric DecorvetAlternate: Melanie VillarsCoach: Stephan Pfister


2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship – Qualification Event, Playoffs, 1 vs. 2
Slovakia is qualified to participate in the Worlds Italy moves to Second Place Game


2012 World Women's Curling Championship
The 2012 World Women's Curling Championship (branded as Ford World Women's Curling Championship 2012 for sponsorship reasons) was held at the Enmax Centre in Lethbridge, Alberta from March 17 to 25. It marked the 12th time that Canada has hosted the World Women's Curling Championship. The 2012 World Women's Championship was one of the curling events that is a qualifier for the curling tournament at the 2014 Winter Olympics.


2012 World Women's Curling Championship
This edition of the World Women's Championship saw the first team from South Korea advancing to the playoffs in history. Previously, their best performance was in 2009, where they finished the round robin in tenth place with a 3–8 win-loss record.


2012 World Women's Curling Championship
In the final, Switzerland's Mirjam Ott defeated Sweden's Margaretha Sigfridsson after scoring a deuce in the tenth end, wrapping up the game with a score of 7–6. Switzerland won its third gold medal, its first since 1983, when Erika Müller won the world championship. Ott won her first gold medal, while Sigfridsson won her third silver medal.


2012 World Women's Curling Championship
Scottish skip Eve Muirhead was awarded the Frances Brodie Award, an honour given to a curler at the championships who best exemplified sportsmanship, fair play, honesty, and friendship. Muirhead was nominated by fellow curlers at the championships.


2012 World Women's Curling Championship, Qualification
The following nations qualified to participate in the 2012 Ford World Women's Curling Championship:


2012 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Heather NedohinThird: Beth IskiwSecond: Jessica MairLead: Laine PetersAlternate: Amy Nixon


2012 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Wang BingyuThird: Yue QingshuangSecond: Liu JinliLead: Zhou YanAlternate: Sun Yue


2012 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Linda KlímováThird: Kamila MošováSecond: Lenka ČernovskáLead: Kateřina UrbanováAlternate: Sára Jahodová


2012 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Lene Nielsen Third: Helle Simonsen Second: Jeanne Ellegaard Lead: Maria Poulsen Alternate: Mette de Neergaard


2012 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Fourth: Imogen Oona Lehmann Skip: Melanie Robillard* Second: Corinna Scholz Lead: Stella Heiß Alternate: Monika Wagner


2012 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Diana GaspariThird: Giorgia ApollonioSecond: Chiara OlivieriLead: Claudia AlveraAlternate: Veronica Gerbi


2012 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Anna SidorovaThird: Liudmila PrivivkovaSecond: Margarita FominaLead: Ekaterina GalkinaAlternate: Nkeiruka Ezekh


2012 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Eve MuirheadThird: Anna SloanSecond: Vicki AdamsLead: Claire HamiltonAlternate: Kelly Wood


2012 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Kim Ji-sunThird: Lee Seul-beeSecond: Shin Mi-sungLead: Gim Un-chiAlternate: Lee Hyun-jung


2012 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Fourth: Maria PrytzThird: Christina BertrupSecond: Maria WennerströmSkip: Margaretha SigfridssonAlternate: Sabina Kraupp


2012 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Mirjam OttThird: Carmen SchäferSecond: Carmen KüngLead: Janine GreinerAlternate: Alina Pätz


2012 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Allison PottingerThird: Nicole JoraanstadSecond: Natalie NicholsonLead: Tabitha PetersonAlternate: Cassandra Potter


2012 World Women's Curling Championship, Teams
*The team's normal skip, Andrea Schöpp, withdrew from the world championships due to a leg injury sustained prior to the championships. Melanie Robillard replaced Schöpp as skip, and threw third stones.


2012 World Wrestling Championships
The 2012 World Wrestling Championships was held at Millennium Place in Strathcona County, Alberta, Canada. Traditionally, Wrestling World Championships are not held in Olympic years, but in 2012 a female championship was held because the 2012 Summer Olympics included only four of the seven FILA weight classes for females.


2012 World Wrestling Championships – Women's freestyle 48 kg
The women's freestyle 48 kg is a competition featured at the 2012 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the Millennium Place in Strathcona County, Alberta, Canada on September 29.


2012 World Wrestling Championships – Women's freestyle 51 kg
The women's freestyle 51 kg is a competition featured at the 2012 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the Millennium Place in Strathcona County, Alberta, Canada on September 27.


2012 World Wrestling Championships – Women's freestyle 55 kg
The women's freestyle 55 kg is a competition featured at the 2012 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the Millennium Place in Strathcona County, Alberta, Canada on September 28.


2012 World Wrestling Championships – Women's freestyle 59 kg
The women's freestyle 59 kg is a competition featured at the 2012 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the Millennium Place in Strathcona County, Alberta, Canada on September 27.


2012 World Wrestling Championships – Women's freestyle 63 kg
The women's freestyle 63 kg is a competition featured at the 2012 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the Millennium Place in Strathcona County, Alberta, Canada on September 29.


2012 World Wrestling Championships – Women's freestyle 67 kg
The women's freestyle 67 kg is a competition featured at the 2012 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the Millennium Place in Strathcona County, Alberta, Canada on September 27.


2012 World Wrestling Championships – Women's freestyle 72 kg
The women's freestyle 72 kg is a competition featured at the 2012 World Wrestling Championships, and was held at the Millennium Place in Strathcona County, Alberta, Canada on September 28.


2012 World's Strongest Man
The 2012 World's Strongest Man was the 35th edition of World's Strongest Man. The event was held on the grounds of the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, California, US. The event was sponsored by MET-Rx. The qualifying heats were held from September 24–27, and the finals took place Sept. 30 & Oct. 1, 2012. The winner was Žydrūnas Savickas, it was his third WSM title. Vytautas Lalas of Lithuania was second, and Iceland's Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson was third.


2012 World's Strongest Man
In the qualifying heats, Derek Poundstone set a new world record in the Giant Dumbbell press event by pressing a 210 lb (95 kg) dumbbell overhead for 11 repetitions, and Vytautas Lalas set a new strongman squat world record by squatting 700 lb (320 kg) for 11 repetitions. In the finals, Žydrūnas Savickas set a new Log Lift for Max Weight world record with a lift of 220 kg (490 lb).


2012 Worthing Borough Council election
The 2012 Worthing Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Worthing Borough Council in West Sussex, England. One third of the council was elected, including a double vacancy in Offington ward. The Conservative Party remained in overall control of the council.


2012 Wrexham County Borough Council election
The 2012 Wrexham County Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Wrexham County Borough Council in Wales. This was on the same day as other 2012 United Kingdom local elections. The previous all-council elections took place in 2008 and the next elections took place in May 2017.


2012 Wrexham County Borough Council election, Background
Prior to the election no party or group had overall control. The council had been run by an all-party coalition.


2012 Wrexham County Borough Council election, Results
No group gained a majority after the election, though Labour gained 10 seats while the Liberal Democrats lost seven seats, including that of their group leader, Ron Davies, who was also leader of the council. Labour planned to discuss forming a coalition with the Independents.


2012 Wuachon United F.C. season
The 2012 Season is Wuachon United's run season in the  Thai Premier League.


2012 Wuachon United F.C. season, Players, Current squad
As of March 9, 2012 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2012 Wukan municipal election
The Wukan municipal election was held in Wukan, People's Republic of China on 3 March 2012 following an uprising against the ruling Communist government over alleged land grabs in which protesters forced out the incumbent government; the provincial government then acceded to an election for a committee to govern Wukan after protesters sought an end to what they said was decades of Communist party corruption. The election would choose a seven-member village committee, including a village chief and his two deputies, who would control local finances and the sale and apportioning of collectively owned village land.


2012 Wukan municipal election, Background
Following the standoff in December 2011 over illegal land sales, protest leader Lin Zulian was named the new Communist Party of China secretary of Wukan. As part of the truce with authorities, the governor of Guangdong province acquiesced to a village election in Wukan—the first of its kind to employ a secret ballot. A series of three elections was planned, which would select 100 representatives to oversee the village's governing committee.


2012 Wukan municipal election, Background
During the first round election on 1 February, some 6,000 Wukan villagers voted for an independent committee to supervise the election for a new seven-member village leadership committee. On 11 February, over 6,500 villagers (85% of the population) voted to elect 107 village representatives, with protester leader Lin Zulian as village party chief replacing the ousted leader (Communist Party secretary Xue Chang, who has been in the position since 1970), after 42 years in office. Xue Jianwan, the daughter of the late protest leader Xue Jinbo, who died in state custody, was also elected. According to WSJ writer Josh Chin, the election appeared to be "free of the Communist Party meddling that typically mars Chinese election results."


2012 Wukan municipal election, Monitors
An unidentified U.S. diplomat said that a U.S. observer was sent to oversee the electoral process. The U.S. consul in Guangdong was permitted to observe the election.


2012 Wuxi Classic
The 2012 Wuxi Classic was a professional ranking snooker tournament held between 25 June–1 July 2012 at the Wuxi City Sports Park Stadium in Wuxi, China. It was the first year of the tournament as a ranking event, having been non-ranking in its previous playings. It was also the first ranking event of the 2012/2013 season.


2012 Wuxi Classic
Mark Selby was the defending champion, but he lost in the quarter-finals 5–4 against Stuart Bingham.


2012 Wuxi Classic
Ricky Walden won his second ranking title by defeating Bingham 10–4 in the final. During the final Bingham made the 89th official maximum break. This was Bingham's third 147 break.


2012 Wuxi Classic, Prize fund
It was announced on 2 May 2012, that this year's prize money would be £400,000, which would rise to £425,000 for next year and then to £450,000 for the following three years. The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:


2012 Wuxi Classic, Wildcard round
These matches were played in Wuxi on 25 and 26 June 2012.


2012 Wuxi Classic, Qualifying
These matches were held between 5 and 8 June 2012 at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield, England. In the fourth frame of the match between Dominic Dale and Peter Lines a 20-year-old record from the 1992 Asian Open was broken. They accumulated 192 points, the most in a single frame in the history of snooker. Lines won the frame 108–84. The previous record was 185, made when Sean Storey defeated Graham Cripsey 93–92.


2012 Wyoming Cavalry season
The 2012 Wyoming Cavalry season was the team's thirteenth season as a football franchise and second in the current Indoor Football League (IFL).


2012 Wyoming Cavalry season, Roster
Rookies in italics updated June 9, 201221 Active, 2 Inactive


2012 Wyoming Cowboys football team
The 2012 Wyoming Cowboys football team represented the University of Wyoming in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cowboys were led by fourth year head coach Dave Christensen and played their home games at War Memorial Stadium. They were members of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 4–8, 3–5 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for sixth place.


2012 Wyoming Cowboys football team
On October 13, 2012; Christensen confronted Air Force coach Troy Calhoun after the Cowboys' narrow 28–27 loss to the Falcons. Believing Calhoun had told Air Force quarterback Connor Dietz to fake an injury in order to buy more time before the game-winning touchdown, Christensen launched a profanity-laced tirade at Calhoun, calling him a "fly boy." Christensen apologized the next night and was reprimanded by the Mountain West Conference for his actions. On October 22, Wyoming athletic director Tom Burman suspended Christensen for the Cowboys' game against Boise State and fined him $50,000. Assistant head coach Pete Kaligis coached the team in that game. However, Wyoming credits the entire season to Christensen.


2012 Wyre Forest District Council election
The 2012 Wyre Forest District Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Wyre Forest District Council in Worcestershire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party lost overall control of the council to no overall control.


2012 Wyre Forest District Council election, Background
After the May 2011 Wyre Forest District Council election the Conservatives had a majority on the council with 24 councillors, compared to 6 for Labour, 5 Liberals, 4 Health Concern and 3 independents. However, later that month one of the Liberal councillors, Graham Ballinger, defected to Health Concern. A further change then came in July 2011, when Mumshad Ahamed, who had sat as an independent councillor since being expelled from the Conservative group in June 2009, joined the Labour party.


2012 Wyre Forest District Council election, Background
14 of the 42 seats on the council were contested in 2012, with the Conservatives, Labour and Health Concern having candidates for every seat. The Conservatives defended 8 of the 14 seats, with 3 members of the council cabinet, Nathan Desmond, Marcus Hart and Julian Phillips, standing for re-election.


2012 Wyre Forest District Council election, Election result
The Conservatives lost four of the eight seats they were defending and so no longer had a majority on the council as they were left with 20 of the 42 councillors. Health Concern were the main beneficiaries picking up three seats and holding two more to have 8 seats on the council. This pulled them level to Labour who also had 8 councillors after making a gain of one seat, with Labour coming within five votes of taking another seat in Oldington and Foley Park from the Conservatives. Independent Helen Dyke held her seat, while the only Liberal councillor to defend a seat, group leader Fran Oborski, successfully defended it after 39 years on the council.


2012 XE133
2012 XE133 is an asteroid, classified as near-Earth object of the Aten group that is a temporary co-orbital of Venus.


2012 XE133, Discovery, orbit and physical properties
2012 XE133 was first observed on 12 December 2012 by J. A. Johnson working for the Catalina Sky Survey. As of March 2013, it has been observed 102 times with a data-arc span of 28 days. It is an Aten asteroid and its semi-major axis of 0.72 AU is very similar to that of Venus but its eccentricity is rather large (0.4332) and its inclination of 6.7° is also significant. With an absolute magnitude of 23.4, it has a diameter of approximately 62 to 138 meters. On 26 November 2020 it has been recovered and has now a well established orbit with an uncertainty parameter of 3.


2012 XE133, Quasi-satellite dynamical state and orbital evolution
2012 XE133 has been identified as a Venus co-orbital following a transitional path between Venus's Lagrangian points L5 point and L3 point. Besides being a Venus co-orbital, this asteroid is also a Mercury grazer and an Earth crosser. 2012 XE133 exhibits resonant (or near-resonant) behavior with Mercury, Venus and the Earth. Its short-term dynamical evolution is similar to that of two other Venus co-orbitals, 2001 CK32 and 2002 VE68.


2012 XE133, Potentially hazardous asteroid
2012 XE133 was included in the Minor Planet Center list of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) because it comes to within 0.05 AU of Earth periodically, but it has since been removed. It will approach Earth at 0.0055 AU (and the Moon at 0.0045 AU) on 30 December 2028.


2012 YQ1
2012 YQ1 is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object and a potentially hazardous asteroid of the  Apollo group, approximately 200 meters in diameter. It was first observed on 19 December 2012, by astronomers Andrey Oreshko and Timur Kryachko at the Elena Remote Observatory (G32) located in the Chilean Atacama desert.


2012 YQ1, Description
With a 4-day observation arc, the asteroid had a 1 in 3 million chance of impacting in 2106. With a 10-day observation arc, the asteroid had a 1 in 10 million chance of impacting in 2106. On 5 January 2013, the asteroid passed 0.10 AU (15,000,000 km; 9,300,000 mi) from Earth. It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 8 January 2013. It has an observation arc of 32 days and an orbital uncertainty of 7. Since the asteroid has a poorly known orbit, the cone of uncertainty quickly multiplies as a result of perturbations by the inner planets and prevents precise/reliable ephemeris data. Eliminating an entry on the Sentry Risk Table is a negative prediction; a prediction of where it will NOT be.


2012 YQ1, Description, In the popular press
In 2013, an article, originally posted on The Voice of Russia had a poorly researched headline stating "We have 93 years left till the next End of the World". This story was reposted on Space Daily, but then astronomer Phil Plait clarified that it was "a fascinating mix of fact and error. A lot of what it says is accurate, but the most important claim—that an asteroid will impact Earth in 2106—is simply wrong."


2012 Yahoo! Voices hack
Yahoo! Voices, formerly Associated Content, was hacked in July 2012. The hack is supposed to have leaked approximately half a million email addresses and passwords associated with Yahoo! Contributor Network. The suspected hacker group, D33ds, used a method of SQL Injection to penetrate Yahoo! Voice servers. Security experts said that the passwords were not encrypted and the website did not use a HTTPS Protocol, which was one of the major reasons of the data breach. The email addresses and passwords are still available to download in a plaintext file on the hacker's website.


2012 Yahoo! Voices hack
The hacker group described the hack as a "wake-up call" for Yahoo! security experts. Joseph Bonneau, a security researcher and a former product analysis manager at Yahoo, said "Yahoo can fairly be criticized in this case for not integrating the Associated Content accounts more quickly into the general Yahoo login system, for which I can tell you that password protection is much stronger."


2012 Yahoo! Voices hack, Reaction by communities and users
D33DS, the suspected hacker group, said that the hack was a "wake-up call". They said that it was not a threat to Yahoo!, Inc. The IT Security firm TrustedSec.net said that the passwords contained a number of email addresses from Gmail, AOL, Yahoo, and more such websites.


2012 Yahoo! Voices hack, Response from Yahoo
Immediately after the hack, Yahoo!, in a written statement, apologized for the breach. Yahoo! did not disclose how many passwords were valid after the hack, because they said that every minute, 1–3 passwords are changed on their site. Yahoo! said that only 5% of its passwords were stolen during the hack. The hackers' website, d33ds.co, was not available later on Thursday, after the hack. Yahoo! said in a written statement that it takes security very seriously and is working together to fix the vulnerability in its site. Yahoo! said that it was in the process of changing the passwords of the hacked accounts and notifying other companies of the hack.


2012 Yahoo! Voices hack, Controversy
A simple matter had sparked a controversy over Yahoo!. The controversy was sparked because of Yahoo! 's silence about the data breach. After the servers were hacked, Yahoo! did not mail the affected victims, although it was promised earlier. There was no site-wide notifications about the hack, nor did any victim get any type of personal messages detailing how to reset their account passwords from Yahoo.


2012 Yale Bulldogs football team
The 2012 Yale Bulldogs football team represented Yale University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first year head coach Tony Reno and played their home games at the Yale Bowl. They are a member of the Ivy League. They finished the season 2–8, 1–6 in Ivy League play to finish in last place.


2012 Yangzhou earthquake
The 2012 Yangzhou earthquake occurred in Jiangsu Province of the People's Republic of China at 20:11 (UTC+8) in Yangzhou on July 20.


2012 Yangzhou earthquake, Location
The epicenter was located at the boundary of Baoying County and Gaoyou City, both of which under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou. The earthquake could be felt in a number of nearby cities including Changzhou, Xuzhou, Zhenjiang and Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province.


2012 Yangzhou earthquake, Damage
The quake measured 4.9 on the moment magnitude scale. According to official sources, one person died and two were injured as a result of the earthquake. Thirteen rooms collapsed and 155 rooms were severely damaged.


2012 Yas Marina Circuit V8 Supercar Event
The 2012 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi (V8) Grand Prix was a motor race for the Australian sedan-based V8 Supercars racing cars. It was the thirteenth event of the 2012 International V8 Supercars Championship. It was held on the weekend of 2–4 November at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.


2012 Yas Marina Circuit V8 Supercar Event
The event was the main support category for the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Holden driver Jamie Whincup dominated the weekend, winning all three races, after Ford driver Will Davison took all three pole positions.


2012 Yasar Dogu Tournament
The 40th Yasar Dogu Tournament 2012, was a wrestling event held in Ankara, Turkey between 10 and 12 February 2012.


2012 Yasar Dogu Tournament
This international tournament includes competition includes competition in both men's and women's freestyle wrestling. This ranking tournament was held in honor of the two time Olympic Champion, Yaşar Doğu.


2012 Yecheng attack
The 2012 Yecheng attack occurred on February 28, 2012 in Yecheng, Xinjiang, a remote town on China's border with Pakistan. Details of the attack are disputed: according to Chinese government reports and court documents, at around 6 p.m. that day, a group of eight Uyghur men led by religious extremist Abudukeremu Mamuti attacked pedestrians with axes and knives on Happiness Road. Local police fought with the attackers, ultimately killing all and capturing Mamuti. State-run media reported that one police officer died and four police were injured, while 15 pedestrians died from Mamuti's assault and 14 more civilians were injured. Chinese officials characterized the event as a "terrorist attack."


2012 Yecheng attack
Exiled Uyghur groups offered conflicting accounts of the clash, which they say was precipitated by increased ethnic and religious restrictions and widespread arbitrary arrests by authorities. Citing unidentified local residents, the Germany-based World Uyghur Congress said that the attacks targeted security personnel—not civilians—and that fighting resulted in the deaths of ten Uyghurs, seven police officers, and five others. Radio Free Asia reported that a group of Uyghurs had killed three ethnic Han, and that police killed 12 young Uyghurs.


2012 Yecheng attack
Mamuti was convicted of terrorism and homicide-related crimes on March 26, in a trial that Uyghur groups overseas said did not comply with international legal standards.


2012 Yecheng attack, Background
The oasis city of Yecheng (also known as Kargilik), in Kashgar Prefecture, is 150 miles from China's border with Pakistan. Chinese border police have had difficulty asserting control over its border towns with Pakistan, as militants cross the porous border in between attacks. Despite its strategic location, Yecheng has long been remote and isolated from the rest of Xinjiang. Seven days before the attack, however, authorities opened a $578 million highway connecting Kashgar to Yecheng.


2012 Yecheng attack, Background
Yecheng is impoverished compared to the rest of Xinjiang, and itself experienced violent unrest in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1998, Yecheng saw the U.S.-designated terrorist East Turkestan Islamic Movement blow up a natural gas pipeline and injure three people, as well as several explosions, according to authorities. Since 2009, according to Professor Barry Sautman, attacks in Xinjiang have become "more... spectacular, like storming police stations and attacks on police". Generally, Chinese authorities trace these attacks to Muslim hardliners who want independence from China, trained indigenously or in Pakistan.


2012 Yecheng attack, Background
Yecheng is located between two cities which have seen Uyghur militant attacks in 2011, Kashgar and Hotan. In December, police rescued hostages held by suspected terrorists in Pishan, another remote border town. Xinjiang authorities aimed to recruit 8,000 extra police for 2012 for extra security before a new government is formed at the 18th National Congress.


2012 Yecheng attack, Attack
According to subsequent trial documents, on the morning of February 28, a Uyghur man named Abudukeremu Mamuti gathered eight followers in his house, who he had been grooming by preaching Islamic fundamentalism to them. Mamuti distributed axes, knives, and details to members of his group about the attack they were to carry out, on sites that they had already chosen and checked. At 6:00 p.m that evening, the group of nine started stabbing people in a crowd on Happiness Road (Chinese: 幸福路; pinyin: Xìngfú Lù) in Yecheng.


2012 Yecheng attack, Attack
Happiness Road is mostly populated by ethnic Han, and most of the victims were Han, although some victims were Uyghur. The regional government declined to identify the ethnicity of the attackers, but a police officer at the scene told Agence France-Presse that all of the attackers were Uyghur. 13 pedestrians were killed immediately and 16 were injured, two of whom died later from the injuries. Responding police shot seven of Mamuti's group dead, and also fatally injured another attacker, while sustaining one death and four injuries of their own.


2012 Yecheng attack, Aftermath
Security was increased in Yecheng, as police blockaded points of entry and exit and apprehended suspects. Dilxat Raxit, the leader of the pro-Xinjiang independence World Uyghur Congress, described the attack as Uyghurs "using primitive fighting methods" to fight "China's systematic repression". He claimed that police were the intended target of the attacks, because they had been arbitrarily arresting Uyghurs to fulfill quotas. Hong Lei (洪磊), for the Chinese foreign ministry, said that the assailants deliberately targeted civilians and called them "terrorists". At the same time, Hong cautioned against overblowing the incident, portraying the militants as few in number.


2012 Yecheng attack, Aftermath
On March 26, Mamuti was publicly tried in the Intermediate people's court of Kashgar Prefecture. The court convicted him of "organizing and leading a terrorist group, and intentional homicide", and sentenced him to death with possibility of appeal. Uyghur separatist leader Rebiya Kadeer decried the trial as unfair, and claimed that capital punishment is "used arbitrarily against Uyghurs who dare to stand up for their basic human rights". Zhang Chunxian, the CPC Party chief for Xinjiang, hailed the sentence, saying "No mercy will be shown to those guilty of violent terrorist attacks in Xinjiang".


2012 Yemeni President Cup
The 2012 Yemeni President Cup is the 14th edition to be held and back after a years absence due to the 2011 Yemeni revolution.


2012 Yemeni President Cup
The competition started in October with a Preliminary Round featuring four sides. The winners advance to the round of 32 and then so on in a knockout basis played over one game.


2012 Yemeni presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Yemen on 21 February 2012. Acting President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was the only candidate, and was subsequently sworn into office on 25 February 2012.


2012 Yemeni presidential election, Background
During the Yemeni revolution, the Gulf Cooperation Council proposed an agreement whereby President Ali Abdullah Saleh would transfer his powers to Vice President Hadi. Saleh signed an agreement in Riyadh on 23 November 2011 under which he was to remain in office as a figurehead for up to three months, after which elections would be held. On 26 November, Hadi announced 21 February 2012 as the date for the elections.


2012 Yemeni presidential election, Campaign
According to Prime Minister Mohammed Basindawa, the main opposition Joint Meeting Parties coalition and the ruling General People's Congress jointly nominated Hadi as their consensus candidate.


2012 Yemeni presidential election, Campaign
The Houthis in northern Yemen called for a boycott of the vote, but said they would not stop those who wished to vote from doing so. In the same vein, the southern secessionists also called for a boycott. Yemeni police said they had arrested "hardliners" from the movement who sought to forcefully prevent people from voting.


2012 Yemeni presidential election, Conduct
Despite the ongoing uprising and reactions that continued to cause violence, other poll related violence included at least two attacks near polling stations prior to the vote. One of the attacks occurred the day before the election in Aden, a stronghold of the Southern Movement seeking to secede and restore an independent South Yemen, that result in the death of one soldier. The Yemeni government warned that there was "certain" to be violent attempts to disrupt the vote. On election day, at least one security service personnel was killed in the southern al-Mansoura district. Further violence was reported in the south. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was also accused of attacking election committees.


2012 Yemeni presidential election, Results
According to Yemeni law, the final result was expected within ten days. Voter turnout was reported to be 65%.


2012 Yemeni presidential election, Reactions, International
China – At a regular press briefing Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said "We hope relevant parties make joint efforts to ensure a peaceful and orderly political transitional process, to restore normal social order at an early date and realize national stability and development".


2012 Yemeni presidential election, Reactions, International
Cuba – President of the Council of State and Council of Ministers of Cuba Raul Castro sent the elected president a congratulatory cable.


2012 Yemeni presidential election, Reactions, International
France – A Foreign Ministry statement said that France welcomed the holding of the presidential election, commended the Yemeni people for their mobilization and the conduct of the election, which for the most part was peaceful. It also addressed its congratulations to, and expressed its support for and trust in Hadi, however it recognized that serious acts of intimidation resulting in the loss of life were committed in certain southern governorates, notably in the city of Aden, in an attempt to jeopardize the success of the elections, strongly condemning these acts.


2012 Yemeni presidential election, Reactions, International
Russia – President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev sent a congratulatory telegram to Hadi, saying "We note with satisfaction that the Republic of Yemen is moving along the path of restoring stability and security and implementing a wide range of social and economic and democratic transformations based on a broad national dialog and in line with the aspirations of all of the country's citizens". Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said "We hail the efforts of the Yemeni authorities who provided voting in the earlier stated date, as well as the active participation of the people (in the election process)".


2012 Yemeni presidential election, Reactions, International
Spain – The Spanish government welcomed the elections, considering it a major step towards the democratic transition and the start of a new phase in Yemen's history. The Spanish Foreign Ministry renewed in a statement its full support for democratic transition process in Yemen and confirmed its intention to continue to work with the Yemeni government and the various spectra of Yemeni society to face the future challenges in various fields.


2012 Yemeni presidential election, Reactions, International
Turkey – A Foreign Ministry statement welcomed the elections as a significant step and hoped the results of the elections would be beneficial for the Yemeni people. The statement added that "Turkey now expects a national dialogue conference to take place with participation of all seagments in Yemen".


2012 Yemeni presidential election, Reactions, International
United Kingdom – Foreign Minister William Hague welcomed the successful Yemeni election saying "Yemeni people made clear there is no place for violence in Yemen's democratic future".


2012 Yemeni presidential election, Reactions, International
United States – President Barack Obama told  Hadi that the United States would be a steadfast partner and urged him to follow through on promises for a broad national dialogue, political reforms and elections by 2014.


2012 Yemeni presidential election, Reactions, International
United Nations – UN envoy Jamal Bin Omar, while visiting some of the polling stations in Sana'a said "The February 21st, is a historic day, and it protected Yemen from a civil war".


2012 Yemeni presidential election, Aftermath
Hadi took oath of office in the House of Representatives on 25 February. On the same day a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle outside a presidential palace in Mukalla, the capital of Hadhramaut Governorate, killing at least 26 members of the Republican Guard. Saleh formally ceded power to Hadi and stepped down on 27 February 2012.


2012 Yiliang earthquakes
On 7 September 2012, a series of earthquakes occurred in Yiliang County, Zhaotong, Yunnan. The two main shocks occurred at 11:19 and 12:16 China Standard Time (03:19 and 04:16 UTC). The earthquakes left 81 people dead and 821 injured. According to the officials, at least 100,000 people were evacuated and more than 20,000 houses were damaged.


2012 Yiliang earthquakes, Earthquakes
There were two shocks with magnitudes exceeding 5, and they constituted an earthquake doublet.


2012 Yiliang earthquakes, Earthquakes
The two largest tremors were reported to be the major events in a sequence that included over 60 aftershocks. In addition to Yunnan and Guizhou, the shaking could be felt in Sichuan and Chongqing.


2012 Yiliang earthquakes, Effects
The quakes caused landslides that blocked roads in the area of the hardest hit region, the town of Luozehe (洛泽河) in Yunnan Province, as well as cutting off utilities and communications. The affected areas are densely populated and mountainous.


2012 Yiliang earthquakes, Effects
81 people were killed, more than 800 people were injured, and more than 6,600 houses were flattened, while many thousands more were damaged. In neighbouring Guizhou Province, collapsed houses were reported in Weining County, and houses were damaged in Hezhang County. 30,265 households were left without power; 28,158 were restored by midday on 9 September 2012. Telecommunication in the affected area was restored roughly to the state before the earthquake by midday on 9 September 2012. Direct economic losses were estimated at 3.5 billion yuan (US$552 million).


2012 Yiliang earthquakes, Effects
In Zhaotong, 96 highways were cut off by the earthquake. According to the Communications Bureau of Zhaotong Prefecture, frequent aftershocks and landslides could cut off restored road access.


2012 Yiliang earthquakes, Effects
Premier Wen Jiabao flew to Yiliang and spoke to victims of the earthquakes. He also visited hospitals and tent settlements set up for the displaced.


2012 Yiliang earthquakes, Relief efforts
The Red Cross has sent jackets, quilts, tents, rice, and cooking oil to the affected area. Sichuan Province sent medical personnel and ambulances to Yunnan for support. The central government of China allocated a fund of 1.05 billion yuan (US$165 million) on 8 September 2012 for relief and reconstruction.


2012 Ykkönen
The Ykkönen 2012 season began on 27 April 2012 and ended on 6 October 2012.


2012 Ykkönen
The champions will be directly promoted to the 2013 Veikkausliiga. The two teams finishing at the bottom of the table will be directly relegated to Kakkonen.


2012 Ykkönen, Overview
A total of ten teams will contest in the league, including eight sides from the 2011 season, RoPS who was relegated from Veikkausliiga  and SJK who promoted from Kakkonen after winning the promotion play-offs.


2012 Yokohama F. Marinos season
The 2012 Yokohama F. Marinos season is Yokohama F. Marinos's 20th season in J.League Division 1 and 33rd season overall in the top flight (counting the Japan Soccer League and participation in the inaugural J.League Cup). It also includes the 2012 J.League Cup and 2012 Emperor's Cup.


2012 Yokohama FC season
The 2012 Yokohama FC season sees Yokohama FC compete in J.League Division 2 for the fifth consecutive season. Yokohama FC are also competing in the 2012 Emperor's Cup.


2012 York Region Shooters season
The 2012 season was York Region Shooters's 15th season in the Canadian Soccer League. The season witnessed York Region finish in the top five in the First Division since the 2010 season with the fourth highest defensive record. The club qualified for the playoffs for the 10th consecutive season, and defeated the Windsor Stars in the opening round.


2012 York Region Shooters season
Their postseason journey came to a conclusion in the second round after a defeat to the Montreal Impact Academy, while their reserve team shared a similar fate in the Second Division playoffs after a loss to Brampton City United B. The top goalscorers for the season were Jason De Thomasis, Aundrae Rollins, and for the record seventh consecutive time Kadian Lecky each with four goals.


2012 York Region Shooters season, Summary
The club began preparations for the 2012 season by making an agreement with PEAC School for Elite Athletes for the access of their facilities and expertise of qualified instructors. The managerial structure changed with Tony De Thomasis returning to the helm as head coach. York's schedule saw them kick off their season at home on  May 6, with the Shooters winning 1–0 thanks to a goal from Aundrae Rollins. Following their victory at home the club achieved a four game undefeated streak. After receiving their first defeat of the season on June 1 against the Serbian White Eagles the club recovered with a fourteen game undefeated streak with only two defeats recorded throughout the season.


2012 York Region Shooters season, Summary
The organization managed a fifth place standing in the First Division as a result secured a postseason berth. In the preliminary round of the playoffs the Shooters defeated the Windsor Stars, but were eliminated in the following round by the Montreal Impact Academy. Meanwhile in the Second Division their reserve team clinched their fifth consecutive playoff berth after finishing seventh in the standings. The team reached the semifinals, but were defeated by Brampton City United B by a score of 2–0.


2012 York Region Shooters season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2012 York Region Shooters season, Competitions summary, First division, Results summary
Last updated: October 7, 2012. Source: 2012 Canadian Soccer League season


2012 Youngstown State Penguins football team
The 2012 Youngstown State Penguins football team represented Youngstown State University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Eric Wolford and played their home games at Stambaugh Stadium. They are a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 7–4, 4–4 in MVFC play to finish in a tie for sixth place.


2012 Yucatán gubernatorial election
The 2012 gubernatorial election in the Mexican state of Yucatán were held on Sunday, July 1, 2012. Incumbent Yucatán Governor Ivonne Ortega Pacheco of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) is retiring due to mandatory term limits, which limit all Mexican state governors to one, six-year term in office. The Yucatán gubernatorial election coincided with the 2012 Mexican presidential and general elections.


2012 Yukon/NWT Men's Curling Championship
The 2012 Yukon/NWT Men's Curling Championship was held February 9–12 at the Whitehorse Curling Club in Whitehorse, Yukon. The winning team of Jamie Koe,  will represent Yukon/Northwest Territories at the 2012 Tim Hortons Brier in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.


2012 Zambales's 2nd congressional district special election
A special election for Zambales's 2nd district seat in the House of Representatives of the Philippines was held on February 4, 2012. The special election was called after incumbent representative Antonio M. Diaz died on August 3, 2011. Jun Omar Ebdane, son of governor Hermogenes Ebdane, won in the special election, beating Cheryl Deloso-Montalla, Diaz's opponent in the 2010 general election, Rica Victoria Diaz-Arambulo, Diaz's daughter, and two other independent candidates.


2012 Zambales's 2nd congressional district special election
This was the closest special election in the 21st century in the Philippines.


2012 Zambales's 2nd congressional district special election, Background
A member of the Magsaysay political family has served as member of the House of Representatives from Zambales since 1946 when Ramon Magsaysay was elected. Antonio M. Diaz, a nephew of Ramon Magsaysay, was first elected as representative in Zambales' lone district in 1969, serving until 1972 when Congress was dissolved, elected in 1984 in the Regular Batasang Pambansa, won three consecutive terms starting in 1992 for the 2nd District's seat, and another three consecutive terms starting in 2004. Diaz died on August 3, 2011 after being afflicted with pneumonia.


2012 Zambales's 2nd congressional district special election, Background
With the seat's vacancy, the Zambales Provincial Board passed a resolution asking the House of Representatives and the Commission on Elections to call for a special election. The absence of a representative meant that the monetary incentives normally used by Diaz for scholarships was no longer given. By September, the resolution filed by the provincial board was at its second reading in the House of Representatives, and that the board passed another resolution asking Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. to appoint a liaison officer to the district coming from the province.


2012 Zambales's 2nd congressional district special election, Background
Vice Governor Ramon Lacbain said that the board is expecting the special election to be held at October. By October, typhoons Pedring and Quiel ravaged the province; with no representative in Congress, the residents had no one to approach for help. The Commission on Elections released a statement on November 8 that expecting the special election to be held soon.


2012 Zambales's 2nd congressional district special election, Background
On December, the commission announced that the special election would be held on February 4. The election period would start on December 21, 2011 and end on February 14, 2012, the filing of certificates of candidacy will be from January 16 to January 18, 2012, and the campaign period will be from January 19 to February 2, 2012.


2012 Zambales's 2nd congressional district special election, Campaign
Names floated prior to the filing of certificates of candidacies include Rica Diaz, daughter of Diaz, Cheryl Deloso, daughter of former governor Amor Deloso, Jun Omar Ebdane, son of current governor Hermogenes Ebdane and incumbent provincial administrator, and board members Wilfredo Pangan and Alfred Mendoza.


2012 Zambales's 2nd congressional district special election, Campaign
President Benigno Aquino III authorized the military and the police to implement election laws, such as a province-wide gun ban, during the election period. Jun Omar Ebdane resigned as provincial administrator on January 17 in order to run for the vacant seat. Ebdane was leading in election surveys, with 37% of the vote, followed closely by Deloso-Montalla and Diaz-Arambulo. Meanwhile, Diaz-Arambulo has succeeded in allowing her father's scholarships to continue while the seat was vacant, working with Belmonte, who was officer-in-charge of the vacant seat.


2012 Zambales's 2nd congressional district special election, Campaign
The commission issued a warning on the Ebdane and Deloso-Montalla campaigns, saying that the posters used were too large than the legally-specified size. Ebdane's supporters took down huge billboards of him in Iba, while a few of Deloso-Montalla's posters were also removed. This comes as President Aquino declared February 4 as a special non-working holiday in the province to allow the electorate to vote. The commission expected a voter turnout of around 70%, while Diaz-Arambulo has complained of vote buying.


2012 Zambales's 2nd congressional district special election, Campaign
On the eve of the election, a shootout between Zambales police and armed men took place at Botolan. It started when an informant called the police saying a group of armed men were harassing voters in barangay Mambog; a special reaction team of Botolan police went to the scene, but one of the gunmen named Cesar Mado opened fire to the police. The police returned fire, causing the death of Madu, a former policeman, and 10 more were injured. Governor Ebdane said that he will not interfere in the investigation, although a Philippine Star source stated that Madu was a former security officer of the Delosos.