2015 ATP World Tour Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Nishikori opened his grass-court season by participating in the Halle Open where he reached the semi-finals, only to retire in his match against Andreas Seppi down 1–4 in the first set due to his calf injury which he attained in his quarterfinal match. Nishikori decided to play Wimbledon, but withdrew from his second round match against Santiago Giraldo, due to his calf injury.


2015 ATP World Tour Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Nishikori opened his hard-court season by competing at the Citi Open and reached the final where he beat John Isner in three tight sets to capture his third title of the year. At the Rogers Cup, he reached the semi-finals after defeating Rafael Nadal for the first time in eight tries but ended up losing to Murray. After reaching the final the previous year, He suffered a shocking loss in the first round of the US Open to Benoît Paire.


2015 ATP World Tour Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Nishikori started the Asian Fall by participating in his hometown tournament, Rakuten Japan Open, where he reached the semi-finals but lost again to Paire. He reached third rounds of the Shanghai Rolex Masters and BNP Paribas Masters before losing to Kevin Anderson and retiring against Richard Gasquet. Nishikori qualified for the event for the second straight year in a row.


2015 ATP World Tour Finals, Champions, Doubles
Jean-Julien Rojer /  Horia Tecău def. Rohan Bopanna /  Florin Mergea 6–4, 6–3


2015 ATP World Tour Finals – Doubles
Bob and Mike Bryan were the defending champions, but lost in the semifinals to Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecău. Rojer and Tecău went on to win the title, defeating Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea in the final 6–4, 6–3.


2015 ATP World Tour Finals – Doubles, Draw, Group Ashe/Smith
Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, or of games won; 5) Steering Committee decision.


2015 ATP World Tour Finals – Doubles, Draw, Group Fleming/McEnroe
Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, or of games won; 5) Steering Committee decision.


2015 ATP World Tour Finals – Singles
Three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic successfully defended his title, defeating Roger Federer in the final 6–3, 6–4 to win the Singles tennis title at the 2015 ATP Finals. By claiming the title, Djokovic became the first player to win the event four times in a row.


2015 ATP World Tour Finals – Singles, Draw, Group Stan Smith
Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, then percentage of games won, then head-to-head records; 5) ATP rankings


2015 ATP World Tour Finals – Singles, Draw, Group Ilie Năstase
Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, then percentage of games won, then head-to-head records; 5) ATP rankings


2015 ATP World Tour Masters 1000
The twenty-sixth edition of the ATP Masters Series. The champion of each Masters event is awarded a 1,000 rankings points. Novak Djokovic won a record 6 titles in a season and reached a record 8 finals in a season.


2015 ATX Pro Challenge
The 2015 ATX Pro Challenge was the first edition of the preseason soccer tournament. The tournament was hosted by USL Pro side Austin Aztex with matches being played at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.


2015 ATX Pro Challenge
The first installation of the tournament was won by D.C. United, who beat FC Dallas 1–0 in the final.


2015 AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour
The 2015 AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour was a domestic professional beach volleyball circuit organized in the United States by the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) for the 2015 beach volleyball season.


2015 AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, Schedule
This is the complete schedule of events on the 2015 calendar, with team progression documented from the semifinals stage. All tournaments consisted of single-elimination qualifying rounds followed by a double-elimination main draw.


2015 AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, Awards
The 2015 AVP Awards Banquet was held on October 28 in Newport Beach, California. The season's top performers were chosen based on statistics, player votes and AVP national ranking points earned during the year.


2015 AZ43
2015 AZ43 (also written 2015 AZ43) is an Apollo near-Earth asteroid roughly 70 meters in diameter. On 10 February 2015 with a 29.5-day observation arc, it showed a 1 in 5,880 chance of impacting Earth on 27 February 2107. However, the NEODyS nominal best-fit orbit shows that 2015 AZ43 will be 2.8 AU (420,000,000 km; 260,000,000 mi) from Earth on 27 February 2107. A (non-impacting) Earth close approach in 2056 makes future trajectories diverge. It was removed from the JPL Sentry Risk Table on 23 February 2015 using JPL solution 26 with an observation arc of 40 days that included radar data.


2015 AZ43
With an absolute magnitude of 23.5, the asteroid is about 50–120 meters in diameter.


2015 AZ43, 2015 flyby
2015 AZ43 was discovered on 11 January 2015 by Pan-STARRS at an apparent magnitude of 20 using a 1.8-meter (71 in) Ritchey–Chrétien telescope. On 15 February 2015 the asteroid passed 0.0197 AU (2,950,000 km; 1,830,000 mi) from Earth. The Goldstone Deep Space Network detected the asteroid on 18–19 February 2015, but the signal was not strong enough for delay-Doppler imaging.


2015 Aalesunds FK season
The 2015 season was Aalesunds FK's ninth consecutive season in the Tippeligaen. They finished the season in 10th position, whilst also reaching the Third Round of the Norwegian Cup, where they were defeated by Hødd.


2015 Aalesunds FK season
Aalesunds started the season with new manager Harald Aabrekk, but on 28 April, Aabrekk was sacked and replaced by Trond Fredriksen.


2015 Aalesunds FK season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Aalesunds FK season, Squad, Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Aalesunds FK season, Transfers, Winter
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Aalesunds FK season, Transfers, Winter
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Aalesunds FK season, Transfers, Summer
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Aalesunds FK season, Transfers, Summer
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Aberto de Tênis do Rio Grande do Sul
The 2015 Aberto de Tênis do Rio Grande do Sul was a professional tennis tournament played on clay courts. It was the fourth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2015 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Porto Alegre, Brazil between 28 September and 04 October 2015.


2015 Aberto de Tênis do Rio Grande do Sul, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Aberto de Tênis do Rio Grande do Sul, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following player received entry into the singles main draw as an alternate:


2015 Aberto de Tênis do Rio Grande do Sul – Doubles
Guido Andreozzi and Guillermo Durán are the defending champions, but only Guido Andreozzi is playing in this year's edition.


2015 Abha mosque bombing
The 2015 Abha mosque bombing occurred on 6 August 2015, when a suicide bomb attack killed 17 people at a mosque in the south-western Saudi Arabian city of Abha.


2015 Abha mosque bombing
Responsibility for the attack, in a city near Saudi Arabia's southern border with Yemen, a country presently torn apart by the Yemeni Civil War, was claimed by a self-described affiliate of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria calling itself Hijaz Province of the Islamic State.


2015 Abia State gubernatorial election
The Abia State gubernatorial election, 2015 was the fifth gubernatorial election of Abia State. Held on April 25, 2015, the People's Democratic Party nominee Okezie Ikpeazu won the election, defeating Alex Otti of the All Progressives Grand Alliance.


2015 Abierto Mexicano Telcel
The 2015 Abierto Mexicano Telcel was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 22nd edition of the men's tournament (15th for the women), and part of the 2015 ATP World Tour and the 2015 WTA Tour. It took place in Acapulco, Mexico between 23 and 28 February 2015, at the Fairmont Acapulco Princess.


2015 Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Points and prize money, Prize money
1 Qualifiers prize money is also the Round of 32 prize money* per team


2015 Abierto Mexicano Telcel – Men's Doubles
Kevin Anderson and Matthew Ebden were the defending champions, but they chose not to participate this year. Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo won the title, defeating Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Santiago González in the final, 7–6(7–2), 5–7, [10–3].


2015 Abierto Mexicano Telcel – Men's Singles
Grigor Dimitrov was the defending champion, but lost to Ryan Harrison in the second round.


2015 Abierto Mexicano Telcel – Men's Singles
David Ferrer won the title, defeating Kei Nishikori in the final, 6–3, 7–5.


2015 Abierto Mexicano Telcel – Women's Doubles
Kristina Mladenovic and Galina Voskoboeva were the defending champions, but they chose not to participate this year. Lara Arruabarrena and María Teresa Torró Flor won the title, defeating Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká in the final, 7–6(7–2), 5–7, [13–11].


2015 Abierto Mexicano Telcel – Women's Singles
Dominika Cibulková was the defending champion, but she chose not to defend her title.


2015 Abierto Mexicano Telcel – Women's Singles
Timea Bacsinszky won the title, defeating Caroline Garcia in the final, 6–3, 6–0.


2015 Abierto Tampico
The 2015 Abierto Tampico was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the third edition of the tournament and part of the 2015 ITF Women's Circuit, offering a total of $50,000+H in prize money. It took place in Tampico, Mexico, on 5–11 October 2015.


2015 Abierto Tampico, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Abierto Tampico, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following player received entry by a lucky loser spot:


2015 Abierto Tampico – Doubles
Petra Martić and Maria Sanchez were the defending champions, but Martić chose not to participate. Sanchez partnered Elise Mertens, but lost in the semifinals to Verónica Cepede Royg and Marina Melnikova.


2015 Abierto Tampico – Doubles
María Irigoyen and Barbora Krejčíková won the title, defeating Cepede Royg and Melnikova in the final, 7–5, 6–2.


2015 Abierto Tampico – Singles
Mariana Duque was the defending champion, but chose to participate in Beijing instead.


2015 Abierto Tampico – Singles
Lourdes Domínguez Lino won the title, defeating Alizé Lim in the final, 7–5, 6–4.


2015 Abierto Victoria
The 2015 Abierto Victoria was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the fourth edition of the tournament and part of the 2015 ITF Women's Circuit, offering a total of $50,000 in prize money. It took place in Ciudad Victoria, Mexico, on 28 September–4 October 2015.


2015 Abierto Victoria, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Abierto Victoria, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following player received entry by a lucky loser spot:


2015 Abierto Victoria – Doubles
Maria Fernanda Alves and Patricia Maria Țig were the defending champions, but Țig chose to compete in Wuhan instead. Alves partnered Gabriela Cé, but lost in the semifinals to Ysaline Bonaventure and Elise Mertens.


2015 Abierto Victoria – Doubles
Bonaventure and Mertens then went on to win the title, defeating María Irigoyen and Barbora Krejčíková in the final, 6–4, 4–6, [10–6].


2015 Abierto Victoria – Singles
Diāna Marcinkēviča was the defending champion, but she lost in qualifying.


2015 Abierto Victoria – Singles
Elise Mertens won the title, defeating Amandine Hesse in the final, 6–4, 6–3.


2015 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team
The 2015 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team represented Abilene Christian University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Wildcats were in their third transition season of at the FCS level. They were led by fourth-year head coach Ken Collums. They play their home games at Shotwell Stadium. This was the Wildcats second season in the Southland Conference since their return to the conference. They finished the season 3–8, 3–6 in Southland play to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place.


2015 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team, Previous season
The 2014 season marked the second year of the Wildcats transition to NCAA Division I (FCS). It also marked the first season with a full Southland Conference schedule since returning to the conference. They finished the season with a 6–6 record overall and with a 4–4 record in Southland play.


2015 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team, Previous season
In out of conference play, the Wildcats recorded one win against an NCAA Division I (FBS) opponent, Troy. The Wildcats were close to defeating another FBS team, Georgia State, losing in the last four seconds of the game after leading for most of the game.


2015 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team, TV and radio
All Abilene Christian games will be broadcast on KTLT, also known as , and in Dallas on  as part of the Abilene Christian Wildcats Cumulus radio network.


2015 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team, TV and radio
Video of all home games (except those broadcast via ASN or ESPN3) will be offered live through Stretch Internet via , a paid subscription service. Audio of all road games will also be available through ACU TV at no charge.


2015 Abkhazian Cup
The 2015 Abkhazian Cup was the 22nd edition of Abkhazian Cup organized by Football Federation of Abkhazia. The competition was held in the month of May.


2015 Abkhazian Cup, Participating Teams
This edition of the competition was attended by 10 teams:


2015 Abkhazian Cup, Participating Teams
The Abkhazia Cup champion team qualifies for the Abkhazia Super Cup final and face the Abkhazian Premier League champion team.


2015 Abkhazian Cup, Participating Teams
The final of the Abkhazia Cup took place on October 15, 2015. The two teams qualified for the grand final match were FC Afon and Ritsa FC. Ritsa FC won by the score of 3x1.


2015 Abkhazian Cup, Games by Stage, Preliminary Round
First Legs[Jun 28]Ritsa FC     2-1 Abazg[Jun 29]FC Dinamo Sukhum    2-3 Nart Sukhum


2015 Abkhazian Cup, Games by Stage, Preliminary Round
Second Legs[Jul 2]Abazg      3-7 Ritsa FC     [Jul 3]Nart Sukhum       6-0 FC Dinamo Sukhum


2015 Abkhazian Cup, Games by Stage, Quarterfinals
First Legs[Aug 4]Spartak Gulripsh   0-0 Football Club Yertsakhu Ochamchira [Aug 5]Shakhtyor  3-2 Ritsa FC      [Aug 6]Nart Sukhum       0-1 FC Gagra     [Aug 7?] FC Afon       3-0 Samurzakan Gal


2015 Abkhazian Cup, Games by Stage, Quarterfinals
Second Legs[Sep 21]Ritsa FC      9-0 Shakhtyor[Sep 22]Samurzakan Gal 0-3 FC Afon       [Sep 23]FC Gagra      1-3 Nart Sukhum      [Sep 24]Football Club Yertsakhu Ochamchira  0-2 Spartak Gulripsh


2015 Abkhazian Cup, Games by Stage, Semifinals
First Legs[Oct 1]Nart Sukhum      0-0 FC Afon       [Oct 2]Ritsa FC      3-1 Spartak Gulripsh


2015 Abkhazian Cup, Games by Stage, Semifinals
Second Legs[Oct 8]FC Afon      1-0 Nart Sukhum      [Oct 9]Spartak Gulripsh    0-1 Ritsa FC


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
The 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (formally known as the 2015 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Yas Marina Circuit on 29 November 2015. The race was the nineteenth and final round of the 2015 season, and marked the seventh running of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as a round of the World Championship since its inception in 1950.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton was the defending race winner and had already secured his third Drivers' Championship earlier in the season at the United States Grand Prix. His team, Mercedes, had decided the Constructors' Championship in their favour at the Russian Grand Prix.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
In Saturday's qualifying, Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) secured his sixth consecutive pole position and went on to win the race ahead of teammate Hamilton. Kimi Räikkönen finished third for Ferrari. It was the twelfth one-two finish for Mercedes, cementing a record-breaking season that saw them finish with the highest ever number of points scored by a constructor at 703, most front row lockouts and one-two finishes over the course of any Formula One season. This would also prove to be the last Grand Prix for Will Stevens, Roberto Merhi, and Pastor Maldonado.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Background
Going into the race weekend, both Championships were already decided. Lewis Hamilton had already secured the drivers' title three races earlier at the 2015 United States Grand Prix and was leading the Drivers' Championship with 363 points, 66 points ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg. In the Constructors' Championship, their team Mercedes had also secured the constructors' title four races earlier at the 2015 Russian Grand Prix and was leading Ferrari on 660 to 401 points. However, several positions in the standings were still undecided.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Background
In the battle for fourth place in the Drivers' Championship, Valtteri Bottas was just one point ahead of compatriot Kimi Räikkönen, with Felipe Massa in sixth also still able to get the position, being 19 points behind his Williams teammate Bottas. Red Bull teammates Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo were just ten points apart in the battle for seventh in the championship. In the Constructors' standings, sixth placed Lotus was just nine points ahead of Toro Rosso, while McLaren needed at least nine points as well to overcome Sauber for eighth, a points tally they had only managed once during the rest of the season.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Background
Pirelli supplied the teams with the yellow banded soft and the red banded super-soft tyres as the two dry weather options for the race. It was the 150th race for Force India under their current moniker.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Free practice
Per the regulations for the 2015 season, three practice sessions were scheduled, two 1.5-hour sessions on Friday and another one-hour session before qualifying on Saturday. Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the first free practice session, run in clear and sunny conditions, lapping in a time of 1m43.754s, over one-tenth of a second faster than teammate Rosberg in second. Rosberg had set new fastest sector times on his last fast run, but a mistake in the last part of the track lost him a chance at the best time. Kimi Räikkönen was third fastest for Ferrari, ahead of Daniil Kvyat.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Free practice
Kvyat's Red Bull teammate Ricciardo changed back to his older specification Renault power unit, after being unsatisfied with the performance of his updated unit at the previous race in Brazil. He finished the session seventh fastest. At Lotus, Jolyon Palmer replaced Romain Grosjean, but had to sit out most of the session due to a water leak, managing just nine laps.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Free practice
In the second session of Friday afternoon, Nico Rosberg topped the timesheets, setting a time of 1m41.983s, finishing more than a tenth of a second ahead of Hamilton. Third fastest was Sergio Pérez for Force India, although he was unable to run in the last twenty minutes of the session due to brake issues. The Red Bull drivers Kvyat and Ricciardo were fourth and sixth respectively, while Fernando Alonso came within one second of Rosberg's time in ninth.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Free practice
Rosberg was again fastest in the third session on Saturday with a time of 1m41.856s. Hamilton was second quickest, almost three-tenths of a second slower, unable to get a clean lap to match his teammate. On the slower soft tyres, one lap was impeded by traffic, another was disturbed by Hamilton spinning after hitting the kerb at turn five. He again failed in his attempt on a very fast lap on the super-soft tyres later in the session, being forced wide after repeating his mistake at turn five. Hamilton was just marginally ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who finished third ahead of Pérez. Daniil Kvyat was unable to set a timed lap as his team worked to solve an electrical problem.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Qualifying
Qualifying consisted of three parts, 18, 15 and 12 minutes in length respectively, with five drivers eliminated from competing after each of the first two sessions. At the beginning of the first part of qualifying (Q1), Mercedes sent both their drivers out on the faster super-soft compound, while Ferrari stayed on the slower soft tyres.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Qualifying
Even though Ferrari eventually decided to give both their drivers out on the faster tyres towards the end of the session, Sebastian Vettel aborted his last flying lap, believing his time to be sufficient for proceeding into the next round, only for Jenson Button to set a time to relegate Vettel into 16th place on the grid, eliminating him from qualifying. Vettel would later describe his and the team's judgement as "a small mistake with a big consequence".


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Qualifying
Fernando Alonso in the other McLaren did not make the cut, after a puncture on his last lap left him without a chance at a faster time, while Marcus Ericsson was held up by a technical issue, qualifying 18th. Both Manor Marussia drivers were eliminated at the bottom of the standings, with Will Stevens 1.137 seconds ahead of his teammate Roberto Merhi.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Qualifying
Lewis Hamilton was fastest in Q2, two-tenths of a second ahead of his teammate Rosberg. In his last qualifying session with Lotus, Romain Grosjean experienced technical difficulties that forced him to come back into the pits. Even though he was sent out again, he was unable to set a time, stopping his car at turn seven. His teammate Pastor Maldonado also did not proceed into Q3, as did Jenson Button who missed out by two-tenths of a second. The two other drivers eliminated were Felipe Nasr for Sauber and Max Verstappen, who was unable to match the time of his teammate Carlos Sainz Jr.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Qualifying
The top ten drivers competed for pole position in Q3 and it was a battle between the two Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton set his fastest time first with Rosberg right behind him. A much better time in the third sector of the track allowed Rosberg to take his sixth consecutive pole position almost four-tenths ahead of his teammate. Sergio Pérez held third spot for much of the session but was beaten to it by Kimi Räikkönen during the second turn of runs. The two were followed by Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas on the third row of the grid.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Qualifying
Following a gearbox change after qualifying, Romain Grosjean was demoted five places on the grid. Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens also received five place penalties: Stevens for a change of the Control Electronics unit, Merhi for changes made to his suspension. Both would start the race from the back row of the grid.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Race
At the start of the race on Sunday, Hamilton got away slowly but was able to keep both Pérez and Räikkönen behind him while Rosberg retained the lead. Further back, Fernando Alonso made contact with Felipe Nasr and then crashed into Pastor Maldonado, who was forced to retire. Alonso needed to pit for a new front wing and was later given a drive-through penalty, dropping him to the end of the field. Meanwhile, Nico Hülkenberg and Sebastian Vettel made up places, sitting in fifth and twelfth respectively after the first lap.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Race
Valtteri Bottas on the other hand lost positions, finding himself in tenth. Rosberg soon built a lead of over one second, giving Hamilton no chance to deploy DRS for an overtake manoeuvre. By lap 5, both Kvyat and Nasr had come into the pits for the harder compound tyre, followed by Ricciardo, Massa and Pérez one lap later. On lap seven, both Hülkenberg and Sainz Jr. made pit stops. While Hülkenberg was able to stay ahead of Massa, Sainz's stop was unfortunate and he lost time due to a problem with the tyre change.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Race
Another two laps later, Valtteri Bottas pitted and was sent out into the path of Button, damaging his front wing, which he needed to replace the following lap. He also received a five-second penalty to be served at his next scheduled stop. The leaders pitted for new tyres around laps ten and eleven, with the order now being Rosberg ahead of Vettel, who was yet to stop, Hamilton, and Räikkönen. Romain Grosjean, who started on the harder tyres just as Vettel, was up to sixth.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Race
On lap 13, Felipe Massa passed Marcus Ericsson for ninth place and one lap later, Hamilton capitalised on a mistake by Vettel and overtook him to retake second position. Vettel lost another position when he let Räikkönen pass him on lap 16, the two being on different strategies. Meanwhile, Rosberg had built up a lead of around six seconds to Hamilton. On lap 19, Carlos Sainz Jr. allowed teammate Max Verstappen to pass him, while Alonso came in for what was his third pit stop of the race, leaving him in last position.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Race
Two laps later, Verstappen created flatspots on his tyres when he locked up his brakes, forcing him to pit. He emerged in 15th position. Vettel came in for his first pit stop on lap 24, coming out in sixth place ahead of compatriot Nico Hülkenberg. At the same time, Hamilton started to reduce the gap to Rosberg in front, cutting it down to less than two seconds by lap 29. With his teammate closing in, Rosberg made pit stops on lap 32, with Räikkönen following suit, whose pit stop was delayed, losing him around four seconds.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Race
Sergio Pérez was starting to close the gap to both Ferrari drivers in front of him after pitting early. Vettel reacted on lap 41 and changed to the super-soft tyres, coming out behind both Pérez and Ricciardo in sixth. One lap later, Hamilton came in for his second and final stop, having asked his team before if it would be possible to finish the race without stopping again. He emerged twelve seconds behind Rosberg and started to cut into his advantage immediately.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Race
Further back in the field, Max Verstappen overtook Nasr and Button to move into twelfth place on laps 44 and 46 respectively. However, he was deemed to have forced Button wide and was handed a five-second penalty to be added to his finishing time. Lap 53 saw Romain Grosjean move into the final point scoring position of tenth by passing Carlos Sainz Jr. into turn eight. Just one lap later, he took ninth place from Daniil Kvyat. At the front, Hamilton proved unable to reach his teammate, who took the checkered flag for his sixth win of the season. Kimi Räikkönen completed the podium, followed by Vettel, Pérez and Ricciardo.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Post-race
In the podium interviews, conducted by former Formula One driver David Coulthard, Nico Rosberg expressed excitement over how the end of the season had worked out for him, describing the race in the United States as his "low point". Speaking about racing his teammate Hamilton, he called him "one of the best out there" and said that it was "an even better feeling to win, definitely against such opposition".


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Post-race
Hamilton in turn praised his team for their performance over the whole season, saying that they had "surpassed their own expectations", albeit confessing that he was happy that the season was over. During the press conference, third-placed Kimi Räikkönen said: "It’s never nice to finish third but I’ll take it after previous races", pointing to a season that had been marred with small mistakes and misfortunes for him. He also stated that securing fourth place in the World Championship did not mean much to him, dismissing the idea of a "Finnish championship" between himself and Valtteri Bottas.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Post-race
Fourth-placed Sebastian Vettel said after the race: "The best result one way or another would be P3 and P4 so we can be very happy with today", adding that he and Räikkönen had "a clean race for P3". He also described his 2015 campaign as "a miracle", after Ferrari had endured a winless 2014. Speaking about the incident between Bottas and Button at the first round of pit stops, Williams' head of performance engineering Rob Smedley said that the team had released their driver at the right moment, declaring the accident happened because Bottas saw Button too late.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Post-race
Following two incidents during the race, Max Verstappen was given time penalties and three penalty points on his FIA Super Licence – one for overtaking Jenson Button outside track limits and two for ignoring blue flags while Lewis Hamilton tried to lap him. The penalties meant that he was just four points away from a one-race ban.


2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Post-race
Räikkönen taking fourth position from Bottas in the Drivers' Championship was the only change in both championship standings as a result of the Grand Prix. Following the Grand Prix, Renault confirmed their takeover of Lotus, meaning that it was the last Grand Prix for the team in their incarnation under the Lotus moniker that had started in 2012.


2015 Abu Dhabi Tour
The 2015 Abu Dhabi Tour was a men's cycling stage race, that took place between 8-11 October 2015. It was the inaugural edition of the Abu Dhabi Tour and was part of the 2015 UCI Asia Tour.


2015 Abu Dhabi Tour
The event featured prominent riders, including newly crowned World Champion Peter Sagan in his first race appearance after the Championship race. The Astana team were captained by Vincenzo Nibali, who won the Giro di Lombardia a couple of days prior. He was assisted by Fabio Aru, winner of the Vuelta a España.


2015 Accra explosion
On June 3, 2015, an explosion and a fire occurred at a petrol station in Ghana's capital city Accra, killing over 250 people.


2015 Accra explosion, Explosion
The GOIL  station, near Kwame Nkrumah Interchange in the city's downtown area, was being used as a shelter from heavy rains and flooding from several days of flooding in the city, and was packed with people, cars and buses, waiting to leave to their various destinations when the explosion occurred. The source of the explosion is unknown though believed to have occurred in the station's fuel tanks. One survivor stated that the power had gone out before the explosion, but after the power was restored, they heard a "pop" and then the fire erupted. About 96 people taking shelter at the station were killed by the fire.


2015 Accra explosion, Explosion
Due to the flooding, water had mixed in with the fuel, and when the tanks exploded, the water exacerbated the spread of the fire to nearby buildings, killing additional citizens. The ongoing rainfall and flooding made rescue efforts difficult. So many bodies were taken to the 37 Military Hospital, the largest specialist hospital in Ghana, that the morgue was overwhelmed.


2015 Accra explosion, Reactions
Deeply saddened to learn of the tragic incident at a petrol station in Accra in which so many people died or were seriously injured, the Holy Father sends heartfelt condolences to the relatives of the deceased and injured, to the authorities and to the entire Nation. His Holiness commends the souls of the departed to Almighty God and willingly invokes the divine gifts of consolation and strength upon those who mourn and upon all who have been affected by this tragedy.


2015 Accra floods
The 2015 Accra floods resulted from heavy continuous rainfall in Accra, the largest city in Ghana. The rain started on 1 June 2015. Other causes of this flood is as a result of the improper planning of settlement in Accra, choked gutters which block the drainage system and a few other human factors. The floods have resulted in heavy traffic on the roads in the city and also a halt in commercial activities as markets were flooded and workers trapped. Mayor of Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije described the flooding as critical. At least 25 people have died from the flooding directly, while a petrol station explosion caused by the flooding killed at least 200 more people.


2015 Accra floods, Affected areas, Kaneshie
The Kaneshie market and its surroundings were submerged, preventing vehicles from moving.


2015 Accra floods, Affected areas, Graphic Road
Graphic Road, home to some automobile companies and a hub for scrap dealers and other squatters, was heavily flooded. The Toyota Ghana and Rana Motors showrooms were completely submerged.


2015 Accra floods, Affected areas, GOIL fire
On June 3, 2015, a GOIL fuel station near Kwame Nkrumah Interchange burnt with people and vehicles in the vicinity. The fire also burnt a Forex Bureau and Pharmacy nearby. Over 200 people were feared dead and bodies have been moved to the 37 Military Hospital. The hospital later announced they are unable to hold more bodies. The cause of the fire was yet to be determined. On 4 June 2015 the Mayor of Accra Alfred Vanderpuije, Member of Parliament for Korle Klottey, Nii Armah Ashitey and President John Mahama visited the scene.


2015 Accra floods, Response
— President Mahama declared 3 days' national mourning for the victims affected by the flood and explosion. The government also released GH₵ 60 million to support victims.


2015 Acht van Westerveld
The 2015 Molecaten Drentse Acht van Westerveld was the 9th running of the Acht van Westerveld, a women's bicycle race in the Netherlands starting and finishing in Dwingeloo. It was rated by the UCI as a 1.2 category race.


2015 Acrobatic Gymnastics European Championships
The 27th Acrobatic Gymnastics European Championships was held in Riesa, Germany  from September 23 to October 5, 2015.


2015 Acropolis International Basketball Tournament
The Acropolis International Tournament 2015 was a basketball tournament held in OAKA Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece, from August 27 until August 29, 2015. It was the 27th edition of the Acropolis International Basketball Tournament. The four participating teams were Greece, Turkey, Lithuania, and Netherlands.


2015 Adamawa State gubernatorial election
The 2015 Adamawa State gubernatorial election occurred in Nigeria on April 11, 2015. APC candidate Bindo Jibrilla won the election, defeating Markus Gundiri of the SDP.


2015 Adamawa State gubernatorial election
Bindo Jibrilla emerged APC gubernatorial candidate after scoring 2,718 votes and defeating his closest rival, Ibrahim Mijinyawa Yayaji who received 2,268 votes. He picked Martins Babale as his running mate. Markus Gundiri was the SDP candidate. 8 candidates contested in the election.


2015 Adamawa State gubernatorial election, Electoral system
The Governor of Adamawa State is elected using the plurality voting system.


2015 Adamawa State gubernatorial election, Electoral system, APC primary
The APC primary election was held on December 4, 2014. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri won the primary election polling 1,656 votes against 5 other candidates. His closest rival was Ibrahim Mijinyawa Yayaji, who came second with 2,268 votes, Mustapha scored 515 votes, Ahmed Barata scored 452 votes, while Yakubu Tsalla and Emmanuel Bello got 147 and 50 votes respectively.


2015 Adamawa State gubernatorial election, Results
A total number of 8 candidates registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission to contest in the election.


2015 Adamawa State gubernatorial election, Results
Total number of votes cast was 706,092, while number of valid votes was 684,050. Rejected votes were 27,790.


2015 Adelaide Film Festival
The 7th Adelaide Film Festival was held in Adelaide, South Australia, from 15–25 October 2015. Amanda Duthie was again the Festival Director. On the opening night of the festival, Director and screenwriter Andrew Bovell received the 2015 Don Dunstan Award for his contribution to the Australian film industry.


2015 Adelaide Film Festival
The festival opened with Scott Hicks's documentary film Highly Strung and closed with Paolo Sorrentino's drama film Youth.


2015 Adelaide Film Festival
More than 180 feature films were screened at the festival, 40 of which were Australian films, 24 South Australian films and total of 51 countries were represented at the Festival.


2015 Adelaide Film Festival, Competition, In Competition
The Foxtel Movies International Award for Best Feature Film at the Festival was won by Neon Bull.


2015 Adelaide Film Festival, Competition, In Competition
The Flinders University Documentary Award was awarded to Canadian director Amber Fares for Speed Sisters.


2015 Adelaide Film Festival, Competition, In Competition
Girl Asleep won the 2015 Adelaide Film Festival Best Feature People Choice's Award. Holding the Man documentary, Remembering the Man won the People's Choice Award for Best Documentary, while the most popular short was Meryl Tankard's Michelle's Story.


2015 Adelaide Film Festival, Competition, In Competition
The following films were selected for the In Competition section:


2015 Adelaide Football Club season
The Adelaide Crows' 2015 season was its 25th season in the Australian Football League (AFL). The Crows also fielded a reserves team in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).


2015 Aden car bombing
On 6 December 2015, a car bomb attack killed Aden governor, Major General Jaafar Mohammed Saad, and his entourage. Saad's caravan was traveling to his office in a western district of Aden.


2015 Aden car bombing
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Yemen branch claimed responsibility for the car bomb. They described Saad as an oppressor and infidel and threatened further attacks in Yemen. The group stated that they detonated the bomb as Saad's convoy passed where the car was parked.


2015 Aden car bombing
The explosion was powerful and was heard from 10 km away. Six bodyguards of Saad were killed and several people injured. Medics stated the victims bodies were unrecognizable. Photographs, supposedly of the attack, showed a burning, wrecked car.


2015 Aden car bombing
The Islamic State released a video under Aden-Abyan Province media, which the bombing was part of it.


2015 Advantage Cars Prague Open
The 2015 Advantage Cars Prague Open was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the second (ATP) and first (ITF) editions of the tournament and part of the 2015 ATP Challenger Tour and the 2015 ITF Women's Circuit, offering totals of €42,500 (ATP) and $75,000 (ITF) in prize money. It took place in Prague, Czech Republic, on 10–16 August 2015.


2015 Advantage Cars Prague Open, Men's singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Advantage Cars Prague Open, Women's singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Advantage Cars Prague Open – Men's Doubles
Toni Androić and Andrey Kuznetsov were the defending champions, but chose not to participate.


2015 Advantage Cars Prague Open – Men's Doubles
Wesley Koolhof and Matwé Middelkoop won the tournament, defeating Sergey Betov and Mikhail Elgin in the final, 6–4, 3–6, [10–7].


2015 Advantage Cars Prague Open – Men's Singles
Diego Schwartzman was the defending champion, but chose not to participate.


2015 Advantage Cars Prague Open – Men's Singles
Rogério Dutra Silva won the tournament, defeating Radu Albot in the final, 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 6–4.


2015 Advantage Cars Prague Open – Women's Doubles
Kateřina Kramperová and Bernarda Pera won the inaugural edition, defeating wildcards Miriam Kolodziejová and Markéta Vondroušová in the final, 7–6(7–4), 5–7, [10–1].


2015 Advantage Cars Prague Open – Women's Singles
María Teresa Torró Flor won the title, defeating Denisa Allertová in the final, 6–3, 7–6(7–5).


2015 Aegon Championships
The 2015 Aegon Championships, also known traditionally as the Queen's Club Championships, was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 113th edition of those championships and was part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2015 ATP World Tour, upgraded from a 250 series event for the first time. It took place at the Queen's Club in London, United Kingdom between 15 June and 21 June 2015.


2015 Aegon Championships
Despite the elevated status of the event from an ATP 250 to an ATP 500 series event, the draw featured one round less for the first time in its history, meaning reduced numbers of players in the draw. However, there were no byes into the second round for any of the higher-ranked players, as there were previously.


2015 Aegon Championships, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Aegon Championships, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2015 Aegon Championships – Doubles
Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares were the defending champions, but lost in the semifinals to Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut. Herbert and Mahut went on to win the title, defeating Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjić in the final, 6–2, 6–2.


2015 Aegon Championships – Singles
Grigor Dimitrov was the defending champion, but lost in the second round to Gilles Müller. Andy Murray won the title, defeating Kevin Anderson in the final in straight sets.


2015 Aegon Classic
The 2015 Aegon Classic was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 34th edition of the event, and the second edition of the event as a Premier tournament on the 2015 WTA Tour. It took place at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham, United Kingdom, on 15–21 June 2015.


2015 Aegon Classic
Sabine Lisicki set the WTA Tour record for the most aces hit in a women's singles match at this tournament, hitting 27 aces in her second-round win over Belinda Bencic on 17 June 2015.


2015 Aegon Classic, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following player received entry using a protected ranking into the main draw:


2015 Aegon Classic, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2015 Aegon Classic – Doubles
Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears were the defending champions, but lost in the quarterfinals to Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká. Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro won the title, defeating Hlaváčková and Hradecká in the final, 6–4, 6–4.


2015 Aegon Classic – Singles
Ana Ivanovic was the defending champion, but lost in the second round to Michelle Larcher de Brito.


2015 Aegon Classic – Singles
Angelique Kerber won the title, defeating Karolína Plíšková in the final, 6–7(5–7), 6–3, 7–6(7–4).


2015 Aegon Classic – Singles, Seeds
The top eight seeds received a bye into the second round.


2015 Aegon Classic – Singles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


2015 Aegon Eastbourne Trophy
The 2015 Aegon Eastbourne Trophy was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the first edition of the tournament and part of the 2015 ITF Women's Circuit, offering a total of $50,000 in prize money. It took place in Eastbourne, United Kingdom, on 1–7 June 2015.


2015 Aegon Eastbourne Trophy, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Aegon Eastbourne Trophy – Doubles
This was a new event in the ITF Women's Circuit.


2015 Aegon Eastbourne Trophy – Doubles
American-duo Shelby Rogers and Coco Vandeweghe won the title, defeating the top seeds Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith in the final, 7–5, 7–6(7–1).


2015 Aegon Eastbourne Trophy – Singles
This was a new event in the ITF Women's Circuit.


2015 Aegon Eastbourne Trophy – Singles
Anett Kontaveit won the inaugural event, defeating Alla Kudryavtseva in the final, 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–2).


2015 Aegon GB Pro-Series Glasgow
The 2015 Aegon GB Pro-Series Glasgow was a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the first edition of the tournament, which was part of the 2015 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Glasgow, Scotland from February 3 to February 9, 2015.


2015 Aegon GB Pro-Series Glasgow, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Aegon GB Pro-Series Glasgow – Doubles
This was the first edition of the tournament. Wesley Koolhof and Matwé Middelkoop won the title, beating Sergei Bubka and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6–1, 6–4


2015 Aegon GB Pro-Series Glasgow – Singles
This was the first edition of the tournament. Niels Desein won his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title, beating countryman Ruben Bemelmans 7–6(7–4), 2–6, 7–6(7–4)


2015 Aegon Ilkley Trophy
The 2015 Aegon Ilkley Trophy was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the first edition of the tournament and part of the 2015 ATP Challenger Tour and 2015 ITF Women's Circuit, offering a total of €42,500 (ATP) and $50,000+H (ITF) in prize money. It took place in Ilkley, United Kingdom, on 15–21 June 2015.


2015 Aegon Ilkley Trophy, Men's singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Aegon Ilkley Trophy, Men's singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry as a special exempt into the singles main draw:


2015 Aegon Ilkley Trophy, Men's singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players used protected entry to gain entry into the singles main draw:


2015 Aegon Ilkley Trophy, Men's singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry as an alternate into the singles main draw:


2015 Aegon Ilkley Trophy, Women's singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Aegon Ilkley Trophy – Men's Doubles
This was the first edition of the tournament since 2008.


2015 Aegon Ilkley Trophy – Men's Doubles
Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner won the tournament, defeating Ken and Neal Skupski in the final, 7–6(7–3), 6–4.


2015 Aegon Ilkley Trophy – Men's Singles
Denis Kudla won the tournament, defeating Matthew Ebden in the final, 6–3, 6–4.


2015 Aegon Ilkley Trophy – Women's Doubles
This was the first edition of the tournament on the 2015 ITF Women's Circuit.


2015 Aegon Ilkley Trophy – Women's Doubles
Raluca Olaru and Xu Yifan won the inaugural title, defeating An-Sophie Mestach and Demi Schuurs in the final, 6–3, 6–4.


2015 Aegon Ilkley Trophy – Women's Singles
This was the first edition of the tournament in the 2015 ITF Women's Circuit.


2015 Aegon Ilkley Trophy – Women's Singles
Anna-Lena Friedsam won the inaugural title, defeating Magda Linette in the final, 5–7, 6–3, 6–1.


2015 Aegon International
The 2015 Aegon International was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 41st edition of the event, and was classified as a WTA Premier tournament on the 2015 WTA Tour. The event took place at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club in Eastbourne, United Kingdom from 22 June through 27 June 2015.


2015 Aegon International, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2015 Aegon International – Doubles
Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan were the defending champions, but chose not to participate together. Chan Hao-ching played alongside Flavia Pennetta, but lost in the quarterfinals to Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza. Chan Yung-jan teamed up with Zheng Jie, but lost to Caroline Garcia and Katarina Srebotnik in the final, 6–7(5–7), 2–6.


2015 Aegon International – Singles
Madison Keys was the defending champion, but lost in the second round to Belinda Bencic.


2015 Aegon International – Singles
Bencic went on to win her maiden WTA tour title, defeating Agnieszka Radwańska in the final, 6–4, 4–6, 6–0.


2015 Aegon International – Singles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


2015 Aegon Manchester Trophy
The 2015 Aegon Manchester Trophy was a professional tennis tournament played on grass courts. It was the 1st edition of the revived tournament, forming part of the 2015 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Manchester, United Kingdom between 1 and 7 June 2015.


2015 Aegon Manchester Trophy, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Aegon Manchester Trophy, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2015 Aegon Manchester Trophy – Doubles
This was the first edition of the event. Chris Guccione and André Sá won the title when Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram withdrew from the final.


2015 Aegon Manchester Trophy – Singles
This is the first edition of the event. Sam Groth won the title, defeating Luke Saville in the final, 7–5, 6–1.


2015 Aegon Surbiton Trophy
The 2015 Aegon Surbiton Trophy was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the twelfth edition for the men and thirteenth edition for the women of the tournament and part of the 2015 ATP Challenger Tour and 2015 ITF Women's Circuit, offering a total of €42,500 (ATP) and $50,000 (ITF) in prize money. It took place in Surbiton, United Kingdom, on 8–14 June 2015.


2015 Aegon Surbiton Trophy, Men's singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Aegon Surbiton Trophy, Men's singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following player gain entry as special exempt into the singles main draw:


2015 Aegon Surbiton Trophy, Women's singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Aegon Surbiton Trophy, Men's doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2015 Aegon Surbiton Trophy, Men's doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs gained entry into the doubles main draw as an alternate:


2015 Aegon Surbiton Trophy – Men's Doubles
This was the first edition of the tournament since 2008.


2015 Aegon Surbiton Trophy – Men's Doubles
The brothers Ken and Neal Skupski won the tournament, defeating Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner in the final, 6–3, 6–4.


2015 Aegon Surbiton Trophy – Men's Singles
This was the first edition of the tournament since 2008.


2015 Aegon Surbiton Trophy – Men's Singles
Matthew Ebden won the tournament defeating Denis Kudla in the final, 6–7(4–7), 6–4, 7–6(7–5).


2015 Aegon Surbiton Trophy – Women's Doubles
This was the first edition of the tournament since 2008.


2015 Aegon Surbiton Trophy – Women's Doubles
Lyudmyla Kichenok and Xenia Knoll won the title, defeating Tara Moore and Nicola Slater in the final, 7–6(8–6), 6–3.


2015 Aegon Surbiton Trophy – Women's Singles
This was the first edition of the tournament since 2008.


2015 Aegon Surbiton Trophy – Women's Singles
Vitalia Diatchenko won the title, defeating Naomi Osaka in the final, 7–6(7–5), 6–0.


2015 Aerobic Gymnastics European Championships
The 9th Aerobic Gymnastics European Championships was held in Elvas, Portugal, November 6–8, 2015.


2015 Aesthetic Group Gymnastics World Cup series
The 2015 IFAGG World Cup series in Aesthetic Group Gymnastics is a series of competitions officially organized and promoted by the International Federation of Aesthetic Group Gymnastics.


2015 Afghan Premier League
The 2015 Afghan Premier League is the fourth season of Afghan Premier League, the Afghan league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2012. Shaheen Asmayee F.C. are the defending champions of the Premier League. The season started on 27 August 2015 with the 8 teams again in two groups. Shaheen Asmayee again reached the final of the Afghan Premier League and faced off against De Spin Ghar Bazan F.C. It was the first time De Spin Ghar reached the final of the league.


2015 Afghan Premier League, Statistics, Final standing
→ At the gates, and points to the final round is involved, victory on penalties are a draw.


2015 Afghan Premier League, TV Rights
All matches of the APL are aired live by two private channels in Afghanistan, namely Tolo TV and Lemar TV. Arman FM and Arakozia FM offer live commentary of the match through the country. Matches are also available live on the world's largest video sharing website YouTube on the league's official YouTube page.


2015 Afghan Premier League, Sponsors
Roshan Telecom is the title sponsor of Afghan Premier League after which it is named as Roshan Afghan Premier League. Official Partners of Afghan Premier League are Afghanistan International Bank and Hummel International which provided kit for the teams.


2015 Afghan Premier League Final
The 2015 Afghan Premier League Final was the final match of the 2015 Afghan Premier League, the 4th season of Afghanistan's premier club football tournament organised by Roshan.


2015 Afghan Premier League Final
The match took place on Friday, 2 October 2015, at the AFF Stadium in Kabul, Afghanistan, between Greater Kabul Region Shaheen Asmayee and Eastern region De Spin Ghar Bazan. It was the fourth tournament final since the establishment of Afghan Premier League. De Spin Ghar Bazan won the match 4–3 at the penalty shootout after extra time.


2015 Afghan Premier League Final, Venue
The Afghanistan Football Federation Stadium in Kabul, Afghanistan, was the venue of the 2015 Afghan Premier League Final for the fourth time.


2015 Afghan Premier League Final, Venue
The home stadium of all Afghan Premier League teams since its establishment, The stadium has a capacity of 5,000, and the surface is of Artificial turf.


2015 Afghan Premier League Final, Background
This was the first time in the history of De Spin Ghar Bazan that reached the final. It was also the third time for Shaheen Asmayee that reached the final, although having won two times. Shaheen Asmayee reached a record 3rd final after a 4–3 aggregate win against North Eastern region Mawjhai Amu, making it the first club that reached the final three times in a row. Previously Shaheen Asmayee won finals in 2013 and 2014.


2015 Afghan Premier League Final, Background
In the other side De Spin Ghar Bazan reached the final after 3 seasons waiting for the first time, after a 4–2 penalty shootout win against South West region De Maiwand Atalan.


2015 Afghan Premier League Final, Pre-match, Ticketing
Tickets were available in two price categories: 50 Afs, 100 Afs.


2015 Afghan Premier League Final, Pre-match, Referee
Halim Aqa Sherzad was chosen for judgement of the final match.


2015 Afghan Premier League Final, Match, Summary
The championship match between Shaheen Asmayee and De Spinghar Bazan kicked with a powerful start by Bazan, they blew past Shaheen's midfielders and dueled with their defensive line, threatening an early goal against Shaheen.


2015 Afghan Premier League Final, Match, Summary
A long range strike by Shaheen's Samiullah at the 4th minute missed the goal but helped Shaheen swing by the momentum of the match in their favor. They soon took the fight back to Bazan's goal area and fired on the goal in the 6th minute but thanks to Bazan's goalie Zohaib ‘s agility and talent, he made a perfect save and kept Bazan in the game.


2015 Afghan Premier League Final, Match, Summary
Supported by brilliant work from their midfielders, Shaheen's Hashmatullah  spent much of the first half relentlessly assaulting Bazan's goal area but again Zohaib Aseel revealed himself as special talent, stopping multiple shots on goal that would have bypassed a lesser goalie.


2015 Afghan Premier League Final, Match, Summary
The second half ended in a scoreless stalemate between Shaheen and Bazazn but with Shaheen commanding the majority of the play throughout. The second half started with Shaheen's Hashmatullah again on the hunt for his first goal of the game and powerful header at the 54th minute mark almost lands but misses the goal by centimeters.


2015 Afghan Premier League Final, Match, Summary
Bazan's midfield and defensive line seemed to come apart in the second half and Zohaib Aseel found himself hard pressed and again tested multiple times by the best strikers in the league. And Zohaib passes each test with flying colors, diving, deflecting and intercepting many difficult shots on goal by Shaheen's best. Thanks to his brilliant work at Bazan's net, the team rallies and by the 75th minute they began to increasingly threaten Shaheen's goal area. Bazan's Faqeer fires at the goal at the 78th minute but the shot goes wide followed by a narrow miss by his fellow forward Manan Farahi at the 79th With each side pointless by the end of the 90th minute the game moved into extra time.


2015 Afghan Premier League Final, Match, Summary
Bazan's youthfulness as a team began to make a difference and Shaheen unexpectedly found themselves battling against a strong offensive lead by Bazan's young midfielders and forwards. Still, it was not enough to decide the game and a second extra time period had to be called. Shaheen took advantage of the next extra time period to press Bazan extremely hard, they were able to keep most of the play in Bazan's penalty area and it was only a mixture of fierce determination by Zohaib and the entire rest of the Bazan team that prevented them from scoring. The clock ran out on the second extra period with a score of 0 – 0 moving the game into the decisive penalty shoot out phase.


2015 Afghan Premier League Final, Match, Summary
During the penalty shootout Bazan's Rohid Samandary, MananFarahi, Ghulam Niazi and Rishad Hassanzada scored 4 goals against Shaheen's 3 to win the 2015 RAPL championship via penalty shootout. It took many years full of hard work and heartbreak for De Spinghar Bazan to reach the summit of the RAPL but they never gave up and today, they preserved against odds to emerge as the 2015 Roshan Afghan Premier League champions!.


2015 Afghan Premier League Final, Match, Details
Man of the Match: Ghulam Hazrat Niazi (De Spin Ghar Bazan)


2015 Afghanistan avalanches
On February 24–28, 2015, avalanches in Panjshir Province, Afghanistan killed at least 310 people, and another 129 were wounded. 1,000 Afghani troops were deployed to Panjshir Province to assist rescue efforts. According to the acting governor of Panjshir, Abdul Rahman Kabiri, these avalanches were the worst Afghanistan had seen in three decades.


2015 Afghanistan avalanches, Cause
The avalanches were caused by heavy snowstorms in the area. Heavy snowfall is a common cause of avalanches. Snow builds up as snowfall  continues and it eventually reaches a point at which the weight of the snowfall overcomes the cohesion of the snow, resulting in an avalanche. Rising temperatures may have also had an effect, due to the fact that temperature rise can affect the cohesion of snow. These snowstorms have also hampered rescue efforts, with some areas receiving nearly a meter of snowstorms.


2015 Africa Cup
The 2015 Africa Cup will be the fifteenth edition of the Africa Cup, an annual international rugby union tournament for African nations organised by Rugby Africa.


2015 Africa Cup, Division 1A
Division 1A will be played during June and July 2015. The matches will be hosted by each of the Division 1A teams, with the top two ranked teams (Namibia and Zimbabwe hosting two matches each. The format is a single round robin, home or away format.


2015 Africa Cup, Division 1B
Division 1B will be held between 3 and 11 July 2015, in Kampala, Uganda. The competing teams are:


2015 Africa Cup, Division 1C
Division 1C will be held between 22 and 27 June 2015, in Lusaka, Zambia. The competing teams are:


2015 Africa Cup, Division 1C
Morocco were originally scheduled to compete, but are not listed on the most recent schedule.


2015 Africa Cup, Division 2
Division 2 is split into regional based tournaments, in the north and south of Africa.


2015 Africa Cup, Division 2, North
The North Group tournament will be held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso between 23 and 31 May 2015. The competing teams are:


2015 Africa Cup, Division 2, South East
The South-East Group tournament will be held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo between 25–30 June 2015. The competing teams are:


2015 Africa Cup, Division 2, South
The South Group tournament will be held in Lesotho between 7–13 June 2015. The competing teams are:


2015 Africa Cup Sevens
The 2015 RA Africa Cup Sevens is an Olympic qualification tournament for rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Kempton Park, Gauteng, South Africa on 14–15 November 2015. It was the 3rd championship in a series that began in 2013.


2015 Africa Cup Sevens
The tournament will have the top team qualify directly to the Olympics, and the second, third, and fourth place teams qualify for the 2016 Men's Rugby Sevens Final Olympic Qualification Tournament.


2015 Africa Cup Sevens, North Qualifying
Note: Cameroon was scheduled to compete, but was unable to attend. Morocco took their spot in the competition.


2015 Africa Cup Sevens, South Qualifying
Note: Zambia has already qualified for the 2015 Rugby Africa Men's Sevens Championships after receiving the 8th Qualification spot with South Africa qualifying directly to the Olympics and no longer participating in the Championships


2015 Africa Cup Sevens, Final Tournament, Teams
South Africa already qualified for the Olympics by finishing 2nd in 2014–15 Sevens World Series. Zambia was then given the final spot by finishing the previous tournament in 9th place


2015 Africa Cup of Nations
The  2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men’s football championship of Africa. It was organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and was held from 17 January to 8 February 2015.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations
The tournament was initially scheduled to be hosted by Morocco who later demanded postponement of the event because of the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa; subsequently Morocco was ruled out as a host country and replaced by Equatorial Guinea.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations
Ivory Coast won the tournament for their second Africa Cup of Nations title, defeating Ghana 9–8 in a penalty shoot-out after the final finished goalless following extra time. The DR Congo came third and the hosts Equatorial Guinea fourth, while defending champions Nigeria did not qualify.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Host selection
CAF received 3 bids before 30 September 2010, the deadline, to host either the 2015 or 2017 Africa Cup of Nations from DR Congo, Morocco and South Africa. All three bids were originally put on a shortlist. CAF then began an inspection procedure, on November and December 2010, intending to visit each bidding country to view stadiums, infrastructure, and football interest. They inspected the DR Congo first. Shortly after the inspection, DR Congo informed CAF that they would be withdrawing their bids for both the 2015 and 2017 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. Morocco was the next country to be inspected, with CAF visiting the country in early November 2010. South Africa was inspected in December 2010.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Host selection
On 29 January, during the 2011 CAF Super Cup, the CAF Board decided that Morocco would host the 2015 African Cup of Nations, while the 2017 edition would be held in South Africa. The four Morocco host cities which were scheduled to host the tournament were Rabat, Marrakesh, Agadir and Tangier, as announced by the CAF Executive Committee on 23 September 2013. Casablanca would serve as an alternative venue.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Host selection, Moroccan withdrawal
In October 2014, the government of Morocco requested a postponement of the tournament due to the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa. After the matter was discussed at the Executive Committee meeting on 2 November 2014, CAF decided to keep the date of the tournament, while also asking for a clarification from the Royal Moroccan Football Federation of whether they still wish to host the tournament. On 8 November, Morocco failed to meet this deadline to confirm it would host the tournament.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Host selection, Moroccan withdrawal
Three days later CAF confirmed that Morocco would not host the tournament and a new host would be chosen from a list of countries which have expressed interest. Morocco, who had previously qualified as hosts, were disqualified from participation at the tournament. CAF confirmed legal action against Morocco due to a contract signed in April 2014. Moroccan Sports Minister Mohamed Ouzzine said that CAF had falsely accused his country of "refusing" to host the tournament when it wanted it postponed, and justified the decision by citing that the World Health Organization gives every country the right to protect its citizens. On 6 February 2015, CAF announced that Morocco had been banned from the next two AFCON tournaments, fined 1 million US dollars, as well as demanding 9 million US dollars in compensation. However, the ban was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, meaning Morocco may enter the tournaments.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Host selection, Moroccan withdrawal
Egypt, Ghana, South Africa and Sudan all declined to take over as hosts. Angola, the hosts of the 2010 edition, were spoken of as a potential replacement due to existing stadia and infrastructure in the country. However, a member of the Angolan Football Federation stated that it could not be possible as the new government budget did not include any tournaments.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Host selection, Moroccan withdrawal
On 14 November 2014, CAF announced that Equatorial Guinea would host the tournament.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Qualification
Qualification for the tournament were made up of four stages, three preliminary rounds and a final group stage. The 21 best-ranked teams were given a bye to the group stage, while the next 26 teams began play in the second preliminary round, and four lowest ranked teams started at the first round. The three preliminary rounds were a series of playoffs, with the winners advancing.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Qualification
51 nations entered the tournament (excluding initial hosts Morocco). It was the competitive debut of South Sudan. Djibouti and Somalia declined to enter.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Qualification
Morocco would have automatically qualified as hosts; however, after their refusal to host, they were expelled from the tournament by the CAF. Equatorial Guinea was chosen as the new host, and despite having played in the qualifiers and been disqualified due to fielding an ineligible player, they qualified for the tournament automatically.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Qualification
The defending champions Nigeria failed to qualify for the tournament.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Venues
The four Equatorial Guinean cities selected to host the tournament were Malabo, Bata, Mongomo and Ebebiyín.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Venues
Malabo and Bata were also host venues for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Venues
Screening for Ebola was given to all spectators attending matches.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Format
Only the hosts got an automatic qualification spot, the other 15 teams qualified through qualification tournament. At the finals, the 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams each. The teams in each group played a single round robin. After the group stage, the top two teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal winners advanced to the semifinals. The semifinal losers played in the third place match, while the semifinal winners played in the final.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Draw
The finals draw was held on 3 December 2014 in Malabo. It was initially to be held on 26 November 2014 in Rabat before the change of host country.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Draw
The 16 teams were divided into four pots based on the CAF Ranking, with the hosts Equatorial Guinea placed in Pot 1 automatically. The ranking was computed using the teams' results in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers (weighted by 2), 2013 Africa Cup of Nations finals (weighted by 3) and qualifiers (weighted by 1), the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations finals (weighted by 2) and qualifiers (weighted by 0.5), the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations finals (weighted by 1), and the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Draw
Equatorial Guinea (host; assigned to A1) Ghana (48 pts) Ivory Coast (44 pts) Zambia (41 pts)


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Draw
Burkina Faso (40 pts) Mali (38 pts) Tunisia (32.5 pts) Algeria (28 pts)


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Draw
Cape Verde (26.5 pts) South Africa (23.5 pts) Cameroon (23.5 pts) Gabon (22 pts)


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Draw
Guinea (19 pts) Senegal (19 pts) DR Congo (18 pts) Congo (13 pts)


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Match officials
The following referees were chosen for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Group stage
The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Group stage, Group D
Guinea and Mali finished level on the second spot after the group stage, making the first drawing of lots needed at the tournament since 1988. Unlike some other international tournaments, 2015 Africa Cup of Nations tournament regulations would not use fair-play criteria or a penalty shoot-out after the teams met on the last match day to determine the final group ranking. Both head coaches have openly criticised the regulations.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Knockout stage
In the knockout stages, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, extra time shall be played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by kicks from the penalty mark to determine the winner, except for the play-off for third place where no extra time shall be played.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Knockout stage
On 27 January 2015, the CAF announced that they had relocated the venues of two of the quarter-finals:


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Knockout stage
The kick-off time of quarter-finals 2 and 4 are also changed from 20:00 to 20:30 local time.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Knockout stage
Scores after extra time are indicated by (a.e.t. ), and penalty shoot-out are indicated by (pen. ).


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Statistics, Discipline
In the final tournament, a player was suspended for the subsequent match in the competition for either getting red card or accumulating two yellow cards in two different matches. The disciplinary panel has the ability to increase the automatic one match ban for a red card (e.g. for violent conduct). Single yellow card cautions were erased at the conclusion of the group stage, and were not carried over to the knockout stage. The following players were or are suspended during the final tournament – for one or more games – as a result of red cards or yellow card accumulations:


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Statistics, Tournament team rankings
As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Marketing, Sponsorship
The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations has one title sponsor and seven official sponsors as shown below.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Match ball
The new Adidas Africa Cup Ball is called Adidas Marhaba (meaning Welcome, in Arabic). The Africa Cup 2015 Ball was unveiled 26 November 2014 following the controversy about the host situation for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Mascot
The official mascot of the tournament was "Chuku Chuku", a porcupine.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations took place on 17 January, at the Estadio de Bata, before the opening match of the tournament between hosts Equatorial Guinea and Congo.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Controversies, Drawing of lots
Guinea and Mali finished with equal records in Group D, thus the drawing of lots was required to choose who would advance into the quarter-finals. Prior to the draw, Mali coach Henri Kasperczak said that the tournament "must find a more sporting way [to decide who advances], fairer... This does not correspond to a sporting spirit". His Guinean counterpart Michel Dussuyer said that neither team deserved to be eliminated in that manner.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Controversies, Drawing of lots
Guinea won the draw, causing a complaint from Boubacar Diarra, president of the Malian FA. Issa Haytou, president of CAF, defended the process as the only option.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Controversies, Drawing of lots
The CAF Disciplinary Committee's South African President Raymond Hack stated that CAF's Member Associations had chosen the option of picking lots ahead of penalties six months prior. He also said that the "Fair Play [disciplinary] table was to be used but the countries object to that and they said the table must be taken out of the rules. Had the Fair play table been used, Guinea would have qualified ahead of Mali with a better disciplinary record."


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Controversies, Tunisia vs. Equatorial Guinea refereeing
Wadie Jary, the president of the Tunisian Football Federation, claimed that there was a bias against Tunisia following their controversial quarter-final defeat to Equatorial Guinea on 31 January 2015. He was banned from CAF competitions and activities. Rajindraparsad Seechurn, the Mauritian referee who gave a penalty to Equatorial Guinea in that match, was banned from officiating for six months and removed from CAF's elite register of referees. The Tunisian FA was fined $50,000 for confronting the referee during the match, in addition to damage to changing room facilities, while Equatorial Guinea was fined $5,000 for inadequate security at the stadium.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Controversies, Equatorial Guinea vs. Ghana crowd incidents
During the semi-final fixture between host nation of Equatorial Guinea and Ghana several incidents occurred between the home fans, visiting fans and police. At the half-time break with Ghana leading the game 2-0, the Ghanaian players were protected from hostile Equatoguinean fans by police using plastic shields.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Controversies, Equatorial Guinea vs. Ghana crowd incidents
During the 82nd minute in the second half, fans rushed onto the pitch and missiles were thrown at the Ghanaian substitute players. The players moved onto the pitch to escape the missiles. The travelling Ghanaian fans were also targets and took shelter near the goal of the pitch, out of the range of those throwing objects. A helicopter was dispatched and used to disperse spectators out of the stadium by hovering at a low height above them. The Ghanaian FA described the incident as being similar to a "war zone".


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Controversies, Equatorial Guinea vs. Ghana crowd incidents
Equatorial Guinea's Police force had fired smoke bombs into the stands in an attempt to bring order. The game was stopped for about 30 minutes, before recommencing for a few minutes.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Controversies, Equatorial Guinea vs. Ghana crowd incidents
CAF imposed a US$100k fine on the Equatoguinean Football Federation and were informed an 'official match' in Equatorial Guinea must be held 'behind closed doors' after the tournament's completion.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Controversies, Equatorial Guinea vs. Ghana crowd incidents
DR Congo defender Gabriel Zakuani stated that he would rather his team forfeit the third-place playoff instead of play in front of Equatorial Guinea's fans, an opinion which was not shared by his manager Florent Ibengé.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final
The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final was a football match that took place on 8 February 2015 to determine the winner of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The match was held at the Estadio de Bata in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, and was contested by Ghana and Ivory Coast. Ghana reached the final by winning their qualifying group and then defeating Guinea and Equatorial Guinea in the quarter-final and semi-final. Ghana also qualified as group winners, after which they beat Algeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final
The final was 0–0 at the end of normal time, and there were also no goals in extra time, with few clear-cut chances for either team. Ivory Coast had the game's only shot on target at 12 minutes, when Yaya Touré cleared the Ghanaian wall with a free kick, but his shot went straight to Ghanaian goalkeeper Brimah Razak. Ghana's Christian Atsu had what writers for France 24 named the best chance of the match when he hit the goalpost from 30 yards (27 m) on 25 minutes, from an André Ayew pass.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final
Ayew himself also hit the goalpost on 41 minutes. With the match finishing level, it was decided by a penalty shoot-out. Ghana took a 2–0 lead, after Wilfried Bony and Junior Tallo both missed for Ivory Coast. Ivorian goalkeeper Boubacar Barry then produced a save against Afriyie Acquah, before Frank Acheampong missed Ghana's fourth penalty kick, and the teams were level. They then scored six more penalties each. After every outfield player had taken a shot, the match was decided by Barry, who saved an attempt from Ghana goalkeeper Razak and then scored past Razak himself to give the Ivory Coast a 9–8 shoot-out win and the title.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final
The victory was Ivory Coast's second Africa Cup of Nations victory, after they had beaten Ghana in the 1992 final, also on penalties. It lifted them from 3rd place to 2nd place among African nations in the FIFA World Rankings. In summarising the final, BBC Sport reporters noted that Ghana's defeat was "perhaps a little harsh". Ghana's Acquah was named as the man of the match. After returning home, the Ivory Coast players took part in a victory parade in the country's commercial capital Abidjan. They failed to defend the Africa Cup of Nations at the next tournament in 2017, being eliminated in the group stage.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Background
The Africa Cup of Nations, organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), is the primary international association football competition for African national teams. The 2015 tournament was the 30th edition since its inauguration in 1957. Morocco was originally chosen to host the event, but the country requested a postponement because of the Western African Ebola virus epidemic. CAF refused, and instead moved the event to Equatorial Guinea in 2014. The tournament consisted of sixteen teams who had qualified for the event, divided into four round-robin groups consisting of four teams. The two top teams from each group advanced to a knock-out phase.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Background
The Ivory Coast appeared in their 20th Africa Cup of Nations tournament, their sole victory coming in 1992 when they defeated Ghana on sudden death in a penalty shootout at the end of a goalless draw. They later played in the final in 2006 and 2012, losing in shootouts after goalless draws against Egypt and Zambia respectively. Ghana also appeared in their 20th tournament, and their 9th final. They had previously won 4 (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982) and lost 4 (1968, 1970, 1992, 2010).


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Background
At the start of the tournament, Ivory Coast were 3rd among African nations FIFA World Rankings (28th in the world), while Ghana were 5th (37th in the world).


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Route to the final, Ghana
Ghana were in the tournament's Group C, alongside Algeria, Senegal and South Africa. CAF labelled this the "group of death" as a result of the strength of the four teams. Ghana's opening game took place on 19 January 2015, against Senegal in Mongomo. Ghana took the lead on 14 minutes through a penalty by André Ayew, after Christian Atsu had been fouled, but Senegal equalised in the second half through Mame Biram Diouf. Moussa Sow, a Senegalese substitute, then scored in the third minute of injury time, to give his team a 2–1 win.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Route to the final, Ghana
In their second game, Ghana faced Algeria on 23 January in Mongomo. The match remained goalless until injury time at the end in the second half, when Ghana took the lead as Asamoah Gyan scored from a long pass by Mubarak Wakaso. Going into the final pair of games in the group, all four nations had an opportunity to qualify for the quarter-finals, but wins for Ghana and Algeria ensured they qualified in first and second place respectively. Ghana fell behind to a volley by South African Mandla Masango in their game, played on 27 January in Mongomo, but a John Boye equaliser on 73 minutes, followed by an Ayew goal gave them a 2–1 win and first place in the group.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Route to the final, Ghana
Ghana's quarter-final took place in Malabo against Guinea, on 1 February 2015. Against a team described by reporters for BBC Sport as "poor", Ghana scored their opening goal after 4 minutes as Atsu kicked the ball into the goal from Ayew's back-heeled pass. They added a second goal just before half time, Kwesi Appiah scoring after a failed clearance by Guinea's Baïssama Sankoh. Atsu scored again on 61 minutes to complete a 3–0 win for Ghana. Their semi-final match took place four days later, also in Malabo, against hosts Equatorial Guinea.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Route to the final, Ghana
Referee Eric Otogo-Castane awarded Ghana a penalty after 41 minutes for a foul on Appiah, which was vociferously disputed by Equatorial Guinea. Ayew scored the penalty, and Equatorial Guinea attempted to restart the game, but Otogo-Castane ordered them to wait until Ghana had finished celebrating. The home supporters began throwing bottles towards Ghana's substitutes on the sideline. Ghana doubled their lead through Wakaso just before half time and then added a third through Ayew on 75 minutes.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Route to the final, Ghana
At this point, the match had to be delayed for 40 minutes as the Equatorial Guinea supporters began an attack on the Ghana supporters. The police responded by sending a helicopter, which flew within 30 feet (9 m) of the crowd and deployed smoke bombs. The Ghana team's Twitter feed later likened the events to "a war zone". Play eventually resumed and with no further goals scored, Ghana completed a 3–0 win.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Route to the final, Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast began their campaign with a match against Guinea in Group D, on 20 January in Malabo. Guinea, who had not been able to play any home games during qualification due to the Ebola epidemic, took the lead after 36 minutes through a Mohamed Yattara volley. Ivory Coast's Gervinho, labelled "by far the game's best player" by BBC Sport's online commentary, was sent off for hitting Naby Keïta in the face after 58 minutes, but Ivory Coast earned a draw with a Seydou Doumbia equaliser on 72 minutes.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Route to the final, Ivory Coast
In Ivory Coast's second group game, they faced their neighbours Mali on 24 January, again in Malabo. In a game described by writers for Reuters as "bad-tempered", Ivory Coast fell behind to a Bakary Sako volley on 7 minutes, but Max Gradel earned a 1–1 draw for Ivory Coast shortly before the end. With all four games having ended 1–1, there was nothing to separate the four Group D teams going into the final pair of games. Ivory Coast faced Cameroon in their game, playing for a third time in Malabo, and they earned a 1–0 win through Gradel's 20-yard (18 m) shot on 35 minutes. This was sufficient to win the group, as the other game between Guinea and Mali finished in another 1–1 draw.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Route to the final, Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast returned to Malabo for their quarter-final, in which they faced Algeria on 1 February. Wilfried Bony scored the opening goal for Ivory Coast on 26 minutes, following a Gradel cross. Despite Ivory Coast having more possession than Algeria after half time, Hillal Soudani scored an equaliser after 51 minutes, before Bony restored his team's advantage with a header on 68 minutes.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Route to the final, Ivory Coast
Algeria applied pressure as they sought to equalise again, amid some poor Ivorian defending, but Ivory Coast held on and added a third goal through Gervinho in the 4th minute of injury time to seal a 3–1 win. Ivory Coast's semi-final took place on 4 February, against the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the Estadio de Bata. Yaya Touré scored for the Ivory Coast on 21 minutes, but their lead lasted only 3 minutes as Dieumerci Mbokani scored a penalty equaliser following a handball. They retook the lead through Gervinho shortly before half-time, and a goal by Wilfried Kanon midway through the second half completed their second consecutive 3–1 win and a place in the final.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Match, First half
The game kicked off at 8 pm local time (7 pm UTC), at the Estadio de Bata. The referee for the game was Bakary Gassama of the Gambia, and the attendance was 32,857. Ivory Coast wore an all orange kit, while Ghana's was entirely white. Ivory Coast won an early corner, but it was cleared by Appiah with Serey Dié's long-range follow-up easily blocked. Yaya Touré had the first chance to score in the game on 12 minutes; he cleared the wall with a free kick, but the shot went straight to Ghanaian goalkeeper Brimah Razak, who caught it.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Match, First half
This eventually proved to be the only shot on target in the entire match. Ivory Coast had another chance shortly afterwards, when Gradel shot wide following a pass from Gervinho, but the sides were relatively equal in the opening. Ghana's players made a series of long passes intended to reach Atsu, but Ivory Coast were able to defend all of these. Dié received the first booking of the evening on 15 minutes for a studs-first foul on Wakaso. Gyan then stamped on Eric Bailly's toes on 22 minutes in an off-the-ball incident, but no foul was given. Atsu had the best chance of the game on 25 minutes, when he hit the goalpost from 30 yards (27 m) from an Ayew pass.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Match, First half
Ivory Coast launched an attack down the right on 33 minutes, through Bailly and Gradel, the latter attempting to find Gervinho in the penalty area. Despite a defensive error from Boye, Razak was able to collect the ball.l. Two minutes later, Atsu sent a cross into the Ivory Coast penalty area which Appiah was unable to reach, and two minutes after that Ghana hit the goalpost for a second time with a shot from Ayew. On 41 minutes, Appiah was one-on-one with the Ivorian goalkeeper Kanon, but failed to score. The first half ended with a score of 0–0, The Guardian's Alan Smith describing it as "tense, as one would expect of a final between two sides with little to choose between them, but entertaining nonetheless".


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Match, Second half
Ghana had the first opportunity to score in the second half on 52 minutes, when Harrison Afful passed the ball to Atsu on the right-hand side following a mistake by Ivory Coast, who in turn passed to Gyan in the centre. His shot went over the goal. Neither side had many chances in the second half, the midfield dominating the attackers on both sides. There were also many fouls by both sides. Ghana won a free kick on 68 minutes, after a handball by Dié, which was taken by Wakaso and headed just wide of the goal by Boye.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Match, Second half
Two minutes later, Wakaso himself took a shot from 30 yards (27 m) out but it went high over the crossbar. A run down the right flank by Atsu gave Ghana another attack one minute after that, but Gyan's shot from the resulting pass was blocked by Ivory Coast. Ivory Coast had a chance on 82 minutes, when Bony headed over the crossbar from a Tiene cross.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Match, Second half
They then had two opportunities to win the game in the final minute, first with a block by Razak which fell to Doumbia, who was unable to convert, and then when Razak fumbled the ball following an Aurier cross, but it did not reach any Ivorian players. The match remained 0–0 at the end of normal time, which meant 30 minutes of extra time was played.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Match, Extra time
Ghana had the first opportunity of the second half on 93 minutes when Baba Rahman ran down the left-hand side, but Aurier was able to stop the attack with a diving block. On 99 minutes, Ghana's Afriyie Acquah hit a shot from 30 yards (27 m), but once again it went over the crossbar. Ghana made their first chance a minute later when Jordan Ayew came on for Appiah. His brother, André Ayew, crossed into the penalty area on 102 minutes, but there were no attackers or defenders in the vicinity and the ball bounced away. Two minutes later, Aurier crossed from the right for Ivory Coast, Bony clearing the ball behind. Bailly was then booked just before the extra period's half-time interval, for a foul on Jordan Ayew.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Match, Extra time
Wakaso ran towards the Ivorian goal early in the second period of extra time, but his 25-yard (23 m) shot was blocked by Tiene. Doumbia then had one of the best chances of extra time shortly afterwards, but he was unable to get a shot on goal as his control of the ball was described by Smith as "dismal". On 110 minutes, Jordan Ayew beat Yaya Touré in the penalty area, but his shot from a tight angle was blocked by Kolo Touré.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Match, Extra time
Both teams made two substitutions as the penalty shoot-out approached, Frank Acheampong and Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu coming on for Ghana, while Tallo Gadji and Salomon Kalou came on for Ivory Coast. The game remained 0–0 at the end of extra time, the winner of the tournament being decided by a penalty shoot-out. In their report of the game, BBC Sport said "there was a sense of inevitability throughout the match that it would go the distance as neither team appeared to be prepared to take the risks that might bring a victory".


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Match, Penalty shoot-out
Ghana's Wakaso took the first penalty of the shoot-out and scored, hitting the ball to the opposite side of the goal after Barry had dived to his left. Bony then missed his penalty for Ivory Coast, his shot hitting the crossbar. Ayew followed for Ghana and scored, and then Tallo, who had not touched the ball since coming on as a late substitute, missed for Ivory Coast, hitting his shot wide. The score was 2–0 to Ghana with both teams having taken two. Ghana then missed their next penalty, as Acquah's shot was saved by Barry. Aurier scored for Ivory Coast, and then Ghana missed again, Acheampong sending his left-footed shot wide of the goal. Doumbia scored for Ivory Coast to level the shoot-out at 2–2, and then Ayew and Yaya Touré both scored to give a score of 3–3 after the regulation five kicks.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Match, Penalty shoot-out
The shoot-out was now in the sudden-death phase, but the next ten penalties were all successful. Jonathan Mensah, Agyemang-Badu, Afful, Baba and Boye all scored for Ghana, while Kalou, Kolo Touré, Kanon, Bailly and Dié scored for Ivory Coast. This gave a shoot-out score of 8–8. With all ten outfield players having had a turn, the two goalkeepers were required to take a kick each themselves. Razak, who was described by Smith as "not [looking] confident", took his penalty and it was saved by his opposite number. Barry required some medical attention to his wrist following the save, but he was able to take his kick and he scored past Razak to seal a 9–8 shoot-out victory and the title for Ivory Coast.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Match, Details
Man of the Match:Afriyie Acquah (Ghana)Fair Player of the Match:Wilfried Bony (Ivory Coast)


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Post-match
In summarising the final, BBC Sport reporters noted that "defeat was perhaps a little harsh on Ghana, who had the better of the chances in the scoreless 120 minutes that preceded the shootout and twice hit the woodwork", while writers for France 24 wrote that "two hours of action delivered few chances as the tired-looking teams fought out an error-strewn midfield battle, although Ghana’s Christian Atsu came close to scoring with a snapshot that hit the post". Acquah was named as the man of the match, while Bony was awarded the Fair Player of the Match title. Atsu was named the player of the tournament.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Post-match
Ivory Coast manager Hervé Renard, who had also won the 2012 tournament with Zambia, later praised the Ivorian team, saying "... our relationship was strong and I put my trust in them. With this combination, you can achieve success, regardless of the obstacles you face." Speaking about the penalty shoot-out, Renard said "We missed the first two, but I knew it wasn’t over yet; the players wanted to do the impossible and win the title after twice being runners-up."


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Post-match
Despite Ghana's defeat, his opposite number Avram Grant was upbeat: "I am proud of what happened here as no-one rated Ghana before the competition. But we came here to play some exciting football and showed some good things. [ The players] have made me happy and after the final I told them so." Ivory Coast's Yaya Touré attributed the success to Renard: "Without the manager we would have won nothing. He made things difficult for me. He told me if I didn't run he'd kick me out. He's fantastic."


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final, Post-match
Ivory Coast's win elevated them above Tunisia into second place among African nations in the FIFA World Rankings, behind Algeria, while Ghana overtook both Tunisia and Senegal to occupy third place. After returning home, the Ivory Coast players took part in a victory parade in the country's commercial capital Abidjan on 9 February 2015. They failed to defend the Africa Cup of Nations at the next tournament in 2017, being eliminated in the group stage. Ghana progressed to the semi-final in that tournament, where they were beaten by eventual winners Cameroon.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group A
Group A of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations was played from 17 January until 25 January in Equatorial Guinea. The group consisted of the hosts Equatorial Guinea, Burkina Faso, Gabon, and Congo. Congo and Equatorial Guinea advanced as group winners and runners-up respectively, while Gabon and Burkina Faso were eliminated.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group A, Matches, Equatorial Guinea vs Congo
The first goal of the tournament was scored by Emilio Nsue. Receiving a through ball from Kike, he slotted the ball low past the goalkeeper with his right foot from six yards out to open the scoring for the hosts after 16 minutes. Thievy Bifouma scored the equalizer for Congo with three minutes left, after being played in by Dominique Malonga, he slotted it low into the net from the right of the six yard box.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group A, Matches, Burkina Faso vs Gabon
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring in the 19th minute, as after his initial shot was saved, he collected the rebound and calmly slotted home from seven yards out with his right foot. Gabon sealed the win in the 72nd minute with Malick Evouna's header from Frédéric Bulot's cross.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group A, Matches, Burkina Faso vs Gabon
Assistant referees:Angesom Ogbamariam (Eritrea)Zakhele Thusi Siwela (South Africa)Fourth official:Med Said Kordi (Tunisia)


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group A, Matches, Equatorial Guinea vs Burkina Faso
In the first goalless draw of the tournament, Burkina Faso hit the post twice, first through a free kick by Alain Traoré, then later when his shot was tipped to the post by Felipe Ovono.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group A, Matches, Equatorial Guinea vs Burkina Faso
Assistant referees:Evarist Menkouande (Cameroon)Ali Waleed Ahmed (Sudan)Fourth official:Mohamed Said Kordi (Tunisia)


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group A, Matches, Gabon vs Congo
Congo secured their first win in the Africa Cup of Nations since 1974, as Prince Oniangué scored the only goal in the 48th minute after the Gabon defence failed to clear a corner.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group A, Matches, Gabon vs Congo
Assistant referees:Peter Edibe (Nigeria)Tahssen Abo El Sadat Bedyer (Egypt)Fourth official:Gehad Grisha (Egypt)


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group A, Matches, Gabon vs Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea took the lead in the 55th minute through Javier Balboa's penalty, awarded after he was brought down by Lloyd Palun. They sealed the win in the 86th minute, as Ibán converted the rebound after Emilio Nsue's shot was saved, confirming their qualification to the knockout stage and eliminating Gabon.


2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group A, Matches, Congo vs Burkina Faso
Congo took the lead in the 51st minute, when Férébory Doré crossed for Thievy Bifouma to convert from close range. Burkina Faso equalized in the 86th minute, after Aristide Bancé scored from Issiaka Ouédraogo's cross, but Congo retook the lead one minute later, as from a Congo free kick, Burkina Faso goalkeeper Germain Sanou punched the ball and it hit Fabrice Ondama and went into the net. As a result, Congo qualified as group winners while Burkina Faso were eliminated.