2015 World Cup (snooker), Format
The 2015 World Cup consisted of 24 national teams, with two players competing for each side, and the initial round divided the entrants into four pools of six sides apiece. During the Group Stage, every national team played a best-of-five match against each of the other sides in their pool. Three victories were required to secure a head-to-head team win, but all five individual contests needed to be played, similar to the Davis Cup and Fed Cup formats in professional tennis. All matches were scheduled to include two singles contests, a doubles encounter, and two reverse singles showdowns. The top two teams from each bracket advanced to the Knockout Stages.


2015 World Cup (snooker), Format
During the Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, and Championship Final, the remaining national sides were paired off a head-to-head knockout bracket. The format for these head-to-head matches was a sudden death best-of-seven competition, similar to professional sporting events like baseball's World Series and basketball's NBA Finals, with the contest coming to an end as soon as one team accumulated four individual victories. These encounters were scheduled as two singles showdowns, a doubles match, two reverse singles contests, another doubles encounter, and a winner-take-all singles showdown if necessary. The side that won the Final were named champions.


2015 World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships
The 2015 World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships was the 7th edition of the World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships, and was held in Mexico City, Mexico from December 8 to December 9, 2014.


2015 World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships
Teams were allowed to augment their squads with maximum two athletes from other countries.


2015 World Cup of Pool
The 2015 World Cup of Pool was the tenth edition of the tournament. The event was held in York Hall, London, England, from September 22 to 27. The 2015 event was sponsored by Dafabet.


2015 World Cup of Softball
The tenth World Cup of Softball was held between June 29-July 5, 2015 in Irvine, California. The competing national teams were the United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, United States Junior Team, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.


2015 World Draughts Championship
The 2015 World Draughts Championship at the international draughts was held November 8–24, 2015 at Emmen, Netherlands International Draughts Federation FMJD. Twenty players were competing in the tournament. It was played as a round-robin, with 19 rounds in total, each of which be micro-match from two games. The winning prize for the tournament was 25,000 euros.


2015 World Draughts Championship, Participants
The participants are nominated according to a schema and rules accepted by the FMJD General Assembly:


2015 World Draughts Championship, Rules and regulations
The games were played in the official FMJD time rate of the Fischer system with 1 hour and 20 minutes for the game plus 1 minute per move. Conforming to the FMJD regulations players are not allowed to agree on a draw before they both made 40 moves. If they do so nevertheless, the referee is obliged to decide on a 0-point each players.


2015 World Draughts Championship, Rules and regulations
The final classification was based on the total points obtained. If two or more players will have same total points to define the places:


2015 World Draughts Championship, Rules and regulations
3. the best results obtained in order of the classification.


2015 World Draughts Championship, Results by round, Round 1
Leopold Kouogueu Kouomou (2301) — Ncho Joel Atse (2329) 1—1


2015 World Draughts Championship, Results by round, Round 5
Freddy Loko Luzayadio (2336) - Jean Marc Ndjofang (2370) 1—1


2015 World Draughts Championship, Results by round, Round 7
Leopold Kouogueu Kouomou (2301) - Jean Marc Ndjofang (2370) 1—1


2015 World Draughts Championship, Results by round, Round 12
Jean Marc Ndjofang (2370) 	-	 Ncho Joel Atse (2329) 1—1


2015 World Draughts Championship, Results by round, Round 13
Leopold Kouogueu Kouomou (2301) 	-	 Freddy Loko Luzayadio (2336) 1—1


2015 World Draughts Championship, Results by round, Round 18
Freddy Loko Luzayadio (2336) — Ncho Joel Atse (2329) 1-1


2015 World Draughts Championship match
The 2015 World Draughts Championship match  at the international draughts was held October 25–31, 2015 in Izmir, Turkey International Draughts Federation FMJD between the actual World Champion Alexander Georgiev (Russia) and the challenger Jean Marc Ndjofang (Cameroon). Alexander Georgiev won 7-7-6-6 against 7-5-4-12 and became eight times world champion.


2015 World Draughts Championship match, Rules and regulations
The match consists of seven micro-matches. Each micro-match is played till the first victory. First game of micro-match — standard game 1 hour 20 min + 1 min per move, if draw at 1st game — rapid game 20 min + 5 sec per move. If draw at rapid game — blitz game 5 min + 3 sec per move.


2015 World Draughts Championship match, Rules and regulations
If draw at blitz game — Lehmann-Georgiev tie break 5 min + 2 sec per move for all games till the first victory.


2015 World Draughts Championship match, Rules and regulations
The final result of the match was determined by the result games with normal time control, if draw was determined by the result rapid games, if draw was determined by the result blitz games.


2015 World Fencing Championships
The 2015 World Fencing Championships were held at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia from 13 to 19 July 2015.


2015 World Figure Skating Championships
The 2015 World Figure Skating Championships was an international figure skating competition in the 2014–15 season. Figure skaters competed for the title of World champion in men's singles, ladies' singles, pairs, and ice dancing.


2015 World Figure Skating Championships
In June 2012, it was announced that Shanghai, China would host the 2015 Worlds. All events were held at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center.


2015 World Figure Skating Championships, Qualification
Skaters are eligible for the event if they are representing an ISU member nations and have reached the age of 15 before 1 July 2014 in their place of birth. National associations select their entries according to their own criteria but the ISU mandates that their selections achieve a minimum technical elements score (TES) at an international event prior to the World Championships.


2015 World Figure Skating Championships, Qualification, Number of entries per discipline
Based on the results of the 2014 World Championships, each ISU member nation can field one to three entries per discipline.


2015 World Figure Skating Championships, Results, Men
The Men's short program was held on March 27. The free skate was held on March 28.


2015 World Figure Skating Championships, Results, Ladies
The Ladies short program was held on March 26. The free skate was held on March 28, 2015.


2015 World Figure Skating Championships, Results, Pairs
The pairs short program was held on March 25. The free skate was held on March 26.


2015 World Figure Skating Championships, Results, Ice dancing
The short dance was held on March 25. The free dance was held on March 27, 2015.


2015 World Figure Skating Championships, Medals summary, By country
Table of small medals for placement in the short segment:


2015 World Figure Skating Championships, Medals summary, By country
Table of small medals for placement in the free segment:


2015 World Grand Prix
The 2015 888.com World Grand Prix was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 16 and 22 March 2015 at the Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Wales.


2015 World Grand Prix
Judd Trump won the inaugural event by defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–7 in the final.


2015 World Grand Prix, Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:


2015 World Grand Prix, Seeding list
The top 32 players on a one-year ranking system running from the 2014 World Snooker Championship to the 2015 Gdynia Open qualified for the tournament.


2015 World Grand Prix (darts)
The 2015 PartyPoker.com World Grand Prix was the eighteenth staging of the World Grand Prix. It was played from 4–10 October 2015 at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin, Ireland.


2015 World Grand Prix (darts)
Michael van Gerwen was the defending champion, after beating James Wade 5–3 in sets in the previous year's final, but he was beaten 5–4 in the final by Robert Thornton.


2015 World Grand Prix (darts), Prize money
The total prize money remained at £400,000. The following is the breakdown of the fund:


2015 World Grand Prix (darts), Qualification
The field of 32 players is made up from the top 16 on the PDC Order of Merit on September 14. The remaining 16 places went to the top 14 non-qualified players from the ProTour Order of Merit and then to the top two non-qualified residents of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland from the 2015 ProTour Order of Merit. The top eight players are seeded in the tournament.


2015 World Indoor Bowls Championship
The 2015 Just Retirement World Indoor Bowls Championship was held at Potters Leisure Resort, Hopton on Sea, Great Yarmouth, England, from 09-25 January 2015. The men's singles title was won for a record-extending sixth time by Scotland's Alex Marshall, who beat Andy Thomson in the final. Robert Paxton & Simon Skelton won their first Pairs title, stopping Alex Marshall & Paul Foster from winning a fourth title. Robert Paxton & Marion Purcell won their first Mixed Pairs title, stopping Paul Foster & Laura Thomas from winning a third consecutive title. Laura Thomas won her first title, defeating defending champion Katherine Rednall in the final.


2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship
The 2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship (WILC) was the fourth international box lacrosse championship organized by the Federation of International Lacrosse every four years. The 2015 WILC was hosted by the Onondaga Nation, south of Syracuse, New York, and took place between September 18 and 27. Canada defeated the host Iroquois Nationals 12–8 in the gold medal game, the same finals match-up featured in the first three indoor championships. Since the WILC started in 2003, Team Canada is undefeated with an overall record of 23–0.


2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship
In the bronze medal game, the United States beat first-time participant Israel 15–4. Canadian Shawn Evans was the tournament MVP, scoring 10 goals and 25 assists in 5 games.


2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship
Thirteen countries participated, 5 more than in 2011, including first-time competitors Finland, Germany, Israel, Serbia, Switzerland, and Turkey. Most games were held on the Onondaga Nation at the Onondaga Nation Arena and the newly built $6.5 million Onondaga Nation Fieldhouse, although the Iroquois' games versus Canada and the United States were held at War Memorial Arena in Syracuse. Over 10,000 fans attended the gold and bronze medal games in the Carrier Dome.


2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship
The opening ceremonies in the sold-out War Memorial Arena featured a light show about the Haudenosaunee creation story and traditional dancing. After the Iroquois Nationals were not allowed to use their Haudenosaunee passports to travel to England in 2010 due to new security requirements, many international players were interested in getting their passports stamped by the Onondaga Nation. The documentary Spirit Game: Pride of a Nation explains the meaning of lacrosse to the Iroquois people and covers the Iroquois Nationals in the 2015 WILC, featuring brothers Lyle and Miles Thompson.


2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship, Pool play
The teams were divided into 3 divisions, with the 5 highest-ranked teams placed in the Blue Division and the others being split into the Red and Green Divisions. In the Blue Division, the top two teams advanced to the semifinals, the third and fourth teams entered the quarterfinals and the fifth team was placed in the classification bracket. The top two teams in both the Red and Green Divisions entered the play-in games, while the bottom two teams were placed in the classification bracket.


2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship, Pool play, Blue Division
Canada once again was undefeated in pool play, although the game versus the Iroquois was hard-fought. The Nationals led 8–4 early in the third period, but Canada outscored them 7–1 the rest of the game.


2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship, Play-in games
Israel was seeded #5 and Ireland #6 in the quarterfinals. Finland and Australia were placed in the classification bracket.


2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship, Championship bracket
The gold medal game was close throughout the first half, with only two brief two-goal leads for Canada. Canada led 6–5 at the half, then the teams traded two-goal runs to get back to 8–7 in the early fourth quarter. Steven Priolo and Stephan Leblanc both scored in unsettled situations within a minute of each other for Canada to take command of the game with 10 minutes left.


2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship, Championship bracket
Team Canada's Curtis Dickson led all scorers with four goals, including one open-net goal, and an assist. His teammate Mark Matthews had four assists. Randy Staats and Johnny Powless both had four points for the Iroquois.


2015 World Judo Championships
The 2015 World Judo Championships were held in Astana, Kazakhstan, from 24–30 August 2015. The competition was held at the Alau Ice Palace.


2015 World Judo Championships – Men's +100 kg
The men's +100 kg competition of the 2015 World Judo Championships was held on 29 August 2015.


2015 World Judo Championships – Men's 100 kg
The men's 100 kg competition of the 2015 World Judo Championships was held on 29 August 2015.


2015 World Judo Championships – Men's 60 kg
The men's 60 kg competition of the 2015 World Judo Championships was held on 24 August 2015.


2015 World Judo Championships – Men's 66 kg
The men's 66 kg competition of the 2015 World Judo Championships was held on 25 August 2015.


2015 World Judo Championships – Men's 73 kg
The men's 73 kg competition of the 2015 World Judo Championships was held on 26 August 2015.


2015 World Judo Championships – Men's 81 kg
The men's 81 kg competition of the 2015 World Judo Championships was held on 27 August 2015.


2015 World Judo Championships – Men's 90 kg
The men's 90 kg competition of the 2015 World Judo Championships was held on 28 August 2015.


2015 World Judo Championships – Men's team
The men's team competition of the 2015 World Judo Championships was held on 30 August.


2015 World Judo Championships – Men's team
Each team consisted of five judokas from the –66, 73, 81, 90 and +90 kg categories.


2015 World Judo Championships – Men's team, Medalists
Sainjargalyn Nyam-Ochir (-73 kg)Ganbaataryn Odbayar (-73 kg)Khashbaataryn Tsagaanbaatar (–66 kg)Davaadorjiin Tömörkhüleg (–66 kg)Ganbatyn Boldbaatar (–66 kg)


2015 World Judo Championships – Women's +78 kg
The women's +78 kg competition of the 2015 World Judo Championships was held on 29 August 2015.


2015 World Judo Championships – Women's 48 kg
The Women's 48 kg competition of the 2015 World Judo Championships was held on 24 August 2015.


2015 World Judo Championships – Women's 52 kg
The women's 52 kg competition of the 2015 World Judo Championships was held on 25 August 2015.


2015 World Judo Championships – Women's 57 kg
The women's 57 kg competition of the 2015 World Judo Championships was held on 26 August 2015.


2015 World Judo Championships – Women's 63 kg
The women's 63 kg competition of the 2015 World Judo Championships was held on 27 August 2015.


2015 World Judo Championships – Women's 70 kg
The women's 70 kg competition of the 2015 World Judo Championships was held on 28 August 2015.


2015 World Judo Championships – Women's 78 kg
The women's 78 kg competition of the 2015 World Judo Championships was held on 28 August 2015.


2015 World Judo Championships – Women's team
The women's team competition of the 2015 World Judo Championships was held on 30 August.


2015 World Judo Championships – Women's team
Each team consisted of five judokas from the –48, 57, 63, 70 and +70 kg categories


2015 World Junior Curling Championships
The 2015 World Junior Curling Championships was held from February 28 to March 8 at the Tondiraba Ice Rink in Tallinn, Estonia.


2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships
The 2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships was an international figure skating competition in the 2014–15 season. Commonly called "World Juniors" and "Junior Worlds", the event determined the World Junior champions in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.


2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships
The event was held on 2–8 March 2015 at the newly constructed Tondiraba Ice Hall in Tallinn, Estonia.


2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, Records
The following new junior records were set during this competition:


2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, Qualification
The competition was open to skaters from ISU member nations who were at least 13 but not 19—or 21 for male pair skaters and ice dancers—before July 1, 2014 in their place of birth. National associations selected their entries according to their own criteria but the ISU mandated that their selections achieve a minimum technical elements score (TES) at an international event prior to the Junior Worlds.


2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, Qualification
The term "Junior" in ISU competition refers to age, not skill level. Skaters may remain age-eligible for Junior Worlds even after competing nationally and internationally at the senior level. At junior events, the ISU requires that all programs conform to junior-specific rules regarding program length, jumping passes, types of elements, etc.


2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, Qualification, Number of entries per discipline
Based on the results of the 2014 World Junior Championships, the ISU allowed each country one to three entries per discipline.


2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, Entries
Member nations began announcing their selections in January 2015. The ISU published the complete list of entries on 16 February 2015.


2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, Medals summary, By country
Table of small medals for placement in the short segment:


2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, Medals summary, By country
Table of small medals for placement in the free segment:


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
The 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 39th edition of Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, played from December 26, 2014 to January 5, 2015. It was co-hosted by Toronto, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and organized by Hockey Canada, Hockey Quebec, the Ontario Hockey Federation, the Montreal Canadiens, Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment and Evenko. Games were split between Air Canada Centre in Toronto and Bell Centre in Montreal, with Montreal hosting Group A matches and two quarter finals, and Toronto hosting Group B, along with the relegation games, two quarter finals, along with the semi-finals, bronze medal, and gold medal games.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
After failing to medal at the previous two editions of the tournament, Canada beat Russia in the final to win the gold medal, marking Canada's first medal at the World Juniors since 2012, and Canada's first gold since 2009. Slovakia defeated Sweden in the bronze medal game to win their second-ever medal. Germany finished tenth overall and was relegated to Division IA for the 2016 tournament. Slovak goaltender Denis Godla was named the tournament's most valuable player, while Sam Reinhart of Canada was the scoring leader with 11 points.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Player eligibility
A player is eligible to play in the 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships if:


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Player eligibility
If a player who has never played in IIHF-organized competition wishes to switch national eligibility, he must have played in competitions for two consecutive years in the new country without playing in another country, as well as show his move to the new country's national association with an international transfer card.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Player eligibility
In case the player has previously played in IIHF-organized competition but wishes to switch national eligibility, he must have played in competitions for four consecutive years in the new country without playing in another country, he must show his move to the new country's national association with an international transfer card, as well as be a citizen of the new country. A player may only switch national eligibility once.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Top Division, Officials
The IIHF selected 12 referees and 10 linesmen to officiate during the tournament:


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Top Division, Format
The four best ranked teams from each group of the preliminary round advance to the quarterfinals, while the last placed teams from each group played a relegation round in a best of three format to determine the relegated team.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Top Division, Relegation round
Note:  Germany was relegated for the 2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Top Division, Statistics, Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Top Division, Statistics, Goaltending leaders
TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = Shutouts


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Top Division, Final standings
Note that due to the lack of playoff games for determining the spots 5–8, these spots were determined by the preliminary round records for each team.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Division I, Division I A
The Division I A tournament was played in Asiago, Italy, from 14 to 20 December 2014.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Division I, Division I B
The Division I B tournament was played in Dunaújváros, Hungary, from 14 to 20 December 2014.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Division II, Division II A
The Division II A tournament was played in Tallinn, Estonia, from 7 to 13 December 2014.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Division II, Division II B
The Division II B tournament was played in Jaca, Spain, from 13 to 19 December 2014.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Division III
The Division III tournament was played in Dunedin, New Zealand, from 20 to 25 January 2015.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Division III
On December 27, 2014 organizers announced that the Bulgarian Ice Hockey Federation withdrew their U20 team from the tournament.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships rosters
Below are the rosters for teams competing in the 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships – Division I
The 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship Division I was played in two groups of six teams each. In each group the first-placed team is promoted to a higher level, while the last-placed team is relegated to a lower level. The winners of Division I B, Kazakhstan, were promoted to the 2016 Division I A and the winners of Division I A, Belarus, were promoted to the 2016 top division. Divisions I A and I B represent the second and the third tier of the IIHF World U20 Championship.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships – Division I, Division I A
The Division I A tournament was played in Asiago, Italy, from 14 to 20 December 2014.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships – Division I, Division I B
The Division I B tournament was played in Dunaújváros, Hungary, from 14 to 20 December 2014.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships – Division II
The 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division II were the two international ice hockey tournaments organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Division II A was contested in Tallinn, Estonia and Division II B in Jaca, Spain. These tournaments represent the fourth and fifth tiers of the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships – Division II, Division II A
The Division II A tournament was played in Tallinn, Estonia, from 7 to 13 December 2014.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships – Division II, Division II B
The Division II B tournament was played in Jaca, Spain, from 13 to 19 December 2014.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships – Division III
The 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship Division III tournament was played in Dunedin, New Zealand, from 20 to 25 January 2015. Division III represents the sixth tier of the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. The winners, China, were promoted to the Division II B for the 2016 tournament.


2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships – Division III, Results
All times are local (New Zealand Daylight Time – UTC+13).


2015 World Junior Table Tennis Championships
The Sun International 2015 World Junior Table Tennis Championships were held in Vendée, France, from 29 November to 6 December 2015. It was organised by the Fédération Française de Tennis de Table under the auspices and authority of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).


2015 World Junior Wrestling Championships
The 2015 World Junior Wrestling Championships were the 39th edition of the World Junior Wrestling Championships and were held in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil between August 11 - 16, 2015 .


2015 World Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom Championships
The 2015 ICF World Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom Championships took place in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil from 22 to 26 April 2015 under the auspices of the International Canoe Federation (ICF). It was the 17th edition of the competition for Juniors (U18) and the 4th edition for the Under 23 category.


2015 World Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom Championships
No medals were awarded for the men's C2 team events and the women's junior C1 team event due to low number of participating nations.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship
The 2015 Eden World Women's Snooker Championship was a women's snooker tournament that took place at the Northern Snooker in Leeds, England, from 18 to 21 April 2015. The event was the 2015 edition of the World Women's Snooker Championship first held in 1976. The event was won by Hong Kong's Ng On-yee, who defeated Emma Bonney 6–2 in the final.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Background
The event featured eight groups of four or five players each, with the top two players from each group progressing. The event was split after the group stage, with players not reaching the main knockout tournament competing in a parallel "Plate" tournament. Matches in the group stage were three frames. The first knockout round was best-of-five frames; the quarter-finals and semi-finals the best-of-seven, and the final was played as a best-of-11.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Background
Thirty-three players, from ten different countries, participated in the main tournament, as listed in the table below. Seventeen of the thirty-three were English.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Background
In the previous six world championships, four different players had reached the final. Reanne Evans had won the title in each of the previous ten years, from 2005 to 2014. The 2014 final had seen Evans whitewash Ng On-yee 6–0. World billiards champion Emma Bonney, runner-up in the snooker championship in 2006 and 2011, took part in her first competitive tournament of the season. One notable absentee was Maria Catalano, four times runner-up between 2009 and 2013.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Background
Evans had recently lost 8–10 to the 1997 men's champion, Ken Doherty, in the qualifying competition for the 2015 World Snooker Championship. Evans' loss meant she was available to compete in the Women's championship.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Tournament results, Group stage
The qualifying group matches were played on 18 and 19 April 2015. There were eight groups of four players, and one group of five players, with the top two players from each group progressing to the knockout stage. Progression from the groups was determined, in order, by the following criteria: Matches won; Head to head; frames won; Highest break; and finally by ranking position.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Tournament results, Group stage
The event was split after the group stage, with players not reaching the main knockout tournament competing in a parallel tournament called the Plate competition.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Tournament results, Group stage
The only player to complete their qualifying matches without losing a frame was Jaique Ip Wan In. Five players qualified whilst only losing one frame each: Ng On-yee, Reanne Evans, Emma Bonney, Inese Lukashevska and So Man Yan. Jodie Allen, who had only taken up snooker in January 2015 having previously played pool, qualified for the next stage by coming second in her group. Elizabeth Black was the only player not to win a frame.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Tournament results, Group stage
Evans scored the highest break of the tournament, 100, in the first frame of her match against Margaret Browne. Jessica Woods made an 85 in the second frame of her match against Evans. These were to be the highest breaks of the tournament.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Tournament results, Last 16
The two top seeds from qualifying, Jaique Ip Wan In and Ng On-yee, both from Hong Kong, both beat their opponents 3–0.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Tournament results, Last 16
Five of the six English players that had qualified for the knockout progressed to the quarter-finals. Defending champion Reanne Evans scored a 69 break during the first frame against Irina Gorbataya, and took the next two to win 3–0. Emma Bonney was 0–2 down to Anna Prisjažņuka, but won the next three to progress into the quarter-finals.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Tournament results, Quarter-finals
Vasiljeva took the second frame against Evans to level at 1–1, before Evans won 4–1, with breaks of 65 and 55 during the match.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Tournament results, Quarter-finals
On-yee whitewashed Cunningham 4–0. Ip and Bonney both won 4–2, over Opacic and Poulter respectively.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Tournament results, Semi-finals
Both semi-finals featured a player from Hong Kong against a player from England.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Tournament results, Semi-finals
Bonney lost the first frame against Ip, but won the next four to reach her third world snooker final.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Tournament results, Semi-finals
On-yee took the first frame against Evans with a break of 44, but Evans then won the next two, with a 38 break in the third, to take the lead. On-yee won a close fourth frame by 53 points to 43, including a 33 break, to level the match at 2–2. On-yee then scored a 55 in taking the fifth frame 84–0, and following a poor safety shot on the brown ball by Evans in the sixth frame, won 51–47 on the black to complete a shock win.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Tournament results, Final
Bonney took an early lead, winning the first two frames. The next six frames were dominated by safety play, and were all won by On-yee, with the only break over 30, a 32, coming from On-yee in the seventh frame. On-yee won the match 6–2 to become the first Asian player to win the title.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Tournament results, Final
The frame scores (Bonney first) were: 59–22; 68–38; 11–45; 44–72; 20–72; 14–60; 53–63; 7–72


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Tournament results, Final
In June 2015, On-yee played 2015 World Snooker Champion Stuart Bingham in an exhibition match in Hong Kong. Bingham won 4–1, with On-yee winning only the fourth frame, 68–41.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Breaks
There were only eight breaks of over 50, by just three players. The highest break of the tournament was 100 by Reanne Evans, in the first frame of her match against Margaret Browne. The second-highest break was 85 by Jessica Woods in the second frame of her match against Evans. The other player to make breaks over 50 was On-yee with 83, 68, and 55. Evans compiled a 69, a 65 and a 55 as well as her century.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Knockout stage
Source: WPBSA Tournament Manager. Players listed in bold indicate match winner.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Plate competition
The Plate competition was for players who did not reach the main knockout draw, and was held on 20 April 2016. It was won by Jasmine Bolsover, who also made the highest break, 48, in the first frame of her match against Sandra Bryan. Bolsover, aged 15, had been given special permission to take two days off from her GCSE schedule, and received £120 prize money as the winner. Vicky Shirley received £60 as runner-up. Bolsover had recently reached the final of the Connie Gough Memorial ranking tournament, where she lost to Reanne Evans.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Other events
Apart from the plate competition, a number of other events took place around the World Championship.


2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship, Other events
Plate competition winner Jasmine Bolsover also won the under-21 final, and, with Reanne Evans, the Women's Doubles final. Prize money awarded is shown in brackets.


2015 World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships
The 2015 World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships (or 2015 World Long Distance MR Championships), was the 10th edition of the global Mountain running competition, World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships, organised by the World Mountain Running Association and was held in Zermatt, Switzerland on 4 July 2015.


2015 World Masters (darts)
The 2015 Levi.com World Masters was a major tournament on the BDO/WDF calendar for 2015. It took place from 8–11 October at the Hull City Hall, which hosted the stage element of the event for the fourth year.


2015 World Masters (darts), Men's Seeds
The seedings were finalised on 31 August. For the fourth consecutive year, there are 32 seeds (an increase from 8 between 2007–2011) with the Top 16 exempt until the Last 32 stage.


2015 World Masters (darts), Women's seeds
The seedings were finalised on 31 August. The women's seeds enter at the start of the competition.


2015 World Masters Athletics Championships
The 2015 World Masters Athletics Championships were held in Lyon, France, from August 6–18, 2015. It was the 21st edition of the championships. This was the last odd year of the biennial championship as beginning in 2016, the championships will be held in even numbered years. The World Masters Athletics Championships serve the division of the sport of athletics for people over 35 years of age, referred to as Masters athletics.


2015 World Masters Athletics Championships
A full range of track and field events were held, along with a cross country race and a marathon.


2015 World Masters Athletics Championships, Results, 100 metres, W55 100 metres
Note:  Nicole Alexis set the World Record 13.03 -0.6 in the prelims


2015 World Masters Athletics Championships, Results, 200 metres, W55 200 metres
Note:  Nicole Alexis also set the World Record in the semi-finals 27.11 +1.1


2015 World Masters Athletics Championships, Results, 400 metres, W60 400 metres
Note:  Caroline Powell set the  World Record 1:04.31 in the prelims


2015 World Match Racing Tour
The 2015 World Match Racing Tour was a series of match racing sailing regattas staged during 2015–16 season.


2015 World Match Racing Tour
Ian Williams won the tour, his sixth title, by defeating Taylor Canfield in the final of Monsoon Cup.


2015 World Matchplay
The 2015 BetVictor World Matchplay was the 22nd annual staging of the World Matchplay, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament took place at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, from 18–26 July 2015.


2015 World Matchplay
Phil Taylor was the defending champion, having won the last seven editions of the event and he reached the semi-finals, where his 38-game unbeaten run came to the end against James Wade. Michael van Gerwen won his first World Matchplay title by defeating Wade 18–12 in the final.


2015 World Matchplay, Prize money
The prize fund was increased to £450,000 after being £400,000 for the previous five editions of this event.


2015 World Matchplay, Format
In previous stagings of the event all games had to be won by two clear legs with no sudden-death legs. However, in 2013 after consulting the host broadcaster Sky Sports, the PDC decided that games will now only proceed for a maximum of six extra legs before a tie-break leg is required. For example, in a best of 19 legs first round match, if the score reaches 12–12 then the 25th leg will be the decider.


2015 World Matchplay, Qualification
The top 16 on the PDC Order of Merit qualified as seeded players. The other 16 places went to the top 16 non-qualified players from the PDC ProTour Order of Merit who were unseeded players. The field was confirmed on 5 July following Players Championship 14.


2015 World Men's Curling Championship
The 2015 World Men's Curling Championship  (branded as Ford World Men's Curling Championship 2015 for sponsorship reasons) was held from March 28 to April 5 at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It marked the first time that a World Curling Championship had been held in Halifax, and the first time that a World Curling Championship event had been held in the province since the World Junior Curling Championships were held in Dartmouth in 1986.


2015 World Men's Curling Championship, Qualification
The following nations qualified to participate in the 2015 Ford World Men's Curling Championship:


2015 World Men's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Pat SimmonsThird: John MorrisSecond: Carter RycroftLead: Nolan ThiessenAlternate: Tom Sallows


2015 World Men's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Zang JialiangThird: Zou DejiaSecond: Ba DexinLead: Wang JinboAlternate: Zhang Rongrui


2015 World Men's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Jiří SnítilThird: Lukáš KlímaSecond: Martin SnítilLead: Jindřich KitzbergerAlternate: Samuel Mokriš


2015 World Men's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Aku KausteThird: Kasper HakuntiSecond: Pauli JäämiesLead: Janne PitkoAlternate: Leo Mäkelä


2015 World Men's Curling Championship, Teams
Fourth: Amos MosanerSkip: Joël RetornazSecond: Daniele FerrazzaLead: Andrea PilzerAlternate: Sebastiano Arman


2015 World Men's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Yusuke MorozumiThird: Tsuyoshi YamaguchiSecond: Tetsuro ShimizuLead: Kosuke MorozumiAlternate: Yuta Matsumura


2015 World Men's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Thomas UlsrudThird: Torger NergårdSecond: Christoffer SvaeLead: Håvard Vad PeterssonAlternate: Markus Snøve Høiberg


2015 World Men's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Evgeny ArkhipovThird: Alexander KozyrevSecond: Artur RazhabovLead: Anton KalalbAlternate: Alexey Stukalskiy


2015 World Men's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Ewan MacDonaldThird: Duncan FernieSecond: Ruairidh GreenwoodLead: Euan ByersAlternate: David Murdoch


2015 World Men's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Niklas EdinThird: Oskar ErikssonSecond: Kristian LindströmLead: Christoffer Sundgren Alternate: Henrik Leek


2015 World Men's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : Marc PfisterThird: Enrico PfisterSecond: Reto KellerLead: Raphael MärkiAlternate: Sven Michel


2015 World Men's Curling Championship, Teams
Skip : John ShusterThird: Tyler GeorgeSecond: Matt HamiltonLead: John LandsteinerAlternate: Craig Brown


2015 World Men's Curling Championship, Teams, WCT ranking
World Curling Tour Order of Merit ranking of national teams (year to date total)


2015 World Men's Curling Championship, Round robin results
All draw times are listed in Atlantic Daylight Time (UTC−3).


2015 World Men's Handball Championship
The 2015 World Men's Handball Championship was the 24th staging of the World Men's Handball Championship, organised by the International Handball Federation (IHF). The final tournament was held for the first time in Qatar, from 15 January to 1 February 2015. The Qatari bid was selected over those of Norway, Poland and France after a vote by the IHF Council on 27 January 2011, in Malmö, Sweden. This was the third time that the World Championship was hosted in the Middle East And North Africa, after Egypt in 1999 and Tunisia in 2005.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship
France won the final against Qatar 25–22 to win their fifth title, a first in handball history while Qatar won their first ever medal. Poland captured the bronze medal by defeating Spain 29–28 after extra time. Denmark secured the fifth place by winning against Croatia which finished sixth and thus had the worst result in the past 13 years of international handball competing.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship, Venues
The games of the tournament were played in Doha and in the newly created town of Lusail.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship, Qualification
Twenty-four teams participated in the final tournament. Qatar, as hosts and Spain, as world champions, were automatically qualified, which left 22 places available for the best teams of each continental qualification tournament and the winners of an additional European qualification competition.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship, Qualification
In a decision taken by the International Handball Federation on 8 July 2014 the spot allocated for a nation from Oceania was revoked on the grounds that Oceania has no continental confederation. The national team, qualified for this spot through the 2014 Oceania Handball Championship, was Australia. The spot was instead handed out as a wild card to the nation with the highest ranking at the previous world championships not qualified for the Qatar tournament. This nation was Germany. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates withdrew on 7 November 2014. Iceland and Saudi Arabia were chosen as the replacements.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship, Draw
The draw was held on 20 July 2014 at 21:30 local time in Doha, Qatar.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship, Preliminary round
The schedule was published on 21 August 2014. A new schedule was released on 12 December 2014. The top four teams from each group advanced to the knockout stage.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship, Preliminary round, Tie-breaking criteria
For the group stage of this tournament, where two or more teams in a group tied on an equal number of points, the finishing positions will be determined by the following tie-breaking criteria in the following order:


2015 World Men's Handball Championship, Final ranking
William Accambray, Igor Anić, Xavier Barachet, Cyril Dumoulin, Jérôme Fernandez, Mathieu Grébille, Michaël Guigou, Samuel Honrubia, Guillaume Joli, Luka Karabatić, Nikola Karabatić, Kentin Mahé, Daniel Narcisse, Alix Nyokas, Thierry Omeyer, Valentin Porte, Cédric SorhaindoHead Coach: Claude Onesta


2015 World Men's Handball Championship, Final ranking, Other awards
The final rankings were used in the 2016 Summer Olympics qualification process. France, as World Champion, qualified for the Olympics. The next 6 teams earned a place in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments. Qatar and Germany, however, won their continental tournaments (qualifying them directly for the Olympics) and thus their spots in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments went to Slovenia and Macedonia.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship, Controversy, Withdrawal of teams
As mentioned under qualifications, Australia lost its spot in the tournament due to an IHF decision, being replaced by Germany, who did not qualify. Further, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates withdrew.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship, Controversy, Qatar player naturalisation
A large number of players in the Qatar team had been naturalised in the years leading up to the championship. According to IHF rules, to gain eligibility for a new national team, a player cannot have played for another nation for three years in an official match. This allowed several foreign-born players, including Spanish-born Borja Vidal, Goran Stojanović and Jovo Damjanović from Montenegro, and Bertrand Roiné who previously played for France, to play for the Qatar team at the championship. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine, only four of the 17 players in the squad were native to Qatar.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship, Controversy, Qatar player naturalisation
Head of the Qatar Handball Federation, Ahmed Mohammed Abdulrab Al Shaabi, acknowledged the policy in a statement in June 2013, saying "We're a small nation with limited human resources, so we had to bring players from outside in the past." He also announced an end to the policy at the time, adding however that they "[might] make an exception only in the case of an experienced goalkeeper." In January 2014, Danish sports agent Mads Winther said he had met with "contacts involved with Qatar" regarding the possibility of naturalising Danish players.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship, Controversy, Qatar player naturalisation
The practice was criticised by Austrian goalkeeper after his team's loss to Qatar in the round of 16, saying "It [felt] like playing against a world selection team" and "I think it is not the sense of a world championship." At a press conference during the championship, Qatar head coach Valero Rivera declined to comment on the matter. Spanish player Joan Cañellas did not think it was an issue, saying "If they can do it, why not."


2015 World Men's Handball Championship, Controversy, Qatar player naturalisation
After the controversial semi-final against Poland, and reaching  the final as a result the practice was even more criticised, with players such as Danijel Šarić having now represented four different national teams.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship, Controversy, Paid fans
Qatar flew in about 60 Spanish fans to cheer for Qatar during the championship.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship, Controversy, Refereeing
During the first 12 matches of the tournament, 143 two-minute suspensions were awarded by the referees, a figure that came under strong criticism from teams, who had not been informed of the IHF Referee Committee's instructions to referees commanding them to keep a strict disciplinary line.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship, Controversy, Refereeing
The referees were widely accused of being one-sided in favour of the hosts. Especially at the matches against Austria, Germany and Poland. After the final whistle, the Polish players showed their discontent by ironically applauding the three referees.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads
This article displays the squads for the 2015 World Men's Handball Championship. Each team consists of 16 players. Yet, two players might be replaced, Every player who played is listed, thus some lists have more than 16.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads
Age, caps and goals correct as of 15 January 2015.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group A, Belarus
A 21-player preliminary squad was announced on 19 December 2014.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group A, Brazil
A 20-player preliminary squad was announced on 23 December 2014. On 31 December 2014, 17 players were nominated.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group A, Chile
A 28-player preliminary squad was announced on 15 December 2014.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group A, Qatar
A 28-player preliminary squad was announced on 15 December 2014.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group A, Slovenia
A 26-player preliminary squad was announced on 15 December 2014. It was trimmed down to 22 on 2 January 2015. On 7 January 2015, 19 players were nominated.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group A, Spain
A 20-player preliminary squad was announced on 16 December 2014. On 29 December 2014 an 18-player list was published. On 12 January 2015, the final 16-player squad was announced.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group B, Austria
A 23-player preliminary squad was announced on 2 January 2015. On 9 January 2015, an 18-player squad was announced.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group B, Bosnia and Herzegovina
A 23-player preliminary squad was announced on 17 December 2014. It was trimmed down to 20 on 30 December 2014.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group B, Croatia
A 20-player preliminary squad was announced on 23 December 2014. An 18-player squad was announced on 30 December 2014. A final 16-player squad was announced on 13 January 2015.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group B, Iran
A 22-player preliminary squad was announced on 28 December 2014. An 18-player squad was revealed on 13 January 2015.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group B, Macedonia
A 21-player preliminary squad was announced on 15 December 2014. An 18-player squad was announced on 5 January 2015.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group B, Tunisia
An 18-player preliminary squad was announced on 30 December 2014.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group C, Algeria
A 24-player preliminary squad was announced on 20 December 2014.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group C, Czech Republic
A 13-player squad was announced on 11 December 2014. 18 players were selected on 9 January 2015. The 16-player squad was published on 10 January 2015.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group C, Egypt
A 19-player preliminary squad was announced on 12 December 2014.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group C, France
A 20-player preliminary squad was announced on 6 December 2014. A 17-player squad was announced on 13 January 2015.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group C, Iceland
A 20-player preliminary squad was announced on 18 December 2014. On 11 January 2015 a 17-player squad was published.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group C, Sweden
The squad was announced on 15 December 2014. On 8 January 2015, Magnus Persson replaced Johan Jakobsson due to an injury.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group D, Argentina
An 18-player preliminary squad was announced on 26 December 2014.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group D, Denmark
A 19-player preliminary squad was announced on 18 December 2014. It was reduced to 17 players on 11 January 2015.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group D, Germany
A 19-player preliminary squad was announced on 22 December 2014.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group D, Poland
A 23-player preliminary squad was announced on 27 December 2014. On 8 January 2015 it was reduced to 18.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group D, Russia
A 21-player preliminary squad was announced on 24 December 2014. It was reduced to 18 on 10 January 2015.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Group D, Saudi Arabia
A 21-player preliminary squad was announced on 2 December 2014. On 4 January 2015 the list was trimmed to 17.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Statistics, Player representation by league system
League systems with 10 or more players represented are listed. In all, World Cup squad members play for clubs in 54 different countries, and play in 51 different national leagues.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads, Statistics, Player representation by league system
The Germany and Saudi Arabia men's national handball team|Saudi Arabian squad is made up entirely of players from the country's domestic league. Slovenia have only one domestic-based player. Of the countries not represented by a national team at the World Cup, Hungarian league provides the most squad members.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship – European qualification
The European qualification for the 2015 World Men's Handball Championship, in Qatar, was disputed in two rounds among the teams that did not qualify for the 2014 European Men's Handball Championship and the 12 teams that placed outside of the European Championship's top three (excluding Spain, which were qualified automatically for the World Championship as holders).


2015 World Men's Handball Championship – European qualification
In the first round of qualification, 20 teams not participating at the European Championship were split into five groups; the group winners advanced to the second round, joining the 12 European finalists and Germany, which was given a bye to this round. These 18 teams then were paired to play a two-legged playoff tie to determine the nine remaining World Championship qualifiers from Europe.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship – European qualification, Group stage
The draw was held on 27 June 2013. The group winners advanced to the playoff round.


2015 World Men's Handball Championship – European qualification, Play-off round
The draw was held on 26 January 2014 at 13:00 in Herning, Denmark. The draw saw 18 teams competing for nine places at the 2015 World Men's Handball Championship. The teams were placed in two pots and drawn together to form nine play-off pairs. After a two-legged tie the winner of each pair qualified to the final tournament. All seeded teams (Iceland, Poland, Sweden, Hungary, Russia, Macedonia, Austria, Belarus, Serbia) and three unseeded (e.g. Norway, Czech Republic and Montenegro) had qualified for the play-off round as 12 of the 2014 European Men's Handball Championship which are not qualified directly to the final tournament.


2015 World Mixed Curling Championship
The 2015 World Mixed Curling Championship was held from September 12 to 19 at the Curling Bahn Allmend in Bern, Switzerland.


2015 World Mixed Curling Championship, Teams, Group A
Skip : Stefan Van DijckThird: Sarah MegensSecond: Christophe StessensLead: Fam Van Den Bosch


2015 World Mixed Curling Championship, Teams, Group A
Skip : John Jo KennyThird: Marie O'KaneSecond: Tony TierneyLead: Jen Ward


2015 World Mixed Curling Championship, Teams, Group D
Skip : Marcelo MelloThird: Luciana BarrellaSecond: Sergio Mitsuo VilelaLead: Isis Oliveira


2015 World Mixed Curling Championship, Teams, Group D
Skip : Alican KarataşThird: Dilşat YıldızSecond: Bilal Omer CakirLead: Semiha Konuksever


2015 World Mixed Curling Championship, Round robin results
All draw times are listed in Central European Summer Time (UTC+2).


2015 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship
The 2015 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship was held from April 18 to 25 at the Ice Cube Curling Center in Sochi, Russia. The event will be held in conjunction with the 2015 World Senior Curling Championships.


2015 World Modern Pentathlon Championships
The 2015 World Modern Pentathlon Championships was held in Berlin, Germany from 28 June to 6 July 2015. The event included pistol shooting, fencing, 200m swimming, show jumping and a 3 km run.


2015 World Mountain Running Championships
The 2015 World Mountain Running Championships was the 31st edition of the global mountain running competition, World Mountain Running Championships, organised by the World Mountain Running Association and was held in Betws-y-Coed, United Kingdom on 19 September 2015.


2015 World Orienteering Championships
The 32nd World Orienteering Championships were held in Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom.


2015 World Pastry Cup
The 2015 World Pastry Cup (French:Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie 2015) is an international pastry contest which took place in 25–26 January 2015 in Lyon, France.


2015 World Pastry Cup, Competition
For 10 straight hours each participating team composed of three candidates were tasked to complete 21 culinary items; 3 chocolate deserts, 3 frozen fruit desserts, 12 identical deserts on a plate, and 3 artistic creations with each made from three different materials - sugar, chocolate and sculpted hydric ice. The three candidates from each team specializes either on pastries, chocolate and in ice cream. The 2015 edition was the first time that the candidates were tasked to make a sculpture out of a whole block of Valrhona chocolate to be included in their artistic creation made of chocolate. The candidates used two identically sized blocked ice for their ice sculpture. For their sculpture made of sugar, the sculpture was required to make of at least 50 percent drawn sugar and blown sugar. A new pointing system was also utilized for the 2015 edition.


2015 World Pastry Cup, Competition
The 21 entries will be judged based on taste, artistic presentation and coherence with the theme.


2015 World Pastry Cup, Participants
21 teams from 21 nations qualified to participate at the 2015 World Pastry Cup. Algeria, Philippines and Guatemala made their debut at the 2015 edition of the tournament. France, the 2013 champions and host of the World Pastry Cup, did not participate at the tournament.


2015 World Pastry Cup, Awards, Special Prizes
Special Prizes were also awarded. The Philippines which participated for the first time won the special prize for Sculpted Ice. Guatemala were conferred with the Team Spirit award due to the team member's solidarity and close working. Italy was awarded the Best Innovative Spirit for the team's usage of icing for its entries. Japan was awarded the special prize, Press for its chocolate desserts. Social media users choose the winners of the Best Promotional Poster, which was awarded to Morocco.


2015 World Polo Championship
The World Polo Championship 2015, tenth edition, took place in Santiago, Chile during March and April 2015 and was won by the host, beating the United States in the final.


2015 World Polo Championship
This event will bring together six teams from around the world in the Club de Polo y Equitación San Cristóbal of the Chilean capital.


2015 World Pool Masters
The 2015 World Pool Masters, also known as World Pool Masters XXIII, was a nine-ball pool tournament that took place in Manchester, England, between 14–16 August 2015. It was the 23rd edition of the invitational tournament organised by Matchroom Sport.


2015 World Pool Masters
The event was won by Shane Van Boening, who defeated Darren Appleton in the final 8–2, to win his second Pool Masters title. This was Van Boening's second straight championship, having won the title before in 2014.


2015 World Ports Classic
The 2015 World Ports Classic was fourth edition of the World Ports Classic cycle stage race. It was part of the 2015 UCI Europe Tour as a 2.1 event. As the previous editions, it consisted of two stages: the first one from Rotterdam to Antwerp was won by Astana Pro Team's Andrea Guardini, and the second one, from Antwerp to Rotterdam, by Kris Boeckmans (Lotto–Soudal). Boeckmans also won the General classification, as well as the Points classification. Rudy Barbier of team Roubaix–Lille Métropole won the Young Rider classification, and Boeckmans's team Lotto–Soudal won the Teams classification


2015 World Ports Classic, Teams
18 teams were selected to take place in the 2015 World Ports Classic. Four of these were UCI WorldTeams, ten were UCI Professional Continental teams, and four were UCI Continental teams.


2015 World RX of Argentina
The 2015 World RX of Argentina was the thirteenth round of the second season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The event was held at the Autódromo Municipal Juan Manuel Fangio in Rosario, Santa Fe, over one day following the declaration of unsafe track conditions on the first scheduled day of competition. This led to the first World Championship event to be held over only three heats. Petter Solberg secured his second consecutive title having only needed to advance to the semi-finals to achieve it.


2015 World RX of Argentina, Heats
Note - Heat 4 was cancelled as a result of the one-day format.


2015 World RX of Barcelona
The 2015 World RX of Barcelona was the tenth round of the second season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The event was held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló, Catalonia.


2015 World RX of Barcelona
Reigning champion and championship leader Petter Solberg took his third victory of the season, to extend his championship lead to 35 points over Timmy Hansen. Hansen, who had finished as top qualifier for the fourth meeting in succession – including two heat wins – also won a semi-final but could only finish third in the final, behind compatriot Johan Kristoffersson.


2015 World RX of Barcelona
In the supporting round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship, Kristoffersson's teammate Ole Christian Veiby took his first victory after on-the-road winner Tommy Rustad, the championship leader, was disqualified after a breach of the championship regulations. Veiby finished ahead of compatriot Alexander Hvaal with Joni-Pekka Rajala of Finland completing the podium.


2015 World RX of Belgium
The 2015 World RX of Belgium was the 3rd round of the second season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The event was held at the Circuit Jules Tacheny Mettet in Mettet, Wallonia.


2015 World RX of Belgium
Marklund Motorsport driver Toomas Heikkinen became the third different winner in the 2015 season, having won his semi-final as well. Second place went to defending champion, and championship leader Petter Solberg (SDRX), while the podium was completed by Reinis Nitišs, driving for the OlsbergsMSE team.


2015 World RX of Belgium
In the supporting round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship, Albatec Racing driver Jérôme Grosset-Janin took the victory, to take the lead in the drivers' championship. Grosset-Janin finished ahead of Ole Christian Veiby while Tamás Kárai was the only other finisher as he completed the podium.


2015 World RX of Belgium
The infamous incident of the damper on Alx Danielsson's Audi S3 punching open the bonnet occurred during practice.


2015 World RX of Canada
The 2015 World RX of Canada was the seventh round of the second season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The event was held at the Circuit Trois-Rivières in Trois-Rivières, Quebec.


2015 World RX of Canada, Heats
‡ Anton Marklund used a Marklund Motorsport-built Volkswagen Polo this round, as the EKS team were unable to repair his regular Audi S1 in time for shipping following his accident at the previous round.


2015 World RX of France
The 2015 World RX of France was the ninth round of the second season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The event was held at the Circuit de Lohéac in Lohéac, Bretagne during 5–6 September 2015.


2015 World RX of Germany
The 2015 World RX of Germany was the fifth round of the second season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The event was held at the Estering in Buxtehude, Lower Saxony.


2015 World RX of Germany
It was the first event win for Frenchman Davy Jeanney.


2015 World RX of Great Britain
The 2015 World RX of Great Britain was the 4th round of the second season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The event was held at the Lydden Hill Race Circuit in Wootton, Kent.


2015 World RX of Hockenheim
The 2015 World RX of Hockenheim was the 2nd round of the second season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The event was held at the Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, alongside the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.


2015 World RX of Italy
The 2015 World RX of Italy was the twelfth round of the second season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The event was held at the Franciacorta International Circuit in Franciacorta, Lombardy.


2015 World RX of Norway
The 2015 World RX of Norway (formally the 2015 NAF World RX of Norway) was the eighth round of the second season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The event was held at the Lånkebanen in Hell, Nord-Trøndelag.


2015 World RX of Portugal
The 2015 World RX of Portugal was the first round of the second season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The event was held at the Pista Automovel de Montalegre in Montalegre, close to the Spanish border.


2015 World RX of Sweden
The 2015 World RX of Sweden was the sixth round of the second season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The event was held at the Höljesbanan in Höljes, Värmland.


2015 World RX of Sweden, Final
† Timmy Hansen was given a 2-second penalty for exceeding track limits


2015 World RX of Turkey
The 2015 World RX of Turkey was the eleventh round of the second season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The event was held at the Istanbul Park circuit in Tuzla, Istanbul.


2015 World Rally Championship
The 2015 World Rally Championship was the 43rd season of the World Rally Championship, an auto racing championship recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the highest class of international rallying. Teams and drivers contest thirteen rallies across four continents, competing for the FIA World Rally Championships for Drivers and Manufacturers. The WRC-2, WRC-3 and Junior WRC championships are run in support of the premier championship.


2015 World Rally Championship
Sébastien Ogier started the season as the defending drivers' champion. His team, Volkswagen Motorsport, were the defending manufacturers' champions. Both Ogier and Volkswagen Motorsport claimed their third consecutive drivers' and manufacturers' championships with 3 rounds to spare by winning in Rally Australia.


2015 World Rally Championship, Calendar
The 2015 calendar was announced at a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Beijing in September 2014. The season maintained the same rallies as the 2014 season and was contested over thirteen rounds in Europe, North America, South America and Oceania.


2015 World Rally Championship, Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers are scheduled to compete in the World Rally Championship during the 2015 season:


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 1 — Monte Carlo Rally
Defending World Champion Sébastien Ogier started the season with a win in Monte Carlo, his second consecutive in the principality and the 25th of his WRC career. Returning nine-time World Champion Sébastien Loeb was the early leader of the rally, losing first position to Ogier on the seventh stage after a spin while negotiating a hairpin bend. On the next stage, Loeb hit a rock and lost a total of six minutes, before retiring in the following liaison section. This gave Ogier a lead of almost two minutes over Volkswagen teammate Jari-Matti Latvala.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 1 — Monte Carlo Rally
Despite being unable to monitor his rivals' split times during the stages under new rules, Ogier blended a controlled pace with safe tyre choices through the final two days to seal the victory. Latvala finished second, also taking one power stage point, with Andreas Mikkelsen completing a one-two-three for Volkswagen Motorsport. Citroën's Mads Østberg finished the event in fourth position. Hyundai Motorsport duo Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo finished in fifth and sixth, split by 0.8 seconds. M-Sport's Elfyn Evans finished seventh, having dropped time after he damaged his car's rear suspension against a wall. Evans finished ahead of Loeb, who rejoined under rally-2 rules and won two power stage points. The top ten was completed by Martin Prokop and Kris Meeke, who won the power stage to take three additional points.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 2 — Rally Sweden
Sébastien Ogier won the rally on the last stage to extend his lead in the drivers' championship. The rally started with Pontus Tidemand, competing in a WRC-2 Ford Fiesta RRC, winning the Thursday night super special stage in Karlstad. Ogier took the lead on Friday's opening stage, with teammate Jari-Matti Latvala chasing him for the lead. Volkswagen's third driver, Andreas Mikkelsen gained the lead on the ninth stage, after Ogier and Latvala both hit snow banks, dropping to 4th and 23rd respectively.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 2 — Rally Sweden
Mikkelsen kept the lead until Saturday's final stage, where Hyundai's Thierry Neuville took the lead after fitting new tyres for the stage; Mikkelsen and Ogier were both in contention however, at deficits of 1.5 and 9.6 seconds respectively. Mikkelsen regained the lead on Sunday's opening stage, and held a three-second lead over Ogier ahead of the final stage, Värmullsåsen, which was also the event's power stage, offering additional drivers' championship points.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 2 — Rally Sweden
Running in reverse order to their rally positions, Ogier bested Neuville's time for the stage – ultimately, the stage's fastest time – and just after he completed the stage, Mikkelsen hit a snow bank and lost 40 seconds to fall behind Neuville in the standings as well. Ott Tänak finished fourth to record his best WRC result since 2012, while Hayden Paddon recorded his best WRC finish – replacing the injured Dani Sordo – in fifth position.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 2 — Rally Sweden
Next in the order was British duo Elfyn Evans and Kris Meeke, Martin Prokop finished eighth ahead of Yuriy Protasov, who took his first WRC stage win, on the Kirkenær stage. Completing the championship points was Mads Østberg, who was in position for a podium spot, until he hit a snow bank on the eleventh stage. He also scored an extra point by finishing third on the power stage. After the last stage, Volkswagen Motorsport decided to retire Latvala's car – he had managed to recover up the order to 12th place – due to a rules loophole in relation to the following event, Rally México.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 3 — Rally Mexico
Sébastien Ogier began the event by winning the shakedown, before the rally proper opened with a night-time special stage in the tunnels of Guanajuato city, a World Heritage Site as denoted by UNESCO. Thierry Neuville became the first leader of the event by winning the stage, in front of Lorenzo Bertelli.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 3 — Rally Mexico
The second day of the event began with the first gravel section of the 2015 season, where Ogier took the opportunity to jump into the lead despite having the difficult task of sweeping the roads; he had been doing so as the championship leader. On the third stage, Ott Tänak lost control of his Ford Fiesta RS WRC and left the road, with his car falling into a reservoir. Tänak and co-driver Raigo Mõlder managed to evacuate the car before it submerged. Kris Meeke, who won the stage that Tänak crashed out on, crashed out of the rally on the following stage, irreversibly damaging his Citroën DS3 WRC. The morning also saw the retirements of Robert Kubica and Hayden Paddon.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 3 — Rally Mexico
Thierry Neuville was driving quickly in second overall when he crashed on the eighth stage, leaving Jari-Matti Latvala in second position at the end of the second day. Tänak's car was recovered from the reservoir, and the M-Sport World Rally Team were able to repair the car for use the next day. However, the car failed just after leaving service, and the car was retired for the day. Tänak did compete on the final trio of stages and was able to finish the rally in 22nd overall.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 3 — Rally Mexico
On the final day, Latvala started in pursuit of Ogier, but he would ultimately finish 15th overall after broken suspension caused damage to a rear wheel. Ogier ultimately won his fifth successive rally, collecting maximum points with a power stage win. The fight for second place was between Mads Østberg and Andreas Mikkelsen, with Østberg prevailing by 6.3 seconds. Elfyn Evans matched his best WRC result in fourth, in front of Hyundai's Dani Sordo, returning from injury.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 4 — Rally Argentina
Kris Meeke won a WRC rally for the first time in his career, the first time a British driver had won a WRC event since the 2002 World Rally Championship season Safari Rally, which was won by Colin McRae. Meeke dedicated the victory to McRae, who had been his mentor.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 4 — Rally Argentina
This event was the first time Citroën had won a rally since (2013 Rallye Deutschland), and the first one-two since 2012 Rally Finland, as Mads Østberg finished second. Elfyn Evans, in a Ford Fiesta WRC, took the first podium of his career. This event was the first time Volkswagen hadn't finished on the podium since their return to the WRC.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 4 — Rally Argentina
The rally was notable for its high level of attrition; only five World Rally Cars finished the event without experiencing mechanical problems. The second stage saw double world champion Sébastien Ogier stop with an injector problem, whilst Lorenzo Bertelli also retired on this stage. On the following stages, Andreas Mikkelsen and Hayden Paddon both experienced technical problems, with both drivers restarting on the following day. Ott Tänak lost a wheel on the fourth stage, but also restarted on the following day.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 4 — Rally Argentina
On the second day, Paddon crashed out on the ninth stage, whilst Dani Sordo stopped with power steering problems on the following stage; both drivers restarted on the final day. On the final day, Jari-Matti Latvala suffered an engine failure on the eleventh stage, whilst Mikkelsen and Thierry Neuville both crashed in the same place on the final stage. Østberg had also experienced engine problems on the opening stage, but was able to recover to second.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 4 — Rally Argentina
Ogier won the power stage on the way to finishing 17th overall; Sordo was second on the power stage, as he recovered to fifth, and Østberg finished third.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 5 — Rally de Portugal
14 years later, the Rally de Portugal returned to be held in the North of the country, returning to the sections that earned it the World Best Rally award for 6 times, and the people joined massively.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 5 — Rally de Portugal
The race began with the return of the mythical Special Stage at Lousada racing track, with 15,000 spectators. As in the shakedown, Andreas Mikkelsen was the fastest, followed by Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala. Robert Kubica took the all-new Ford Fiesta RS WRC (premiered by M-Sport at Rally of Portugal) to 4th place.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 5 — Rally de Portugal
On the second day of the race, the competition played in the Minho Province, with the section of Caminha proving to be quite hard, causing several dropouts and mechanical breakdowns. Ogier on WRC leader condition had the difficult task of opening the road, had a flat tyre right at the SS 2 and finished the day in 2nd overall. At the end of the SS 5 (2nd passage through Ponte de Lima was canceled due to a forest fire) Latvala was the leader with 11.1 seconds ahead of Kris Meeke, and 16 s on Mikelsen. Sordo, winner of the first special of the day (SS 2) was only 5th.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 5 — Rally de Portugal
On Saturday, Ogier regained some handicap, winning the second day passes and finished the third day on 2nd place 9.5 seconds behind the leader, Latvala. Meeke won two of the SS and was 3rd, 20 s behind the leader but had Mikelsen (who won the other SS) at just 1.1 s. Elfyn Evans left after the first SS (as in the previous day) with electrical problems in the Ford Fiesta RS WRC, while Tänak and Sordo, already at more than a minute behind the lead were out of the fight for a podium finish. Neuville overturned and Ostberg suffered engine problems in his Citroën.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 5 — Rally de Portugal
The title decision was reserved for Sunday, with the dispute of the mythical passages of Fafe (2 passes, with the second being the power-stage) and Cabreira (the longest of the rally with 32 km, now called the "Vieira do Minho" ). On the first pass by Fafe, and benefiting from a better position on the road, Ogier took 1.7 s the downside to Latvala, but at Serra da Cabreira Latvala responded and increased the advantage to 10.4 s. Mikelsen Volkswagen closed the podium. In the decisive power-stage, Ogier recovered 2.2 s at Latvala, insufficient to prevent the Finn to celebrate the triumph.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 6 — Rally Italia Sardegna
The rally began with a surprising Martin Prokop winning the Super Special Stage of Cagliari, followed by Dani Sordo (penalized for false start) and Mikkelsen. On the second day, new surprise with Hayden Paddon winning the first Friday 3 sections, and at the end of SS 4 led the rally with 25.3 s lead over Latvala and Ogier on 27.5. In the remaining stages, Paddon controlled the pace, but a slight touch on the last stage reduced the advantage  to only 8.8 s, now on Ogier who had exceeded his teammate. Dani Sordo was forced to leave after booting a wheel while Neuville suffered from problems such as turbo and handbrake and finished 6th. Meeke gave-up at SS 2 and Kubica did the same on the next.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 6 — Rally Italia Sardegna
It was necessary to reach the SS 17 and a spinning from Paddon for a VW take the rally lead. Ostberg was third, despite having traveled 20 km with a slow tyre leakage, having won 2 PEC before having new slow tyre leakage in the last SS.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 6 — Rally Italia Sardegna
In this day Mikkelsen (lost a wheel) Sordo (lack of gas pressure), Kubica (3 holes and a stuck gearbox) and Tänak (gearbox jammed when he was 3rd place) dropped out while there were many hardships to Neuville (whipping-top, turbo and steering problems and 40s penalty) and Latvala (hole and crashed shock absorber for 2 sections). At the end of the day Ogier had a huge advantage over Paddon (2m13s) while Ostberg was 3 to 3m25s and Neuville 4th at 3m57s.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 6 — Rally Italia Sardegna
For the last day the attention was concentrated in the fight for the last podium spot between Ostberg and Neuville. An outwit from Ostberg (dropped to 5) delivered the 3rd to the Belgian. The power-stage was completely dominated by VW: Ogier, Latvala and Mikkelsen.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 7 — Rally Poland
Yet in the shakedown, Kris Meeke had an accident that forced him to move on foot at the departure ceremony. Sebastien Ogier won the opening Super Special, followed by privates Robert Kubica and Martin Prokop. On the 2nd day Ott Tänak took the starting position (11th on the road) and won 3 sections. However, Ogier increased the pace, and benefiting from Tänak problems, was the leader at the end of SS 7. On the 3rd day, Ogier held the lead while Tänak pressed and passed Latvala to get the final podium spot behind Mikkelsen.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 7 — Rally Poland
Elfyn Evans abandoned with trouble in the water pump, Hayden Paddon was the best Hyundai while the Citroën were misplaced. On the last day, Mikkelsen still tried the win, but the podium positions did not change. Latvala lost fourth place already on the link for assistance park to Hayden Paddon, who was the best Hyundai, a race in which four cars of the South Korean brand ended.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 8 — Rally Finland
Jari-Matti Latvala drove away from his teammate Sébastien Ogier. After the years 2010 and 2014 Latvala won his home rally for the third time. Meeke was holding the third place until he punctured on SS15. Mikkelsen and Paddon retired after crashes.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 9 — Rallye Deutschland
Sébastien Ogier won in front of his teammate Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen. He made thus a further major step towards world title number three. For Volkswagen it was the third triple victory of the season.


2015 World Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 10 — Rally Australia
The seventh rally win this year, Ogier after 2013 and 2014 also prematurely clinched the world champion title for 2015. Volkswagen won also its third Manufacturer Title in a row.


2015 World Rally Championship, Results and standings, FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers
Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers. There are also three bonus points awarded to the winner of the Power stage, two points for second place and one for third.


2015 World Rally Championship, Results and standings, FIA World Rally Championship for Co-Drivers
Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers. There are also three bonus points awarded to the winner of the Power stage, two points for second place and one for third.


2015 World Rally Championship-2
The 2015 FIA World Rally Championship-2 is the third season of the World Rally Championship-2, an auto racing championship recognized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, running in support of the World Rally Championship. It was created when the Group R class of rally car was introduced in 2013. The Championship is open to cars complying with R4, R5, and Super 2000 regulations. The Championship is composed by thirteen Rallies, and Drivers and Teams must nominate a maximum of seven event. The best six results are counted towards the championship.


2015 World Rally Championship-2
Nasser Al-Attiyah is the defending champion, as he won the 2014 title by just three points.


2015 World Rally Championship-2, Calendar
The 2015 calendar was announced at a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Beijing in September 2014. The season maintained the same rallies as the 2014 season and was contested over thirteen rounds in Europe, North America, South America and Oceania.


2015 World Rally Championship-3
The 2015 FIA World Rally Championship-3 is the third season of the World Rally Championship-3, an auto racing championship recognized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, running in support of the World Rally Championship. It was created when the Group R class of rally car was introduced in 2013. The Championship is composed by thirteen Rallies, and Drivers and Teams must nominate a maximum of six event. The best five results will be counted towards the championship.


2015 World Rally Championship-3
Stéphane Lefebvre is the defending champion, as he won the 2014 title.


2015 World Rally Championship-3, Calendar
The 2015 calendar was announced at a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Beijing in September 2014. The season maintained the same rallies as the 2014 season and was contested over thirteen rounds in Europe, North America, South America and Oceania.


2015 World Rowing Championships
The 2015 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 August to 6 September 2015 at Lac d'Aiguebelette, Aiguebelette in France.


2015 World Rowing Championships, Description
The annual week-long rowing regatta was organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). In non-Olympic years the regatta is the highlight of the international rowing calendar, and as 2015 was a pre-Olympic year, the championships were also the main qualification event for the following year's Olympics and Paralympics.


2015 World Rowing Championships, Description
For the first time, Rowing New Zealand started in all (14) Olympic boat classes.


2015 World Rugby Nations Cup
The 2015 World Rugby Nations Cup was the tenth edition of the international rugby union tournament, a competition created by the World Rugby. For the ninth time in a row, it was held at the Stadionul Naţional de Rugby in Bucharest, Romania, and was played between 12 and 21 June, running alongside 2015 World Rugby Tbilisi Cup in Georgia.


2015 World Rugby Nations Cup
Romania, the hosts, were joined by ENC side Spain and Argentina A side, Argentina Jaguars, while Namibia returned for the first time since 2011, as they and Romania prepare to participate in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.


2015 World Rugby Nations Cup
Hosts Romania won the tournament, for the first time since 2013, with three from three victories.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Challenge
The 2015 Pacific Challenge was the tenth World Rugby Pacific Challenge (known as the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup in previous seasons). The tournament, featuring six national 'A' rugby union teams, was hosted in Fiji. The tournament was won by Pampas XV, who defeated Fiji Warriors by 17–9 in the final.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Challenge, Format
The teams were split into two pools and each team played the three opponents in the opposite pool. The teams finishing on top of each pool progressed to the final, the second teams in each pool played off for third place, and the bottom teams in each pool played off for fifth place.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Challenge, Standings, Pool A
Classification:Teams standings are calculated as follows:Most log points accumulated from all matchesMost log points accumulated in matches between tied teamsHighest difference between points scored for and against accumulated from all matchesMost points scored accumulated from all matches


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup
The 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup was the tenth edition of the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup (formerly known as the IRB Pacific Nations Cup), an annual international rugby union tournament. The 2015 title was contested between the Tier 2 nations of Canada, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and the United States.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup
Due to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, the tournament took place in July and August with all teams having access to overseas players. Like the 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup, the six teams were divided into two pools, but instead of playing each team from the same pool like in 2014, each team played the three teams from the opposing pool. Following the three rounds of cross pool matches, the six teams were seeded one through to six and played in three final play-offs to determine who finishes first to sixth. The final was contested between Fiji and Samoa, who had previously drawn 30–30 during the Cross-pool matches. Fiji won the final 39–29, scoring 6 tries to claim their second title.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Fixtures
The full match schedule was announced on 19 February 2015.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Fixtures, Finals, 3rd Place play-off
Touch judges:Dudley Phillips (Ireland)Harry Mason  (Canada)Television match official:USA Appt. (United States)


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Fixtures, Finals, 5th Place play-off
Touch judges:Dudley Phillips (Ireland)Harry Mason  (Canada)Television match official:USA Appt. (United States)


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Fixtures, Finals, 1st Place play-off
Touch judges:Alexandre Ruiz (France)Kurt Weaver (United States)Television match official:USA Appt. (United States)


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Squads
Note: Number of caps and players' ages are indicated as of 18 July 2015 – the tournament's opening day, pre first tournament match.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Squads, Canada
Canada's 36-man squad for the 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Squads, Canada
Phil Mack, John Moonlight and Nathan Hirayama were late additions to the squad.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Squads, Canada
Harry Jones and Conor Trainor were added to the squad ahead of the Samoan match.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Squads, Canada
Nanyak Dala and Jake Ilnicki were added to the squad ahead of the United States final match.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Squads, Canada
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Squads, Fiji
On 12 July 2015, Head Coach John McKee announced a 31-man squad for the 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup. * denotes non-traveling reserves.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Squads, Japan
On 29 June 2015, Jones named a 37-man squad for the 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Squads, Samoa
Samoa 30-man squad for the 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Squads, Samoa
Jack Lam was a late call up to the squad.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Squads, Tonga
On the 22 June, head coach Mana Otai announced their 31-man squad for the 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup in Fiji and Canada. Five debutantes join a squad that draws on the experience of 2014's European Test squad, with familiar faces like Nili Latu returning to continue his string leadership role within the team.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Squads, Tonga
Wayne Ngaluafe and Viliami Tahitu'a were called up for the Canada test.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Squads, Tonga
Jack Ram was called up ahead of the USA test.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Squads, United States
United States 32-man squad for the 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Squads, United States
Inaki Basauri, John Cullen, Tom Coolican, Lemoto Filikitonga, Ben Landry, Chad London, Samu Manoa, Tim Maupin, Ronnie McLean, Louis Mulholland, Zachary Pangelinan, Robbie Shaw, Mike Shepherd, Tim Stanfill, Kyle Sumsion, Matt Trouville, Tai Tuisamoa  and Nicholas Wallace were all in the 2015 Rugby World Cup training squad, but was not selected for the final PNC squad.


2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Squads, United States
Tim Stanfill and Nicholas Wallace were added to the main squad ahead of the round 3 clash with Tonga.


2015 World Rugby Tbilisi Cup
The 2015 World Rugby Tbilisi Cup was the third edition of this international rugby union tournament, created by World Rugby. It was played from 13 to 21 June 2015 at the Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi, running alongside the 2015 World Rugby Nations Cup in Romania. The hosts Georgia were joined by 2015 Rugby World Cup counterparts Uruguay, and development sides Emerging Ireland and Emerging Italy.


2015 World Rugby Tbilisi Cup
Emerging Ireland won the tournament with three from three victories, taking the Tbilisi Cup for their first ever time.


2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship
The 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the eighth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised for the second time in Italy by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played in the tournament, with matches hosted by Parma, Viadana, Calvisano and Cremona, host city of the final match. England went into the tournament as the two-time defending champions after they successfully defended their title in the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship (as the tournament was known through 2014). This was the first U20 Championship held after the sport's governing body changed its name from the International Rugby Board to the current World Rugby.


2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship
New Zealand won the title after a 21–16 win against England in the final.


2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship, Venues
The championship was held across four locations. Parma, Viadana and Calvisano hosted pool matches, with the latter two hosting semi-finals for each bracket (teams 1–4, 5–8 and 9–12). Cremona hosted the final and two of the remaining positional play-offs, with Calvisano hosting the others.


2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship, Teams
The following teams participated in the 2015 World Rugby U20 Championship:


2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship, Pool stage
The playing schedule and pools were announced on 25 November 2014.


2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship, Pool stage
Points were awarded in the Pool Stage via the standard points system:


2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship, Pool stage
If at completion of the Pool Stage two or more teams were level on points, the following tiebreakers were applied:


2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship, Pool stage
Pld = matches played, W = matches won, D = draws, L = losses, PF = match points for, PA = match points against, PD = Points difference between match points for and match points against, TF = tries for, TA = tries against, BP = bonus points, Pts = pool points


2015 World Rugby Under 20 Trophy
The 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Trophy was the eighth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, second-tier world championship. A total of 8 nations played in the tournament.


2015 World Rugby Under 20 Trophy
The event was held in Portugal and was organized by rugby's governing body, World Rugby.


2015 World Sambo Championships
The 2015 World Sambo Championships was held in Casablanca, Morocco between the 12 and 16 November 2015. This tournament included competition in both Sambo, and Combat Sambo.


2015 World Senior Curling Championships
The 2015 World Senior Curling Championships was from April 18 to 25 at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi, Russia. The event was held in conjunction with the 2015 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship.


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament
The men's tournament of the 2015 World Senior Curling Championships was held from April 18 to 25 at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi, Russia.


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group A
Skip : Matěj NeznalThird: Richard HobzikSecond: Roman HasenöhrlLead: Vladimír ZelenkaAlternate: Karel Kubeska


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group A
Fourth: Mario BolognaSkip: Danilo CaprioloSecond: Guido BarcoLead: Paolo ProchetAlternate: Silvio Dellaia


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group A
Skip : Viktor KimThird: Almaz SaidvakassovSecond: Roman KazimirchikLead: Nikolay ZhorovAlternate: Iskander Farizov


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group A
Skip : Ansis RegžaThird: Pēteris ŠveisbergsSecond: Aivars PurmalisLead: Aivars GulbisAlternate: Ivars Černajs


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group A
Skip : Gordon MuirheadThird: Norman BrownSecond: David HayLead: Hugh AitkenAlternate: Michael Hay


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group B
Fourth: Poul-Erik NielsenThird: Keld HenriksenSkip: Ole de NeergaardLead: Anders Reck-Magnussen


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group B
Skip : Andras RokusfalvyThird: Zoltán PalancsaSecond: Janos MiklaiLead: Gyorgy KalmarAlternate: Mihaly Veraszro


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group B
Skip : Hans FrauenlobThird: Dan MustapicSecond: Lorne De PapeLead: Iain CraigAlternate: Dave Watt


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group B
Fourth: Kjell BerkThird: Stig Arne GunnestadSecond: Morten TveitSkip: Halvard Kverne


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group B
Skip : Sergey NarudinovThird: Oleg BadilinSecond: Mikhail RivkindLead: Yurly ErdukovAlternate: Aleksander Kolesnikov


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group B
Skip : Anders WesterbergThird: Rickard BergqvistSecond: Claes GunnarsonLead: Lars AhlbergAlternate: Anders Kraupp


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group B
Skip : Ahmet ŞırınkanThird: Rıfat Nazım SaraçoǧluSecond: Öner GülbahçeLead: Ahmet Uǧur Nalcioǧlu


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group C
Skip : Hugh MillikinThird: Wyatt BuckSecond: Tim McMahonLead: Rob GagnonAlternate: John Anderson


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group C
Skip : Kari MeranenThird: Jaakko LemettinenSecond: Ari PitkoLead: Matti VirtaalaAlternate: Kari Kuskelin


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group C
Skip : Pascal AdamThird: Thierry DonardSecond: Christophe WalterLead: Guy UnverzagtAlternate: Gerard Mergy


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group C
Fourth: Henryk SkowronskiSkip: Andrzej JanowskiSecond: Jaroslaw CzepielinskiLead: Piotr SulakAlternate: Witold Rek


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group C
Skip : Stefan SignerThird: Jurg DeneckeSecond: Gerhard KurtLead: Daniel GrunenfelderAlternate: Hans Wirz


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Men's tournament, Teams, Group C
Skip : Lyle SiegThird: Tom VioletteSecond: Ken TraskLead: Steve LundeenAlternate: Duane Rutan


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Women's tournament
The women's tournament of the 2015 World Senior Curling Championships was held from April 18 to 25 at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi, Russia.


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Women's tournament, Teams, Group A
Skip : Ivana KubeškováThird: Veronika NeznalováSecond: Anna CandrováLead: Michaela ČihákováAlternate: Michaela Měchurová


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Women's tournament, Teams, Group A
Skip : Tatiana SmirnovaThird: Irina KolesnikovaSecond: Natalia IlenkovaLead: Liudmila MurovaAlternate: Ekaterina Priemskaja


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Women's tournament, Teams, Group A
Skip : Barbara GibbThird: Carol ScottSecond: Elinor RitchieLead: Margaret ArcherAlternate: Judith Carr


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Women's tournament, Teams, Group A
Skip : Gunilla Arfwidsson EdlundThird: Eva OlofssonSecond: Karin OsterbergLead: Haide StenssonAlternate: Karin Liljegren


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Women's tournament, Teams, Group A
Skip : Susan LimenaThird: Sandra ZimmermannSecond: Monika KehrliLead: Lucy EbnerAlternate: Erika Wohlmann


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Women's tournament, Teams, Group B
Skip : Fiona Grace SimpsonThird: Grazia FerreroSecond: Fulvia TiboldoLead: Vittoria Santini


2015 World Senior Curling Championships – Women's tournament, Teams, Group B
Skip : Norma O'LearyThird: Linda ChristensenSecond: Mary ShieldsLead: Lucy DeVoreAlternate: Shelley Dropkin


2015 World Seniors Championship
The 2015 World Seniors Championship (Known for sponsorship reasons as the Betway World Seniors Championship) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 2–3 March 2015 at the Circus Arena in Blackpool, England.


2015 World Seniors Championship
The Circus Arena played host to the tournament for the first time, having previously being held at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth.