Hou Yifan

Hou Yifan ( ; born 27 February 1994) is a Chinese chess grandmaster and four-times Women's World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, she is the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of grandmaster (at the age of 14 years 6 months 2 days) and the youngest ever to win the Women's World Chess Championship (at age 16).
At the age of 12, Hou became the youngest player ever to participate in the Women's World Championship (Yekaterinburg 2006) and the Chess Olympiad (Torino 2006). In June 2007, she became the youngest Chinese Women's Champion ever. She achieved the titles of Woman FIDE Master in January 2004, Woman Grandmaster in January 2007, and Grandmaster in August 2008. In 2010, she won the 2010 Women's World Championship in Hatay, Turkey at age 16. She won the next three championships in which the title was decided by a match (in 2011, 2013 and 2016, with a total of ten wins to zero losses and 14 draws against three different opponents), but was either eliminated early or declined to participate in the championships in which the title was decided by a knockout tournament (in 2012, 2015 and 2017).
Hou is the third woman ever to be rated among the world's top 100 players, after Maia Chiburdanidze and Judit Polgár. She is widely regarded as the best active female chess player, "leaps and bounds" ahead of her competitors. , she is the No. 1 ranked woman in the world, 72 points ahead of the No. 2 ranked Aleksandra Goryachkina. She was named in the BBC's "100 Women" programme in 2017.
Career.
Hou started playing chess regularly at the age of five, but was already fascinated by the game when she was three years old. Hou's father, Hou Xuejian, a magistrate, often took his young daughter to a bookstore after dinner. He noticed that the little girl liked to stare at glass chess pieces behind the window. He later bought his daughter her first chess set. The three-year-old was able to beat her father and grandmother after a few weeks. In 1999, her father engaged a chess mentor, IM Tong Yuanming, for his five-year-old daughter. Tong later said that Hou was an unusual talent, showing "strong confidence, distinguished memory, calculating ability and fast reaction". Hou herself said that she took up chess because she was fascinated by the pieces.
In 2003, Hou played against the chief coach of the Chinese national men's and women's chess teams, Ye Jiangchuan, for the first time. The chess master was surprised that the nine-year-old could identify almost all of his weak moves. "Then I knew she was an exceptional genius," Ye said. That year, Hou became the youngest member of the national team and won first place at the World Youth Championship for girls under age ten. In June 2007, she became China's youngest ever national champion.
She was admitted to the National Chess Center, an academy for young talented players from all over the country, in Beijing when she was ten, with leading Chinese grandmasters Ye Jiangchuan and Yu Shaoteng as her trainers. In order to better support her chess career, her family relocated to Beijing in 2003. Hou's mother, Wang Qian, a former nurse, accompanies her daughter on the international tournament circuit. Hou was homeschooled and as a teenager listed her interests as reading and studying, and her favorite chess player as Bobby Fischer. Her mother accompanied her to many international tournaments when she was young.
Life outside chess.
Hou has attempted to balance chess with life outside of it. She enrolled in Peking University in 2012, studying International Relations, against the wishes of her trainer. She took a full course load and participated in many extracurricular activities. She was offered a Rhodes Scholarship, and studied for a Masters of Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University. At Oxford, Hou was a member of St. Hilda's College. Compared to the best professional male players who dedicate their lives to chess, Hou's split focus puts her at a disadvantage. These competitors give her credit for what she has achieved in spite of her lack of preparation, and for her life outside of chess. Vladimir Kramnik said: "If she wants to stay the best female player, she can probably do nothing. If she wants to achieve her potential, she must concentrate fully on chess." Hou is aware of this as well, but nonetheless chooses to treat chess as a hobby, not a career. She said in 2018: "I want to be the best, but you also have to have a life."
In 2020, at age 26, Hou became the youngest ever professor at Shenzhen University where she is a professor at the School of Physical Education, which includes chess in its Sports Training Program.
Results.
2003.
Hou Yifan's first major tournament was on 31 August–12 September 2003 at the Chinese Team Chess Championship (Men's) in Tianjin. She scored 3/7 with a 2246 performance rating.
She won her first international tournament when she came first (9½/11; +8 =3 −0, TPR 2121) in the girl's under-10 section of the World Youth Championship in Halkidiki, Greece in October–November 2003. In November, she made her debut in the National Women's Chess Championship, held at Shanwei, Guangdong. She finished in 14th place with 3½/9 with a performance rating of 2202.
2004.
On 1 January 2004, she received her first International FIDE rating of 2168, which automatically qualified her for the title of Woman FIDE Master. In April, she competed at the Chinese Team Chess Championship (Women's) in Jinan, Shandong. She scored 1½/7 (TPR 2096) having faced an average opposition rating (Rc) of 2316.
In November, she finished joint first (with Yu Yangyi, Jules Moussard and Raymond Song) but third on tiebreaks in the boy's under-10 section of the World Youth Championship, held in Heraklio, Crete (9/11; +8 =2 −1; TPR 2119).
At the 11th Asian Women's Championship in Beirut, Lebanon from 4–11 December 2004, she came 11th with a score of 4½/9 (+4 =1 −4; TPR 2278). The event was won by Wang Yu with 6½/9.
2005.
In February, she competed at the 4th Aeroflot Open (Group C) in Moscow, where she scored 2/5(TPR 2111).
In April, she finished fifth with a score of 7/11 (+6 =2 −3) (tied for fourth) at the 3 Arrows Cup 2005 ladies tournament in Jinan, China. In that tournament, she defeated international master Almira Skripchenko and achieved a performance rating of 2393.
From 28 June–6 July at the 2nd China-France Youth Match at Shenzhen, Guangdong, Hou Yifan scored 3/8 (+2 =2 −4, TPR 2324). The Chinese team (Zhou Jianchao, Zhao Jun, Zhao Xue and Hou) won the match 19–13.
In July, at the Festival Open International des Jeunes in Saint-Lô, France, she came second out of 75 players with 6/8(TPR 2305), behind Wen Yang. In 18–29 July at the World Youth Chess Championship in Belfort, France, Hou Yifan, seeded 8th came in 5th in the Boy's Under-12 Section with 8/11 (+5 =6, TPR 2171).
In October, she managed to qualify for the World Women's Chess Championship to be held in March 2006. Despite being rated only 2220 and ranked women's number 28 in her own country, she qualified by winning the Chinese Women's Zonal (3.5) tournament, scoring 6/9 points with a performance rating of 2526 against a rating opposition of 2401, ahead of several better-known Chinese players.
The sixth World Team Chess Championship was staged in Beersheva, Israel from 31 October to 11 November. China fielded two teams – the men's and women's, which was only the second time in the championship history where a women's team competed in what has traditionally been a male team event. This was Hou Yifan's first major team tournament and she was the youngest participant there at 11 years of age.
She played as second reserve and finished with 0/3. The Chinese women's team drew one match and lost all their others (+0 =1 −7) finishing last. The tournament was won by Russia, with China (men's) coming in second and Armenia third.
In December Hou came second at the China Women Selective Tournament in Beijing for the 37th Chess Olympiad to be held in May–June 2006 in Turin, Italy. She scored 16½/28 (TPR 2433) and gained 121 elo-points. She made the Olympiad team with Wang Yu and Shen Yang, the other top finishers.
2006.
Hou reached the third round (the last 16) of the Women's World Chess Championship in March 2006. Despite being rated 2269 and seeded 56th out of 64 players, she defeated IM Nadezhda Kosintseva (rated 2480) of Russia 1½–½ in the first round, then the former 2000 European champion WGM Natalia Zhukova (2432) of Ukraine 2–0 in the 2nd round. She was beaten 0–2 by IM Nino Khurtsidze (2430) of Georgia in the third round to finish with a performance rating of 2504.
In May–June 2006, China came third winning bronze at the 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy. Hou Yifan scored 11/13 (+10, =2, −1), all played on the fourth board, at her Olympiad debut. For her winning percentage of 84.6%, she won a silver medal for fourth (reserve) board performance, and her performance rating of 2596 was the third highest overall.
The Chinese Championships for men and women took place in Wuxi, Jiangsu, 25 June–6 July 2006. Ni Hua took the men's title and Li Ruofan the women's. Hou Yifan came fourth in the women's category V (2369) event with a score of 7/11 (+5 =4 −2) and a performance rating of 2477.
In July–August, she performed badly at what has been traditionally the strongest women's tournament, the North Urals Cup in Krasnoturinsk, Russia. Although seeded third, she failed to win a game scoring 3/9 (+0 =6 −3) with a performance rating of 2357. She finished 8th out of 10 players.
In 10–20 August, she played in the China–Russia Summit Match in Ergun, Inner Mongolia. The tournament was a two double round robin Scheveningen, one for men and one for women (category VIII (2444)). Russia won the men's event 26½–23½ but China won the women's section 28–22, winning the match 51½–48½. Hou Yifan was the highest scoring female player on tiebreak with 6½/10 (+5 =3 −2, TPR 2563).
China and France played for the Trophée MULTICOMS in Paris 4–9 September 2006. This was also a Scheveningen team match with six men and three women in the teams. France edged out China 20–16 in the men's event. The women's section was a complete mismatch in terms of Elo ratings in favour of the Chinese and they confirmed this over the board winning 12½–5½. The overall result was China 28½ France 25½. Hou Yifan was again the highest scoring female player with 5/6 and a performance rating of 2498.
In October in Yerevan, Armenia at the World Junior Chess Championship (Girl's section) despite being only 12 years old, Hou was the top rated girl with a 2481 FIDE Rating and went on to take second place on tiebreak with a score of 9/12 (+6 =4 −2); tied for first on points behind her compatriot Shen Yang. Her rating performance was 2469.
2007.
In January 2007, Hou achieved a respectable fifth place in Group C (Cat. 10, 2486) of the Corus Chess Tournament with a score of 7/13 (+4 =6 −3) and a 2513 performance rating. This result, together with WGM norms she had earned at the 2005 Zonal 3.5 Women's Championship, the 37th Chess Olympiad and the 2006 Chinese Championship (Women's) won her the WGM title, formally conferred by FIDE in late January 2007.
At the Aeroflot Open in February 2007, a few weeks before Hou's 13th birthday, she played in the A1 group for the first time. Hou started well with two wins out of two, defeating first the Russian IM Nikita Vitiugov (rated 2604) and then the 2001 European Champion, GM Emil Sutovsky of Israel (rated 2629). However, in the third round she was defeated by the Russian Championship runnerup, Dmitry Jakovenko, and managed only one draw in her next five games. She rallied in the final round with a victory against the Greek grandmaster, Vasilios Kotronias, and finished with a score of 3½/9(TPR 2540).
In March, at the 1st Ruy Lopez International Festival (cat. XV (2607)) in Zafra, Hou performed badly to finish last with 2/7 (+1 =2 −4). Her performance rating was 2462.
In April, she came in second at the China Women Selective Tournament in Ningbo for the 2007 Asian Indoor Games to be held in October. She scored 8/14 (+6 =4 −4, TPR 2434).
From 1–11 May 2007, at the 8th Russian Team Chess Championship (Women's) in Dagomys, Hou played for "Southern Ural Chelyabinsk" on board one and scored 6½/10 (+5 =3 −2, TPR 2523). At the 1st World Women's Team Chess Championship in Ekaterinburg later that month, Hou was part of the winning China national team that also included Zhao Xue, Ruan Lufei, Shen Yang, and Huang Qian. Hou Yifan played on board two in every round and scored 7½/9 (+7 =1 −1), winning the gold medal for that board. Her performance rating was 2559.
In June 2007, she won her first Chinese Women's Chess Championship in Chongqing. Hou was 13 years old at the time, breaking WGM Qin Kanying's (who was 14 when she won the title in 1988) record as the youngest champion. Hou scored 9/11 (+7 =4 -0, TPR 2585). Second and third place went to Zhao Xue and Shen Yang, respectively.
In July, she improved on the previous year's performance at the North Urals Cup in Krasnoturinsk, finishing in 7th place out of 10 players. She scored 4/9 (+3 =2 −4) with a performance rating of 2436. The tournament was won by Zhu Chen and with Zhao Xue in second place.
In 4–15 August, she competed in what was then her strongest closed tournament – the 5th Győrgy Marx Memorial (Cat. 14, 2582) in Paks, Hungary. Being the lowest rated player and the only non-Grandmaster (out of Pentala Harikrishna, Peter Acs, Csaba Balogh, Ferenc Berkes and Viktor Korchnoi), she finished in last place in the double round robin event with 3/10 (+1 =4 −5; TPR 2444).
At the UK-China Match in Liverpool 3–9 September 2007, China defeated the UK team with a comfortable score of 28–20. Hou played for the men's team and scored 2½/6 (+1 =3 −2) with a performance rating of 2540. The average rating of her opponents (Rc) was 2598.
In late September, she came first at the 2007 Chinese Women's Zonal (3.5) tournament in Tianjin with a score of 8/9 (+7 =2 −0, TPR 2675). In October 2007, she competed at the 12th European Club Cup in Kemer, Turkey for team "Southern Ural Cheliabinsk". Hou played on board two for the team, which finished fourth in the women's tournament. In the individual women's standings, Hou came in fifth with a score of 5/7 (+3 =4 −0) and a performance rating of 2556.
From October 26 to November 3, she competed for Team China at the 2nd Asian Indoor Games in Macau. The national team won team gold in the classic chess mixed team event with 11 match points (18½ game points out of 24). The Chinese team were Zhao Xue, Xu Yuhua, Hou Yifan, Wang Hao, Ni Hua and Bu Xiangzhi. Hou Yifan won an individual gold medal for her board two display with a score of 5½/6 (+5 =1 −0; 91.7%) and a performance rating of 2649.
Hou participated in the 2007 season of the China Chess League, officially known as the "Torch Real Estate Cup Chinese Chess League Division A". She played for "Shandong Qilu Evening News Chess Team", who became the 2007 champions when they defeated the 2006 champion Beijing team, 3½ to 1½.
2008.
In the January Corus 2008 chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Hou competed in Group B where she finished in a tie for 7–10th place (9th by tiebreak) achieving 6/13 (+3 −4 =6) with a performance rating of 2598. She scored victories over three grandmasters, including a 23 move win over former World Champion challenger Nigel Short.
In February 2008, Hou gained her first Grandmaster norm (GM norm) at the Aeroflot Open in Moscow by finishing in 31st place with a score of 4½/9 (+2 =5 −2, TPR 2605). This was followed in March 2008 with a victory at the 1st Atatürk International Women Masters Chess Tournament (cat. IX (2461)) in Istanbul, Turkey where she finished a point ahead of the rest of the field on 7/9 (+5 =4 −0) with a performance rating of 2674. Her victory in this tournament earned her a GM norm conditional on FIDE ratifying then WGM Zhao Xue's attainment of her GM title. Eventually however this GM norm was not used in her official grandmaster title application.
In April 2008, she competed in Mérida, Spain at the 2nd Ruy Lopez Chess Festival tournament. In the category XV (2616) round robin event she finished 7th out of 8 players with 2/7 (+1, =2, −4) and a rating performance of 2467.
Hou competed in the Chinese Chess League again in the 2008 season, which had 18 rounds in six different cities from March to August. Hou's teammates were GM Bu Xiangzhi, GM Zhao Jun, GM Wen Yang, and WGM Zhang Jilin.
In May–June 2008, she became the Chinese Women's Champion for the second consecutive time with 9/11 points (+7 =4 −0) in Beijing and a performance of 2599. At the July 2008 First Saturday GM Tournament in Budapest, Hou was top seed, but came in second place with 9/12, missing a GM norm by half a point. Her performance rating was 2574.
In August 2008 she competed in the World Junior Chess Championship held at Gazientep, Turkey where she competed in the general ("boys'") section for the first time in her career. She was the only girl in this section and was the 16th seed on the entrant's list. Hou finished joint 3rd–7th on 9/13 (+6 =6 −1), achieving a performance rating of 2661 and her second GM norm.
In September 2008, FIDE referred to her as a "GM-elect", indicating that her Atatürk norm had been confirmed.
This meant that Hou Yifan qualified for the grandmaster title in August at the age of 14 years 6 months 2 days, making her one of the youngest grandmasters in history, as well as the youngest female.
In August–September 2008, she competed in her second Women's World Chess Championship at Nalchik, Russia. She had qualified by being one of the six highest rated players from the average of the July 2006–January 2007 period. In this knockout tournament, she was seeded 3rd out of 64 players. She defeated WGM Mona Khaled (Egypt) 2–0 in the first round and WGM Batkhuyagiin Möngöntuul (Mongolia), 2–0 in the second. In third round, she had to go to rapid playoffs to eventually beat IM Elena Sedina (Italy) 3–1 (1–1, 2–0). In the quarterfinals she defeated Armenian IM Lilit Mkrtchian 1½–½, followed by Indian GM Humpy Koneru, the second seed, in the semifinals (4–2 overall, 1–1, 1–1, 2–0). She lost the final to Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia, 2½–1½. Nonetheless she became the youngest ever finalist for the Women's World Championship title, earning an automatic International Master (IM) title and a "runner-up 9-game grandmaster norm", her fourth GM norm overall. Her performance rating for the entire championship was 2536.
Hou participated at the 1st World Mind Sports Games in Beijing from 3–18 October as a member of the Chinese team, winning the bronze medal in the Women's Individual Blitz event, the gold medal in the Mixed Pairs Rapid event (with Ni Hua), the silver medal in the Women's Teams Blitz event, and the gold medal in the Women's Teams Rapid event. In mid-late October, playing board one for team Spartak Vidnoe in the 13th European Club Cup held in Kallithea, Greece she scored 2/4 (+1 −1 =2, TPR 2448) helping her team to a 2nd-place finish. Very shortly thereafter she played in the Cap d'Agde Rapid tournament from 24 October to 1 November, losing to former world champion Anatoly Karpov in a tiebreaker match at the end of the qualifying stage, despite winning the second tiebreak game.
At the 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden from 12 to 25 November, she played at no. 1 board in the Chinese women's team. Although her team did not win a prize, she still placed third in the individual board prize. She played in every round with a final result of 7½/11 (+5, =5, −1, TPR 2563).
At the 79th FIDE Congress, held on 16–26 November 2008 in Dresden, Germany, her GM title was approved making her the 27th Chinese Grandmaster. Her three approved GM norms were:
2009.
Hou Yifan competed in the Grandmaster Group B of the 71st Corus chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee from 16 January to 1 February 2009. She was seeded 12th out of 14 players and finished joint 9th–10th with a performance rating of 2620. Between 7–19 March, she finished third in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix Tournament in Istanbul, scoring 8/11 (+6=4–1, TPR 2649).
From 12 to 23 May, she competed at the 8th Asia Continental Chess Championship at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center, Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Olongapo City, Philippines. She scored 7½/11 with a 2640 performance, finishing 7th out of 86 on tiebreak. By finishing in the top 10 she qualified for the 2009 World Cup.
From 9–15 August 2009 at the Jubilee Open, Zürich, she won the "best female player" prize by coming joint 17th with 6½/9 (+5 −1 =3, TPR 2590). From 19 August to 1 September at the NH Hotels Risings Stars vs Experienced, Amsterdam, she finished with a score of 3½/10 (+1 −4 =5, TPR 2548). She was defeated in the first round at the Chess World Cup 2009, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, 20 November – 15 December 2009.
2010.
In January, she finished with 4½/9 at the Moscow Open. In February, she finished with 4/9 at the Aeroflot Open. In April, she won the third Kuala Lumpur Open 7.5/9 (+6 = 2, TPR 2730). In August she won the 2010 Women's Grand Prix in Mongolia.
In October, she was on board two for Cercle d'Echecs de Monte Carlo in the 15th European Club Cup for Women held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. She helped her team to a gold medal win with a 4.5/6 score (+3 =3, TPR 2651).
In November, she won the women's individual gold medal in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. She finished with 8½/9 and with a performance rating of 2798. She won another gold medal from the women's team event, representing China as the first board, along with her teammates Ju Wenjun, Zhao Xue, Huang Qian and Wang Yu, beating Uzbekistan 2½–1½ in the final.
In December she won the Women's World Chess Championship 2010 in Hatay, Turkey, making her the youngest women's world champion in history. Her compatriot Ruan Lufei was her opponent in the finals. After four games at classical time controls, the score was tied at 2–2, but Hou won the rapid playoffs 3–1 to take the title. Her performance rating was 2585.
2011.
In January 2011 she was due to take part in the Gibraltar Chess Festival, but pulled out because of a family illness. In April, she won the First Women Master Tournament in Wuxi with a 7/9 score (+6 −1 =2, TPR 2639).
In June, she took part in a tournament in India, the AAI International Grandmasters Chess Tournament 2011. She finished with a dismal last place, but in August, she rebounded to win clear first place in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011–2012 tournament in Rostov, Russia. She then went on to win the second Grand Prix stage in Shenzhen in September 2011.
In August, she took part in the Chess World Cup 2011 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. She was one of the two female participants in the 128-player single-elimination tournament. Her opponent for the first round was Sergei Movsesian, to whom she lost 2–0, resulting in her elimination.
In October she played on board one for team Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo in the 16th European Club Cup for women held in Rogaska Slatina, Slovenia. Her top rated team placed a disappointing 4th place, with Hou scoring 4/6 (+4 −2, TPR 2526)
In November Hou successfully defended her women's world champion title in the Women's World Chess Championship 2011 in Tirana, Albania against Koneru Humpy. Hou won 3 games and drew 5 in the ten-game match, winning the title with two games to spare. Her performance rating for the match was 2741.
Beginning December, Hou played in the 2011 SportAccord World Mind Games, held in Beijing, China which consisted of 3 events, rapid, blitz and blindfold. She placed joined 5–7th, 6th on tiebreaks with a 4/7 score (+2 −1 =4) in the rapid portion, but winning both the blitz and the blindfold portions with 11.5/15 (+9 −1 = 5) and 5.5/7 (+5 −1 =1) scores respectively.
Afterwards, Hou played for China in the Women's World Chess Team Championship in Mardin, Turkey. The 5 person team, arranged according to rating, consisted of herself, WGM Ju Wenjun, GM Zhao Xue, WGM Tan Zhongyi and WGM Zhang Xiaowen. China was the clear winner with 16 match points, having lost but one match to Ukraine in the 8th round and winning the rest, ahead of the runner-up Russia by three match points. Georgia grabbed bronze with 12 match points. Hou scored five points from the seven games she played (Wenjun played the first board for Round 1 and Round 2) (+3 = 4, TPR 2648).
2012.
Hou started 2012 by taking equal first place at Tradewise alongside Nigel Short at the Gibraltar Chess Festival scoring 8/10 (+7 −1 =2) with a tournament performance of 2872. She came second on tiebreak when she lost the 2 game blitz playoff against Short by 1.5–0.5. She scored 5/7 against the 7 GMs she played rated 2700 or higher. This included 4 wins against Zoltan Almasi (2717), Judit Polgar (2710) (Polgar's first loss against a female player after 22 years), Lê Quang Liêm (2714) and Alexei Shirov (2710), 2 draws against Michael Adams (2724) and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2747), whilst her only loss came against Krishnan Sasikiran (2700) in a close endgame of Q (with a pawn up) versus R+R with black.
From 6 to 13 March, she played and finished joint 2nd–8th in the 2012 Reykjavik Open 7/9 (+5 =4, TPR 2677). From 27 March to 7 April, she participated in the 2012 China Chess Individual Tournament Group A, the determiner of China's National Champion. She finished joint 7th–9th, 7th by tiebreak. 5/11 (+1 −2 =8; TPR 2560).
From April 13 to April 19, Hou played in the 2012 Bangkok Chess Club open. Seeded third by rating, she finished 14th, 6/9 (+4 −1 = 4; TPR 2500).
From 29 May to 7 June, she played in the 3rd Hainan Danzhou Grand Master Chess Tournament that traditionally showcased the top 10 highest rated Chinese players, although the two highest rated players at the time Wang Hao and Li Chao did not participate. Seeded 6th by rating, Hou finished in 10th and last place with 3/9.
From June 9 to June 22, Hou played in the 4th leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011–2012 held in Kazan, Russia. Coming immediately off the heels of the recently completed Chinese Men's super tournament in Danzhou, she started off slowly with 2 points in the first 5 rounds before closing strongly with 4 wins in the final 6 rounds. She finished joint 3rd–4th. 7/11 (+5 −2 = 4; TPR 2604).
From July 16 to July 19, Hou played in the 5th leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011–2012 held in Jermuk, Armenia. She won the event with a 7/11 score (+4 −1 =6, TPR 2598). This victory added to her victories in Rostov 2011 and Shenzeng 2011 made Hou the winner of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011–2012 and secured for herself the challenger spot for the Women's World Chess Championship 2013.
At the 40th Chess Olympiad held in Istanbul, Turkey from 27 August to 10 September 2012, Hou Yifan led the Chinese women's chess team to a second place, silver medal finish. Hou won the gold medal for individual performance on board 1 with a 2645 TPR, 6.5/9 score (+4, =5). During the competition she was presented with the Caissa Cup, which honors the female player with the best chess results during the year.
From October 8 to October 17, Hou played in the European Chess Club Cup 2012 as a member of team, Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo. She played board 1 with 4.5/6 score (+4 −1 =1, TPR 2609) and her heavily favored team swept the round robin competition with a 7–0 score.
From October 19 to October 27, Hou played in the main even of 16th Univé Hoogeveen Chess Festival as part of the Univé Crown Group, a four player double round robin tournament. The average rating of the participants was 2695, making this a category 18 tournament. Hou finished in last place with a 2/6 score (−2 =4, TPR 2605).
In an interview in Kazan she said that she was going to start studying international relations at Beijing University in September. She said that she was glad China was moving away from its one-child policy, she would have liked to have had a brother or sister, and she knew of women who had been forced to have abortions.
In November 2012 she was knocked out in the second round of the Women's World Chess Championship 2012. As the winner of FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011–2012 she earned the right to challenge the new champion in the Women's World Chess Championship 2013.
During December 12 to 19, Hou concluded the year by participating in the 2012 SportAccord World Mind Games, competing in the 3 disciplines of Rapid, Blitz and Blindfold. In the rapid event, she placed second on tiebreaks with a 5/7 score (+4 −1 =2, TPR 2713). For the blitz event, she placed 7th by tiebreaks with a 7/15 score (+6 −7 =2, TPR 2487). In the blindfold event, she won with a 6/7 score (+6 −1).
2013.
Hou was invited to participate in the 2013 Tata Steel Chess Tournament Grandmaster A group in Wijk aan Zee from 12 to 27 January. This was a Category 20 event, and her first supertournament participation. She was the lowest Elo rated player at 2603 and seeded 14th. She surpassed initial expectations by finishing 11/14 with a 5.5/13 score (+3 −5 =5, TPR 2688) including a draw against then World Champion Viswanathan Anand. She competed in the 2013 China Chess Individual Tournament Group A in Xinghua, China from April 16 to the 27th. She finished in a six-way tie for 4th to 9th place, 4th by tie breaks, with a 5.5/11 score (+3 −3 =5, TPR 2609).
From May 2 to May 16, Hou competed in the 1st leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2013–2014 held in Geneva, Switzerland. She was the highest rated player in the event but finished 8th/9th, including a loss to the Women's World Champion 2012–13, Anna Ushenina. Her score was 5/11 (+3 −4 = 4, TPR 2470).
From 11 to 14 June, she played a four-game match with David Navara for the CEZ Chess Trophy 2013. All four games ended in draws, so the winner would be decided by tie breaks. After each player won with white in the blitz portion, an armageddon game won by Hou, as black, gave her the trophy. Her performance rating for the classical games was 2707.
From June 30 to July 3, Hou was part of the team representing China in the 4th Asian Martial Arts Games held in Incheon, South Korea. She won a gold medal in the classical portion of the event with a 6.5/7 score (+6 =1). In August, she took part in the Chess World Cup 2013 in Tromsø, Norway. She was one of four female participants in the 128-player single-elimination tournament. Her opponent for the first round was Alexei Shirov. After two draws in the classical portion of the match, they proceeded to tiebreaks. Hou won the first rapid game with white and lost the second with black. In the next tiebreaker set she lost both games resulting in her elimination.
As the winner of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011–2012, Hou won the right to challenge Anna Ushenina in a 10-game match for the world title. Scheduled from September 10 to the 27th, the Women's World Chess Championship 2013 was played in Taizhou, Jiangsu, China. She won the match in 7 games with a 5.5–1.5 score (+4 =3, TPR 2730) regaining her championship title.
From 19 to 26 October, Hou played in the European Chess Club Cup 2013 as a member of team, Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo. She played board 1 with 5/6 score (+4 =2, TPR 2736) and for the second year in a row, her team swept the round robin competition with a 7–0 score.
From 12 to 18 December, she played in the SportAccord World Mind Games in the chess discipline. The tournament consisted of three events: rapid, blitz and the basque system. In the rapid event, Hou scored 5/7 (+3 = 4, TPR 2691) capturing the silver medal. In the blitz event, she won the gold medal with a 21.5/30 score (+19 −6 =5, ). Notable was that during the second day of the blitz event, Hou achieved a near perfect 9.5/10 score. In the final event played under the basque system, Hou won the silver medal on tiebreaks with a 7/10 score (+7 −3).
2014.
From 11 to 22 March, Hou competed in the 2014 China Chess Individual Tournament Group A in Xinghua, her birthplace. She again played against the men in the open section rather than in the women's section. She finished in 7th place with a 5.5/11 score (+2 −3 =6, TPR 2558).
From July 14 to July 24, Hou played in the grandmaster section of the prestigious Biel chess tournament. This was a six player category 19 event with an average rating of 2717 with Hou being the lowest rated player. She started with a win over Anish Giri and was tied for second entering the final round and could take joint first place by winning her final game against Pendyala Harikrishna. While she wound up losing the final game, Hou still had a successful tournament, finishing joint 3rd–5th with a 5/10 score (+2 −2 =6, TPR 2734).
From August 1 to August 14, Hou participated in 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromsø, Norway as board one of the top seeded Chinese Women's team. The team rattled off six straight wins before succumbing to the second seeded Russian team with Hou losing her individual game, as black, to Kateryna Lagno. She ended the Olympiad with a 7/9 score (+6 −1 = 2, TPR 2671) leading her team to the silver medal. Her own performance was good enough to receive the silver medal for board one.
Hou is the winner of FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2013–14. From April 8 to April 22, she played in the 4th stage in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. Opening with 3 straight victories, she dominated from start to finish. Several times as white she eschewed her regular 1.e4 opening move and began with 1.c4 and 1.g3. She finished in 1st place with an 8.5/11 score (+6 =5, TPR 2695). From June 18 to July 2, she played in the 5th stage in Lopota, Georgia. Leading from start to finish, she won with a 9/11 score (+7 = 4, TPR 2773), a full two points over her nearest competitors. From August 24 to September 6, she competed in the 6th and final stage in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. She finished joint first with Ju Wenjun with an 8.5/11 score (+6 =5, TPR 2686).
At the final leg, the tournament's official awards, Big and Small Cups of Grand Prix, designed and manufactured by the Lobortas Classic Jewelry House, were presented. As the winner of the 2013–2014 Grand Prix Series, Hou Yifan was solemnly awarded the Small Cup during the official closing ceremony of the tournament.
During September 13 to 21, she competed at the 18th European Club Cup held in Bilbao, Spain. Once again she was the top board for Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo winning the individual gold medal for her performance 5/6 (+4 =2, TPR 2749) while leading her team to a second-place finish.
With the postponement of the Women's World Chess Championship 2014 she played in the Corsican Chess Circuit in October and won, beating Sergey Fedorchuk in the final. This has been described as the most important tournament yet to be won by a female player other than Judit Polgar.
From December 11 to 18, Hou played in the 2014 SportAccord World Mind Games held in Beijing, China. The Mind Games consists of separate tournaments in 3 disciplines: rapid, blitz and basque. In the rapid event, she placed second capturing the silver medal, losing only to Valentina Gunina, the eventual event winner. Her performance was 5/7 (+4 −1 = 3, rapid TPR 2672). She won the gold medal in the blitz event with a 22.5/30 score (+20 −5 = 5, TPR 2718). Especially noteworthy in her blitz tournament was her performance pushed her official blitz rating to 2704, making her the second female player to cross the 2700 barrier in any rating format. In the final basque system event, Hou took home another gold medal with an 8.5/10 score (+7 =3).
When Hou turned twenty one in 2015 she lost her junior status. She ended the year, and her junior playing career, as the reigning Women's World Chess Champion, the 2nd highest rated female player, the highest rated girl, the 4th highest rated junior and the 71st highest overall rated active player with a FIDE rating of 2673.
2015.
Hou once again played in the 2015 edition of Tata Steel Chess Tournament held from January 15 to 25. She was the 12th seed out of 14 total participants in the Category 20 Master group and finished 11th with a 5/13 score(+1 −4 = 8, TPR 2670). While she performed approximately according to her rating, Hou had winning chances in a few of her games and even missed a drawing chance against world champion Magnus Carlsen after defending a difficult position as black for most of the game.
Shortly after, she returned to the scene of her greatest chess tournament triumph, the Gibraltar Chess Festival 2015 held from January 27 to February 4. Seeded 13th by rating, she placed joint 3rd–11th, 3rd by performance with a 7.5/10 score (+5 =5, TPR 2772) pushing her FIDE rating to 2686. She also won the 1st place prize for being the highest scoring female player. Her excellent performance in this event resulted in her rating surpassing Judit Polgár's classic rating for the first time in the March 2015 FIDE rating list, ending Polgár's 26 consecutive years reign as the top rated female player in the world. For the first time since Maia Chiburdanidze in January 1989 a single individual was both the top rated woman player and the reigning Women's World Chess Champion.
She played in the Hawaii Grandmaster Challenge 2015 in March, a two-day four player quadruple blitz and rapid round robin event. She began the first day with a 3.5/6 score before crushing her opponents the second day with five straight wins and a draw in the final game easily winning the event with a 9/12 score. Since this event conflicted with the Women's World Chess Championship 2015 she relinquished her title to Mariya Muzychuk at the conclusion of the Championship.
Hou played in the Nakhchivan Open 2015 in from May 1 to the 11th. Seeded 3rd by rating, she finished in a nine-way tie for joint 4th–12th with a 6/9 score (+5 −2 =2, TPR 2581).
She played in the 2015 edition of Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting which ran from June 27 to July 5. With an average rating of 2724, it qualified as a Category 20 supertournament. Hou finished in joint 7th/8th with a 2.5/7 score (−2 =5, TPR 2629)
Hou has been chosen as the first FIDE Presidential nominee for Chess World Cup 2015 held in Baku from September 10 to October 5. She made it past the first round of a World Cup for the first time in her career before losing in the second round 1.5–2.5 to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov after the 1st set of rapid tiebreaks. Her performance rating was 2685 for the event.
From October 2 to October 15, Hou competed in the 1st leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2015–16 held in Monte Carlo, Monaco. She started the event slowly, with a 2.5/4 score going into the first rest day. This included a loss to rival Humpy Koneru before stringing together a streak of six wins, winning the tournament with one round to spare. Her final score was 9/11 (+8 −1 = 2, TPR 2766).
She participated in an exhibition match against Parimarjan Negi held in the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis from November 12 to the 15th. The four-day event showcased a different chess variant each day: Basque Chess, Rapid Chess960, Rapid Chess and Blitz Chess with each game played counting for 1 point in determining the winner. Hou easily won the match: 0–2 in Basque, 3.5–0.5 in Chess960, 3–1 in Rapid Chess, and 4.5–3.5 in Blitz with a total score of 11–7.
As part of the joint Russian-Chinese Match of Friendship chess festival held from December 13 to 15 held in Shanghai, China, Hou participated in an exhibition match with the GM Evgeniy Najer the 2015 European Champion. Playing a series of rapid and blitz games, she won quite convincingly with a 9.5 to 4.5 score.
In the last chess event of the year, the 2nd edition of the 2015 Qatar Masters Open held from December 19 to the 30th in Doha, Qatar, Hou was the 22nd highest rated player in the tournament but finished in 38th place with a 5.5/9 score (+3 −1 =5, TPR 2591). The result was still good enough to win the top women's prize by a full point.
2016.
For the third time, Hou competed in the top group of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament held from January 15 to 31. This year she was seeded 13th out of 14 participants in this Category 20 event. She started strongly, going +1 in her first six games before faltering with four losses in the following five games. She placed 12th with a 5/13 score(+1 −4 = 8, TPR 2672).
In early February, Hou played and won in a four-game match against Cristobal Henriquez Villagra in Punta Arenas. Billed as a Bicontinental Chess Match, it was scheduled to be played in two locations, but due to inclement weather, they were unable to play in Antarctica. She won the match with a 2.5–1.5 score(+2 −1 =1, TPR 2584).
Qualifying for the Women's World Chess Championship 2016, in March, as the winner of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2013–14, she reclaimed the World Championship title from Mariya Muzychuk in Lviv, Ukraine with a 6–3 score (+3 =6, TPR 2685).
From March 23–26 Hou played in a four player 3 round classical/3 round rapid robin tournament to determine the qualifier for the 4th edition of Norway Chess. She finished in 3rd place with a 1/3 score (−1 =2, TPR 2531) in the classical portion and 2/1 score (+2 −1, TPR 2716) in the rapid portion.
In May, Hou dropped out of the current Women's World Championship cycle, effectively relinquishing the crown. She explained her reasons in a Chessbase interview, mainly objecting to the format wherein the Women's World Champion is decided alternately by a knockout tournament and then a match. She also expressed her willingness to participate in the cycle if the format were amended to mirror that of the World Chess Championship.
She played in the Vugar Gashimov Memorial, a category 20 tournament held in, Shamkir Azerbaijan, from May 26 to June 4. She was the ninth seed out of ten participants and finished in last place with a 2.5/10 score (−4 = 5, TPR 2578)
Hou played in the Eurasian Blitz Cup from June 17–20 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Seeded 17th on the strength of her 2704 blitz rating, she came in 29th place with a 12.5/22 score (+10 −7 = 5, TPR 2650). Among the female competitors, while having a superior performance rating, she came in second to Harika Dronavalli on tiebreaks.
2017.
At the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, Hou finished with a score of 6/10 (the tournament was won by Hikaru Nakamura). Her round 7 win against the French master Borya Ider, in which she made an early positional sacrifice of queen for two minor pieces, was described as "truly astonishing" by organizer and chess journalist John Saunders. In the final round, she appeared to throw her game against Indian Grandmaster Lalith Babu, playing a ridiculous opening and resigning after 5 moves. She later explained that she was upset about being paired against other female players in 7 of her 9 previous games of a Swiss system tournament, however tournament organizer Brian Callaghan said the pairings were simply the result of a computer program.
Hou Yifan was one of 24 players selected to play in the FIDE Grand Prix 2017, a qualification stage for the World Chess Championship 2018. She reached position 17 in the final standings, and thus was not able to qualify for the Championship.
She declined to defend her title at the Women's World Chess Championship 2017, and as a result forfeited her title.
In April she participated at the Grenke Classic at Baden-Baden. She finished 5th out of eight players, beating Fabiano Caruana and drawing against Magnus Carlsen after having come close to winning.
In June she re-entered the top 100 players, as world no. 85.
In August, she was clear first at the Category 16 50th Biel Chess Festival with 6.5/9 points (+5 −1 =3, TPR 2810).
In September she competed in the Chess World Cup 2017, where she went out in a second round tiebreak to Levon Aronian, the eventual winner.
2018.
In January she competed in the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee as the only woman in the field of 14 players, placing last with a score of 2.5/13 (+0−8=5).
From 31 March to 9 April, she participated in the 5th Grenke Chess Classic. She finished equal 8th–9th out of ten with a score of 3½/9 (+0 –2 =7).
2019.
In December, she won the 2019 Belt and Road World Chess Woman Summit with 5/7 points.
Rating.
Rated 2686 in the March 2015 FIDE rating list, Hou was the world no. 59 player and world no. 1 woman player (overtaking the recently retired Judit Polgár's rating for the first time). On 1 July 2006, she was the youngest ever player to enter the Top 50 Women (Number 8) and Top 20 Girls (Number 2) FIDE lists at age of 12 (rated 2488), since FIDE began releasing these lists in 2000.
Between the April 2006 and July 2006 FIDE rating lists, she gained an impressive 190 rating points from a rating of 2298 to a rating of 2488, which made her the eighth highest rated female player, and the second highest rated girl, in the world.
Four-time winner of the honorary Caissa Cup as the best female player of the year (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014). Chess Award of Caissa, designed and executed by artisans of the Lobortas Classic Jewelry House, was solemnly presented at the 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul on September 2, 2012 during a meeting of the Commission for Women's Chess with the participation of Susan Polgar chairing the commission.
Openings.
Hou Yifan primarily plays 1.e4 as [[White and Black in chess|White]]. As Black, she usually plays the [[Sicilian Defence]] (including the [[Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation|Najdorf]] and [[Sicilian Defence, Dragon Variation|Dragon]] variations) as well as the [[French Defence]] against 1.e4, while against 1.d4 she plays the [[Nimzo-Indian]], [[Bogo-Indian Defence|Bogo-Indian]] and [[Queen's Indian]] defences.
Notable games.
On 25 January 2008, Hou as Black beat GM [[Gabriel Sargissian]] (2676) of Armenia, longtime second of [[Levon Aronian]], in the [[Corus chess tournament|Corus (Group B) tournament]], [[Wijk aan Zee]], Netherlands:
Views.
Male-female skill gap at the top-level.
Yifan claimed that there are many reasons for the lack of female contenders at the chess top-level. She says there is a physical aspect to long chess games that might advantage men, and that men generally work harder at chess than women growing up. She uses Chinese girls as an example and points out that most prefer a balanced life, prioritizing things like university and family life at the cost of working on chess. But she claims there are also external factors: girls playing chess growing up are only encouraged to compete for the girl's title, which might lower their motivation.
External links.
[[Category:1994 births]]
[[Category:Asian Games gold medalists for China]]
[[Category:Asian Games medalists in chess]]
[[Category:Chess grandmasters]]
[[Category:Chess players at the 2010 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Chess players from Jiangsu]]
[[Category:Chess woman grandmasters]]
[[Category:Chinese female chess players]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Peking University alumni]]
[[Category:High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China alumni]]
[[Category:People from Taizhou, Jiangsu]]
[[Category:Women's world chess champions]]
[[Category:World Youth Chess Champions]]
[[Category:BBC 100 Women]]
[[Category:Chinese Rhodes Scholars]]
[[Category:Shenzhen University faculty]]


Shahar Perkiss

Shahar Perkiss (born October 14, 1962) is an Israeli right-handed former professional tennis player. He reached his best singles ranking of world # 53 in March 1985. He peaked at world # 54 in the doubles rankings in November 1985.
Early life.
Perkiss was born in Haifa, Israel, and is Jewish.
Tennis career.
A year after first picking up a tennis racket, Perkiss ranked No. 1 in Israel in the age 10 and under ranks. Perkiss trained at Israel Tennis Centers.
He reached his highest singles ATP ranking on March 4, 1985, when he became the # 53 player in the world.
In 1982 in Houston he reeled off three upsets in a row, beating world No. 27 Ramesh Krishnan, No. 37 Terry Moor, and No. 36 Mark Dickson. In August 1984 he defeated world No. 9 Aaron Krickstein in straight sets in Cincinnati. In 1986 he beat world # 10 Thierry Tulasne of France, 6–7, 6–2 6–4, in Kitzbuhel, Austria. In 1987, he and Gilad Bloom won the ATP doubles title in Tel Aviv.
Davis Cup.
He played 31 Davis Cup matches for Israel between 1981 and 1992, winning 18 of them, including 11 of 13 on hard courts.
Olympics.
He represented Israel as a qualifier at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. There, he was defeated in the first round by Javier Frana from Argentina.
Israel Tennis Association.
In 2005, he became the CEO of the Israel Tennis Association.


Yoram Kochavy

Yoram Kochavy יורם כוכבי; born November 19, 1962) is an Israeli former Olympic swimmer.
Early life and education.
Kochavy was born in Israel, and is Jewish. In 1981 he attended the University of Georgia, and competed for the university in swimming. He attended University of Denver, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Psychology in 1986, and a Master of Science in Computer Science in 1987.
Swimming career.
At the 1981 Maccabiah Games, Kochavy won a silver medal and two bronze medals.
When he competed in the Olympics, he was 5-7.5 (172 cm) tall and weighed 148 lbs (67 kg).
Kochavy competed for Israel at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, in swimming at the age of 21. Swimming in the Men's 400 metre Individual Medley he came in 16th with times of 4:35.70 in Round One and 4:40.00 in the B Final, competing in the Men's 200 metre Butterfly he came in 22nd with a time of 2:04.08, and swimming in the Men's 200 metre Individual Medley he came in 27th with a time of 2:11.81.
At the 1985 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, swimming for University of Denver, Kochavy won gold medals in both the 200 (in 1:54.04) and 400 yard (in 4:02.63) Individual Medleys and the 200 yard Butterfly, and was the NAIA High Point Award Winner. His three titles that year still stand as a tie for the existing NAIA record for most individual swimming titles in a year. That year he also set the record of the university in the 200 individual medley, which still stands, of 1:54.05, and set a record in the 400 individual medley which stood until 2001. At the 1986 NAIA Championships, he again won the 200 yard Individual Medley (in 1:55.09).


Harvey Wilson

Harvey Wilson (born 9 December 1949) is a New Zealand equestrian. He competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1992 Summer Olympics.


2005 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0

The 2005 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season was the fifteenth Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season. The season began at Zolder on 30 April and finished at Monza on 22 October, after sixteen races.
Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi scored six victories at Bugatti Circuit, Oschersleben, Donington Park, Estoril and Monza during the season, he took the championship at the wheel of his Prema Powerteam-run car. Red Bull-backed driver Michael Ammermüller who competed with Jenzer Motorsport was the only Koboyashi's rival for championship title was not resolved until the final round, and Ammermüller finished in series' standings just eight points behind Japanese driver, winning races at Zolder, Valencia, Bilbao and Oschersleben. SG Formula's Yann Clairay amassed three wins on his way to third place in the series standings. Motopark Academy's Filipe Albuquerque completed the top five, despite missing Le Mans round.
Championship standings.
Drivers.
Points are awarded to the drivers as follows:


2006 World Indoor Bowls Championship

The 2006 Potters Holidays World Indoor Bowls Championship was held at Potters Leisure Resort, Hopton on Sea, Great Yarmouth, England, in 2006. The event was sponsored by Potters Holidays.


Gideon Meitlis

Gideon Meitlis was an Israeli footballer who played for a whole decade in Maccabi Netanya.


David Borthwick (shinty player)

David Borthwick (born 1962) is a shinty player from Kingussie, Scotland. As a player for Kingussie, he is the most decorated player in the history of the sport, having won 15 Camanachd Cup winner's medals and over 100 medals in all. He retired from the sport in July 2010 after 33 years at the top-level of the sport.
He is a member of the Borthwick family which is synonymous with the Kingussie shinty team. He played alongside his brother Stephen, with whom he shares the record for Camanchd medals and 5 Borthwicks played in the 1999 final against Oban Camanachd.
He made his debut for Kingussie in October 1977 against Beauly. He holds the record number of appearances for Kingussie, has the all-time record for the number of league winners medals, holds the record number of MacTavish Cup Final appearances, broke the record for Camanachd Cup winners medals in 2002 (along with his brother Stephen and Ali Dallas), he was a winning Camanachd Cup captain in 2001, and was never on the losing side in six international appearances.
On his retirement in July 2010 after a Friday night reserve game with Fort William he was given a standing ovation. His son, Thomas, has emerged into the Kingussie first team in recent years. Borthwick may join his brother Stephen in a management role in future.


India Open (table tennis)

The India Open is a table tennis tournament held in India. It featured on the ITTF World Tour schedule in 2017.
History.
The India Open was first included on the ITTF Pro Tour schedule in 2007, and featured again in 2009 and 2010.
In August 2016 it was announced that the India Open would make its return as part of the revamped ITTF World Tour schedule in 2017. This was the first time the event had been included on the tour since it was rebranded as the ITTF World Tour in 2012. In May 2017, the India Open was not included on the schedule announced for the 2018 tour.
Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov is the most successful player in the tournament's history, having won the men's singles title in 2010 and 2017.


Ellen Schulten-Baumer

Ellen Schulten-Baumer (born 22 March 1979) is a German dressage rider who competed at the 2007 and 2009 European Championships where she won team silver and bronze. She competed also at the 2006 World Cup Finals in Amsterdam and was selected for the 2008 Olympic Games to represent Germany but she had to withdraw because of an injury of her horse Donatha S.
Ellen's stepfather is the legendary dressage rider and trainer Uwe Schulten-Baumer who represented Germany and West-Germany during several World and European Championships. He won double gold at the World Equestrian Games and six times gold during the European Championships. He also coached former Olympic champions Isabell Werth and Nicole Uphoff.


Samuel Schieff

Samuel Schieff is a male former Polish and Israeli international table tennis player.
He won a bronze medal at the 1936 World Table Tennis Championships in the Swaythling Cup (men's team event) with Alojzy Ehrlich and Shimcha Finkelstein for Poland.
He was ranked Polish number one in the mid-1930s. He was of Jewish origin and following the war represented Israel, alongside his former teammate Finkelstein in the World Championships.


Michael Norton (skier)

Michael Joseph Norton, (22 April 1964 – 22 August 1996) was an Australian Paralympic alpine skier. As a paraplegic sit skier, he won two gold medals at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Paralympics.
Personal.
Norton grew up on a dairy farm in Leongatha, Victoria. He attended Leongatha High School and left in year four. In February 1984, on the way home from work on his motorbike, he hit a rock and came off the bike near Foster in South Gippsland and became paralysed. At the time of the accident, he was an electrician. Prior to the accident, he was involved in rock climbing and white-water kayaking. After the accident, he completed his high school certificate and started an engineering degree. He ceased the degree, due to having an operation.
Norton established a ski school at Mount Buller for disabled people. His first student was champion Australian wheelchair tennis player Daniela Di Toro. Norton pushed his wheelchair from Melbourne to Mount Buller to raise funds to purchase specialised equipment. He frequently appeared on television to raise the profile of disability sport and to raise funds.
Norton was found dead on 22 August 1996 in his home in the Melbourne suburb of Middle Park. Graeme Johnstone, the Victorian Coroner, found that he had died of a heroin overdose. The coroner also stated there was no evidence that Norton was a long-term user of heroin or other illicit drugs. Family and friends were dissatisfied by the police investigation, which took place eight weeks after his death. The coroner's findings were based on this investigation. Norton was buried in Leongatha.
Career.
After the accident, he turned to wheelchair racing and in February 1986 won the Australian championships in Adelaide. However, he found himself alienated in track athletics because he was pushing a wheelchair as opposed to running. In 1987, he was taught to ski by George MacPherson, one of the founders of sit skiing in Australia. He enjoyed skiing as it took him to places he couldn't get to in a wheelchair. In 1988, ski coach Dean Sheppard invited him to Canada for ski racing. This was followed by his appearance at the 1990 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Winter Park, Colorado.
At the 1992 Tignes-Albertville Winter Paralympics, he won a bronze medal in the Men's Slalom LW11 event. During training in the days preceding the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Paralympics, he had a crash that resulted in him being unconscious. Despite the crash, he went on to win two gold medals in the Men's Slalom LWXI and Men's Super-G LWXI events, for which he received a Medal of the Order of Australia. . Between 1989 and 1994, he won numerous slalom and giant slalom events in Europe and North America.
He was an Australian Institute of Sport Athlete with a Disability scholarship holder in 1995. Also, he was a Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship holder. In 1994, he was awarded the Australian Skier of the Year.
Advocacy.
He was a strong advocate for people with a disability. He came out strongly against Australian sport administrator Arthur Tunstall who stated that it was embarrassing to have disabled athletes at the 1994 Commonwealth Games. Norton stated "It's obvious he doesn't know how much disabled people wanted to get to the Games. I mean, they're breaking their backs to get there."


2006 International Rally Challenge

The 2006 International Rally Challenge was the inaugural season of the rallying series, which was renamed to the Intercontinental Rally Challenge for 2007 onwards. The season consisted of four rounds and began on May 26, with the Zulu Rally South Africa. The season ended on September 16 with the Rally Sanremo. Giandomenico Basso won the title with Fiat Grande Punto Abarth S2000 ahead of Alister McRae and Paolo Andreucci.


25 Hours of Thunderhill

The 25 Hours of Thunderhill is an endurance racing event held annually during the first weekend in December in Northern California, at the Thunderhill Raceway Park; just outside the small town of Willows.
It has been run since 2003, sanctioned by the National Auto Sport Association.
It is the successor to the Timex 12 Hours of Thunderhill event run between 1998 and 2002.
The longest closed course road race in the U.S.A.


Irish Baseball League

The Irish Baseball League (IBL) is the men's league in Ireland. It started play in 1997 and continues to this day. The season runs from March to October and are played on the weekends.
Club sides and fields.
The O'Malley Fields at Corkagh Park in Clondalkin, West Dublin are the main home of Irish Baseball and current home field for the Dublin City Hurricanes and the Dublin Spartans. The Greystones Mariners play at Shanganagh Park in Shankill, County Dublin. The Ashbourne Baseball Club plays at the International Baseball Centre in Ashbourne, County Meath. The Belfast Northstars and the Ulster Buccaneers currently play at Hydebank. Comets play out of the Peace Link in Clones, Co. Monaghan. The Cork City Cosmos play at the Cork Showgrounds, in Cork, County Cork
For the 2020 season the following teams are participating at the associated venues:


Uwe Schulten-Baumer

Uwe Schulten-Baumer (14 January 1926 – 28 October 2014), nicknamed "Der Doktor" (The Doctor), was a German show jumping and dressage rider who became an internationally famous dressage trainer and coach who worked with Nicole Uphoff and Isabell Werth, who won 4 and 5, respectively, Olympic gold medals in individual and team dressage.
Early life.
Schulten-Baumer was born in Kettwig, Essen, Germany. The son of a farmer, he became interested in horses early in life. He helped groom horses at a riding academy across from his school, later he learned to ride there. During his military service he was in the navy, and on Saturdays he would ride the commander's horses. After World War II, he rode the horse Senta at the international show jumping competition CHIO Aachen in 1952. Later he acquired the gelding Glückspiel from noted dressage trainer Fritz Tempelmann. Riding Glückspiel, Schulten-Baumer focused solely on dressage and began to train other riders.
Career.
Schulten-Baumer worked as a manager in the steel and cement industry, and was a member of the board of the "Roheisen-Verband" (Pig iron association). Due to these commitments, he decided to concentrate on training horses and dressage riders rather than participate in competition himself. Among his first students were his son Uwe and his daughter Alexa, as well as Margit Otto-Crépin and Italian rider Pia Lau.
Beginning in 1986, he began to work with Nicole Uphoff, and a year later she first won a Grand Prix Spécial in Lausanne, with Rembrandt. Several national and international awards followed. In 1986 he also began to coach Isabell Werth, whom he asked to ride his own horses, including Gigolo FRH, The collaboration lasted until 2001, when Werth left to work with another trainer. Werth, however, continued to identify Schulten-Baumer as one of the most significant influences on her career. Part of the reason for the split was linked to "problems" between Werth and Ellen Schulten-Baumer, his stepdaughter, who thereafter took over the training of two horses previously assigned to Werth. Ellen Schulten-Baumer went on to compete in the European Dressage Championships in both 2007 and 2009.
He also helped develop and train a number of promising young dressage horses, including Gigolo FRH whom he purchased in 1989 and was successfully shown by Werth to four gold and two silver Olympic medals. Schulten-Baumer owned the horse until its death in 2009. He also developed and promoted the horse Satchmo, which he purchased as a two-year-old.
Awards.
The Deutsche Reiterliche Vereinigung (German Equestrian Federation), a member of the International Federation for Equestrian Sports, awarded him the title "Reitmeister" (Riding Master) on 28 August 2005, a title given in recognition of exceptional achievements. Other awards included the 1974 Grand Medal of the Pferdesportverband Rheinland (Equestrian Association of the Rhineland, PSVR), the 1981 Silver Plaque for Exceptional Achievement in equestrian sport, and 1988 St. Georgs-Plakette (Badge of St. George's) from the PSVR. In 1992 and 1997 he was proclaimed Trainer of the Year by the International Dressage Trainers' Club (IDTC). At the 2005 CHIO Aachen he was awarded the "Silbernes Pferd" (Silver Horse) for his lifetime achievement and the German Rider's Cross in Gold. In 2007, he won the P.S.I. Award in recognition of his work selecting and training talented young horses for dressage and show jumping. In 2009, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Twice, in 1999 and 2002, he won the Otto-Lörke-Preis of the Deutsches Olympiade-Komitee für Reiterei for the most successful rising young Grand Prix horse of the year.
Rollkur.
Schulten-Baumer is considered by some to be the inventor of the controversial "deep and round" training method known as Rollkur, or hyperflexion. However, both proponents and opponents of Rollkur have disagreed on this point. Sjef Janssen, the Dutch national team dressage coach and spouse of Anky van Grunsven, both known for their use of Rollkur, stated that the Rollkur system Janssen created was "totally different" from the training techniques of Schulten-Baumer. German Olympic team member Klaus Balkenhol, now dressage coach for the United States Equestrian Team and opponent of Rollkur training, also stated: "There were horses in Germany, which have been set low, for example, those from the training of Dr. Schulten-Baumer, but there was always the stretching and relaxation in the forehand. But what Sjef Janssen did in recent years, was something else."


Cursus (classical)

The Latin word 'cursus' can be generally translated into English as 'course'. The word derives from "currere", to run. It may be applied, for example, to a course of study or of medical treatment or to a race-course.
Roman race-course..
At its simplest, the Roman race-course took the form of two posts; each called a "discrimen" or a "meta", round which the runners, whether on foot, on horses or in chariots, raced. The normal arrangement was more formalised as two straights, separated by a "spina" but very close to each other and with a very tight turn at each turning point. It was the similarity in appearance of this Roman "cursus" to the Neolithic archaeological feature which led 18th century antiquarians to use the same name for the latter.
This combination of straight and tight turn combined the thrills of speed on the straights with those of danger as collisions and falls were likely on the turns.
The distinction between a "cursus" and a "circus" in connection with racing is not wholly clear. Compare the description above with that of the Circus Maximus.


2002 SCCA ProRally season

The 2002 SCCA ProRally Season was the 30th season of the SCCA ProRally and won by Manxman David Higgins, who beat elder brother Mark, and title defender Mark Lovell in a British 1-2-3. Ten rounds were held from January 2002 to October 2002. The co-driver title went to Lovell's co-driver Steve Turvey because David Higgins had Calvin Cooledge, Chris Patterson and Daniel Barritt whilst Mark Higgins had Michael Gibson, Claire Mole and Bryan Thomas and Turvey scored more points.
The manufacturer's title went to Hyundai.
External links.
2002 Results at rallyracingnews.com


University of Toronto Rowing Club

The University of Toronto Rowing Club (UTRC) was founded on February 10, 1897 and represents the Varsity Blues at local and international regattas. It is the oldest university rowing club in Canada.
The UTRC consists of both a women's team and a men's team, and each team offers a lightweight and an open (heavyweight) category. Membership is exclusively available to registered full-time students at the University of Toronto, and it is open to athletes of various of experience from novice to Olympic level rowers.
The club colours are blue and white, as are the colours of all other Varsity sports teams at the University.
Competitions.
The club participates in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference in the Novice, Junior Varsity and Varsity levels of competition. Although UTRC competes at regattas and competitions from September until May, the OUA fall season is the primary focus. Regattas and competitions that UTRC attend annually include:


Swedish Open (table tennis)

The Swedish Open, also known as the Swedish Open Championships (SOC), is an annual table tennis tournament in Sweden, run by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). It is currently part of the ITTF World Tour.
History.
The tournament was first held in 1954, and has featured on the ITTF World Tour's schedule frequently since the tour's inception in 1996, including every year since 2011.
China's Fan Zhendong and Wang Liqin jointly hold the record for most men's singles tournament wins, with three. Agnes Simon holds the record for the most women's singles tournament wins, with four, representing the Netherlands for her first title and West Germany for the other three.
In August 2016, it was announced by the ITTF that Stockholm has been chosen as one of six cities to host a regular World Tour event in the revamped 2017 schedule. This is the equivalent of the Major Series status that the tournament currently holds, with "Platinum" events replacing the Super Series as the tour's top tier.


Gerard de Kruijff

Gerard Pieter de Kruijff (27 January 1890 in Buren – 16 October 1968 in Deventer) was a Dutch horse rider who competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics and in the 1928 Summer Olympics.
In the 1924 Summer Olympics he won the gold medal in the team three-day event and placed thirteenth in the individual three-day event. Four years later he won again the gold medals in the team three-day event and in the individual three-day event he won the silver medal. In Amsterdam he also competed in the jumping events. In the individual jumping he finished in 27th place and the Dutch team placed tenth in the team jumping competition.


Out of Place

Out of Place is a surfing documentary directed by Scott Ditzenberger and Darrin McDonald that follows the lives of several lake surfers in Cleveland, Ohio. While Lake Erie does not offer the quality of waves they would prefer, business commitments, family, and friends keep them from moving. As the best waves occur in the winter, the surfers often experience freezing conditions including during a snow bound Great Lakes Eastern Surfing Association competition featured in the film.
Production.
Production for the film began in the fall of 2001 and wrapped in the summer of 2009. The project began as an idea Scott Ditzenberger had to film his friends surfing in Lake Erie. It wasn't until he discussed the subject with Darrin McDonald, a PBS producer, and Tom Heinrich that Out Of Place became a serious film project. In 2007, Kurt Vincent began editing the film. Vincent happened to be sharing a house with Robby Staebler of The Barn Owls, leading to The Barn Owls involvement in the film's soundtrack.
Unlike many surf genre films Out Of Place was entirely independently financed and produced.
Film Festivals.
Out of Place opened at the New York Surf Film Festival in September 2009 where it won the Viewers’ Choice Award for Best Feature. It has also screened at the 25th Santa Barbara International Film Festival the Cleveland International Film Festival, the 2010 Taranaki Surf Film Festival in New Zealand and the 2010 Lighthouse International Film Festival in Long Beach Island, New Jersey. In July 2010, the film will be screening in Hawaii for the first time at the Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Academy of Art as part of its 2010 surf film festival at the theatre. It has also been screened at an April 2010 benefit for the Surfrider Foundation in New York City.
Soundtrack.
The movie features songs from several artists including The Barn Owls, Colin Wilson, The Dreadful Yawns, Gabe Schray, Great Lake Swimmers, Neil Turk, The All Golden, Celebrity Pilots and This Moment in Black History. The Barn Owls, a Columbus, Ohio psychedelic rock duo featuring Robby and Jason Staebler, contributed original music for the film's soundtrack.
The soundtrack was released in March 2010 on Actual Archives, the record label based in Akron, Ohio. The soundtrack artwork was designed by Cleveland-based graphic designer Trevor Marzella.
Cast.
In alphabetical order:


Penny Cula-Reid

Penny Cula-Reid (born 2 February 1988) is an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the AFL Women's competition.
Prior to being signed for the national competition, she was a multiple premiership player in the Victorian Women's Football League and club captain for the St Kilda Sharks; she also represented Victoria at the under 19 national championships. She has also played cricket in the Victorian second XI and gridiron with the Victorian Maidens in the Lingerie Football League.
Cula-Reid was a member of the Australia women's international rules football team that played against Ireland in the 2006 Ladies' International Rules Series.
She was involved in a sex discrimination case when she and two other girls challenged the Moorabbin Saints Junior Football League and Football Victoria Ltd's rules that forbid girls from playing in mixed sex teams after the age of twelve. The case changed the rule from restricting girls from playing in the under 12s to the under 15s, which still prevented Cula-Reid from playing in mixed sex teams. She has been credited with "effectively forcing" AFL Victoria to create a youth girls competition. A documentary, "Even Girls Play Footy", was made about the case.
She played two games in the 2017 season.
After being delisted, Cula-Reid was appointed senior coach of Collingwood's VFLW team ahead of the 2018 season. She led the Magpies to the minor premiership, and was named VFLW Coach of the Year.


Jason Molins

Jason Adam Max Molins (born 4 December 1974) is an Irish former cricketer. He played as a right-handed batsman, with his career for the Irish national side spanning from 1995 to 2006, which included a spell as the captain of the team.
Early and personal life.
Molins was born in Dublin, and is Jewish. His father is Rodney Molins. His brother, Greg, and cousin, Lara Molins, also played for Ireland.
He was initially educated in Ireland, and then finished his studies England. He attended secondary school Wesley College and Dublin High School. He studied for an economics degree at University College Dublin, and then completed his post-graduate diploma at the University of Oxford in 1997. Following this, he moved to London where he worked as a Fixed Income analyst for an investment management company following a number of other roles in the City including Corporate Finance. Molins married Aoife Mulholland, a West End actress from Galway, in 2009. In 2015 he relocated back to Ireland with his wife and two boys (Max and Brody), to start a career as an Equity Analyst at Goodbody Stockbrokers. They now reside in Dublin with their three boys.
Cricket career.
He debuted at first-class level for Ireland in 1998 and while studying at Keble College, Oxford, received his Oxford Blue in 1998, scoring a half century in the Varsity match at Lords. He participated in the 2001 and 2005 ICC Trophy tournaments, and aided them to that year's finals, where they lost against Scotland. He captained Ireland between 2001 and 2005, and was instrumental in the victories over Zimbabwe (scoring 107 not out), Surrey (scoring 56), and the West Indies (scoring 66). He is Ireland's most successful captain, having captained Ireland on no fewer than 45 occasions, and has a win ratio of over 60%.
Despite his prior role as captain, Molins was not selected for Ireland at the 2007 World Cup, and never played at One Day International (ODI) level. In 2008, he was named along with Mark Bott and Darren Gerard to the Maccabi GB cricket team to represent the United Kingdom at the 2009 Maccabiah Games.


List of Impact Knockouts Champions

The Impact Knockouts Championship is a women's professional wrestling world championship owned by Impact Wrestling. It is primarily contested for in Impact's women's division, though it has been challenged one time by a male competitor (Cody Deaner). It was introduced on October 14, 2007 at TNA's Bound for Glory pay-per-view (PPV) event under the name "TNA Women's World Championship"; it was later renamed "TNA Women's Knockout Championship" in 2008. The word "Knockout" in the championship's name alludes to the term TNA Knockout, which TNA uses to refer to its female wrestlers.
Being a professional wrestling championship, it is won via a scripted ending to a match or awarded to a wrestler because of a storyline. All title changes have occurred at TNA-promoted events; reigns that occurred on TNA's primary television program, "Impact Wrestling", usually aired on tape delay and as such are listed with the day the tapings occurred, rather than the air date. The inaugural champion was Gail Kim who defeated Ms. Brooks, Christy Hemme, Awesome Kong, Roxxi Laveaux, Velvet Sky, Shelly Martinez, Jackie Moore, ODB, and Angelina Love in a ten–Knockout gauntlet match. Taya Valkyrie's first reign is the longest in the title's history, with 377 days. Gail Kim's seventh reign holds the record for shortest reign in the title's history at 18 hours, due to her relinquishing the title because of her retirement. Overall, there have been 56 reigns shared among 24 wrestlers, with three vacancies. The current champion is Deonna Purrazzo.
Title history.
Reigns.
As of , .
Combined reigns.
As of , .


Silvi Jan

Silvi Jan (; born 27 October 1973) an Israeli former footballer who played as a striker. With 29 goals, she is the all-time Israel national team top goalscorer.
Club career.
Jan played school football in Netanya, and was part of the boys' football team of Shorashim school. As there was no women's league, Jan tried to find an active team in Europe, eventually signing with Kolbotn I.L. in Norway. In 1999, with the establishment of the Israeli Women's League, Jan returned to Israel and signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Jan played at Hapoel Tel Aviv for four seasons, until the team folded, winning the league and cup in 2000–01. After Hapoel Tel Aviv folded, Jan signed with Maccabi Holon, where she played until her retirement in 2007. With Maccabi Holon Jan won the league 4 times and the cup 5 times.
In January 2009, Jan returned to league action and joined ASA Tel Aviv University. On 21 February 2012, in a league match against her former club, Maccabi Holon, Jan scored her 1000th goal in all club and national team competitions. Jan played at ASA Tel Aviv until her retirement in May 2012. With ASA Tel Aviv Jan Jan won three championships and two cups. Jan scored a total of 1,010 goals in all competitions.
International career.
Silvi Jan has been a striker for the Israel national team for many years, appearing in 23 matches and scoring 29 goals. Jan made her debut against Romania on 2 November 1997, and scored her debut goal against Bosnia and Herzegovina on 8 April 2008, one of four she scored on the day.
Her last international goal was also scored against Bosnia and Herzegovina, in a match played on 23 November 2006, in which Israel won 5–2. Jan made her last international appearance against Poland on 10 May 2007.
Personal life.
Jan came out as a lesbian in December 2017. She got engaged to her partner in November the following year.
In September 2018. Jan was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.
Honours.
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Haccabi Holon
ASA Tel Aviv University
Individual


Andrea Davidovich

Andrea "Anya" Davidovich (born March 24, 1997) is a former competitive pair skater. She and Evgeni Krasnopolski were the first pair representing Israel to qualify for an Olympics. They finished 15th in Sochi. Anya is currently a student at New York University studying computer science.
Early life.
Davidovich was born on March 24, 1997 in Burlington, Vermont. She was raised in New Jersey and is a dual citizen of the United States and Israel.
Career.
Early career.
Prior to 2010, Davidovich was a member of Essex Skating Club in West Orange, New Jersey, USA. In 2008, she teamed up with Ivan Gyliaev, who had been training in Russia, and they skated together in the Nutcracker Theatre On Ice. They practiced together at the Essex Skating Club and placed first in Juvenile Duet at the 2009 U.S. Figure Skating National Showcase. In 2010, she became an independent member of U.S. Figure Skating.
Partnership with Krasnopolski.
Davidovich teamed up with Israeli pair skater Evgeni Krasnopolski in the spring of 2013. They were coached by Gennadi Krasnitski at the Ice House in Hackensack, New Jersey.
After training together for six months, Davidovich/Krasnopolski made their international debut at the 2013 U.S. International Classic, where they finished sixth competing for Israel. Their next event was the 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy, the final opportunity to qualify for the 2014 Olympics. By placing tenth, Davidovich/Krasnopolski earned Israel its first ever pairs' entry at an Olympics. They won the 2013 Golden Spin of Zagreb in December and then placed seventh at the 2014 European Championships in January.
Davidovich/Krasnopolski finished 15th overall at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Their partnership ended following the Olympics and Davidovich began seeking a new partner.
Contract dispute.
Davidovich's membership of the Israel Ice Skating Federation ended in February 2014. The IISF refused requests from Davidovich, made on April 30, 2014, and from U.S. Figure Skating, to release her to compete internationally for the United States. On August 28, 2015, Bergen County, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Robert C. Wilson ordered the IISF to release Davidovich.
Later career.
Davidovich placed ninth with AJ Reiss at the 2015 U.S. Championships.


Sjef Janssen

Sjef Janssen (born January 15, 1950) is the Dutch national Olympic team dressage coach and spouse of Anky van Grunsven. He won a bronze medal in team dressage at the 1991 European Dressage Championships in Donaueschingen, Germany.


Nova Scotia Lifeguard Service

The Nova Scotia Lifeguard Service (also NSLS) is a Canadian lifeguard service operating in Nova Scotia.
NSLS has been supervising many Nova Scotian beaches since 1973 and is a joint project between the Nova Scotia Department of Health Promotion and Protection, and the Nova Scotia Branch of the Royal Life Saving Society of Canada (RLSSC) .
The NSLS employed 54 full-time lifeguards for the 2006 season, as well as several other part-time staff. Supervision seasons typically run from July 1 through to the last weekend in August, with a few beaches continuing weekend supervision into September. The NSLS developed the Nova Scotia Surf League, Canada's first surf lifesaving competition series, and has seen several Nova Scotians selected to the Core Team of the Canadian National Lifesaving Team since its inception.
The service was born out of a 1972 study into a high number of drownings at public beaches in Nova Scotia. Originally called the Nova Scotia Beach Supervision Project, the beaches were organized by region, so that each region is required to recruit and hire lifeguards for the beaches, thereby supplying lifeguard supervision. The program was centralized and began employing a full-time director in 1975, when it also changed its name to the Nova Scotia Lifeguard Service.
In 2019, the NSLS supervised 23 beaches around the province and was responsible for training and administration services for several others.
Training.
Lifeguards employed with the NSLS must complete a physically rigorous selection process.
All lifeguard applicants to NSLS must be certified with the RLSSC's National Lifeguard Service Award and also maintain certification in Standard First Aid as well as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) level C.
Applicants are then tested with a timed 500-meter swim in surf conditions, followed by a timed 3.2 km run, and a timed 50-meter carry with a suitably weighted mannequin.
The physical test is followed by a written test. Should an applicant be hired, s/he must successfully complete a four-day NSLS training camp with all new and returning lifeguards immediately prior to the start of the supervision season, during which there are further evaluations of skills based on performance during mock emergency scenarios. Should an applicant not meet the standard during the training camp, alternates who are successful will be selected in their place.
This rigorous selection program to ensure the highest level of skill and competency has proven to be a successful formula. No person has drowned within the supervised area of any NSLS beach during hours of supervision since the program's inception in 1973.
Nova Scotia Surf League.
"Nova Scotia Surf League" is a lifeguard competition operated by NSLS. Started in 2000, it is Canada's first lifesaving competition series. The format of the series was modeled after an Australian professional lifesaving circuit called the Nutri-Grain Surf League. It has aimed to focus on increasing the level of participation among in the sport of lifesaving among Nova Scotia lifeguards, mainly through providing regular access to competition. The league founder, Craig Durling, remains active today as the league's Commissioner.
Prior to the existence of Surf League, Nova Scotians would often travel to competitions in Ontario, Quebec and the United States.
At the conclusion of each summer, league awards are presented to the top teams and individuals who competed on the series. Career statistics are also maintained by the league for wins for men and women.


List of Jews in sports (non-players)

The topic of Jewish participation in sports is discussed extensively in academic and popular literature. Scholars believe that sports have been a historical avenue for Jewish people to overcome obstacles toward their participation in secular society (especially before the mid-20th century in Europe and the United States).
Boldface denotes a current competitor.


Mike Nugent (athlete)

Michael "Mike" Alwyn Nugent (born 1945/1946) is an Australian Paralympic athlete and wheelchair manufacturer, who has won six medals at four Paralympics.
Personal.
Nugent was paralysed in a motorbike accident and first became involved in wheelchair sport at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane in 1963 at the age of 17. He began in wheelchair basketball and field events at Kingshome Rehabilitation Centre and became interested in canoeing due to physiotherapist Vernon Hill. He has been married to Paralympic swimmer Pam Foley since 1975. In 1977 he started a Brisbane-based wheelchair-manufacturing business, Surgical Engineering.
Competitive career.
Nugent competed at his first National Games in Perth in 1968, and was a regular part of the Queensland team for the games in the 1970s and 1980s. His first international competition was the 1977 FESPIC Games in Sydney. Once his family and business life settled, he began training six days a week to pursue his interest in international competition.
At his first Paralympics, the 1980 Arnhem Games, he won a gold medal in the Men's 200 m 3 event and a silver medal in the Men's 400 m 3 event. His world record-breaking 200 m performance at the 1980 games was recognised as the best international performance by an Australian wheelchair athlete in that year. At the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Games, he won a gold medal and broke a world record in the Men's 400 m 2 event and two bronze medals in the Men's 800 m 2 and Men's 1,500 m 2 events.
At the 1988 Seoul Games, he won a bronze medal in the Men's 200 m 2 event; he had a flat tyre during the early stages of the marathon, but still finished the race to support his teammates. He also participated but did not win any medals in athletics events at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
An avid wheelchair basketballer, he participated in the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team at the 1986 Gold Cup and was an integral member of the Queensland state wheelchair basketball team. After his retirement from Paralympic competition, he focused on road-racing events to both compete and promote his new wheelchair designs. He has participated in all major international wheelchair road-racing events, including the Beppu-Ōita Marathon, the Sempach Marathon, and the Peachtree Road Race.


Abraham Glantz

Abraham Glantz (24 April 1907 – 10 July 1998) was a South African cricketer who played first-class cricket for Western Province from 1929 to 1940.
After making his first-class debut in the first match of the 1929-30 Currie Cup season, Glantz remained Western Province’s regular wicket-keeper until World War II.


SCW Diva Championship

The SCW Diva Championship (also known as the SCW Women's Championship) was a women's professional wrestling championship in the Southern Championship Wrestling (SCW) promotion. The title remained active until August 2003 when Alexis Laree signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment. The championship was brought back at SCW's final show, Blowout Bash, on November 20, 2004, where Lexie Fyfe defeated Brandi Wine to win the vacant title. Fyfe, an SCW mainstay, had specifically requested a match for the event.
The inaugural champion was Alexis Laree, who won a 6-woman "Diva Battle Royal", which included Lilly, Bubbles, Ariel Hope, and Cheyenne, by eliminating Persephone on April 26, 2001 at SCW's Royal Pain. There have been a total of 2 recognized champions who have had a combined 2 official reigns. The following is a chronological list of wrestlers that have been SCW Diva Champion by ring name.


Vitesse du Mans motorcycle Grand Prix

The Vitesse du Mans motorcycle Grand Prix was a one-off motorcycling event that was part of the 1991 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, held to replace the Brazilian Grand Prix.


Lion Foundation Surf League

The Lion Foundation Surf League was established by Surf Life Saving New Zealand as an elite series for the top one percent of its athletes. Its purpose was to pit the best Surf Lifeguards in the country against each other to ensure that those who prevailed were the best of the best.
The competition consists of 8 teams in the Open and U19 teams.
The Events remain standard to normal Surf Life Saving Carnivals in New Zealand they include:
Surf race, Board race, Ski race, Ironman, Tube rescue, Board rescue, Beach sprints, Beach Flags, Canoe (Open only), IRB, Dearlove relay (A relay that consists of all disciplines not normally contested at Surf Life Saving Carnivals)
Team Make up:
The Open teams consist of 14 members from their respective regions, with the U19 teams made up of 10 members teams are also able to draft athletes from other regions provided this is sanctioned by SLSCNZ and the athletes are released by their own region.


Seattle Cascades (ultimate)

The Seattle Cascades are a professional ultimate team that competes in the Western Division of the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) with an open roster and in the Western Ultimate League (WUL) with a women's roster. They also compete as a mixed squad in various exhibition games. The club first competed in 2015 as an open AUDL team, and added a mixed roster in 2017 and a women's roster in 2018. The team is named after the mountain range that runs through the Pacific Northwest and their mascots are gender-neutral Sasquatches (aka bigfoots), named Casey and Kid Casey, both colored blue and gray. The team's stated core values are integrity, community, and athletic excellence.
AUDL team (open roster).
During the season, the Cascades play 12 regular season games, with up to four post-season games dependent on results.
In its inaugural season in 2015, the team placed 2nd in the AUDL West Division, losing in the final round of the playoffs to eventual champion San Jose Spiders. In 2016 the team beat the San Francisco Flamethrowers to win the West Division and advance to AUDL Championship Weekend in Madison, Wisconsin. There the Cascades staged a victory against the hometown favorite Madison Radicals and advanced to the championship game, where they lost to the undefeated Dallas Roughnecks. In 2017, the Cascades placed third in the West Division and did not qualify for the divisional playoff. In 2018, they placed fifth (last) in the West Division and did not qualify for the divisional playoff. In 2019, they again placed last (fourth) in the West Division and did not quality for the divisional playoff. The 2020 AUDL season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
WUL team (women's roster).
The Cascades have had a mixed roster in addition to the open roster since 2017 and a women's roster since 2018.
The women's roster joined the WUL for its inaugural 2020 season, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mixed roster.
The Cascades mixed gender roster includes players from both the open and women's rosters. This roster competes in periodic mixed showcase competitions, such as the annual Cascades Cup in Seattle. The first Cascades Cup was held in 2017 and was attended by more than 850 people; the San Francisco Flamethrowers mixed roster defeated the Seattle Cascades 17-16. This event provided motivation for the Cascades to commit to creating more playing opportunities for women beginning in the 2018 season.
They have also competed internationally: they defeated Melbourne Ellipsis in 2019.


2008 GP2 Series

The 2008 GP2 Series season was the forty-second season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also fourth season under the GP2 Series moniker. It began on 26 April at Montmeló, Spain and it finished on 14 September at Monza, Italy. This is the first season using a new car design to be used during the following 3 seasons. The series was won by Giorgio Pantano.
Season summary.
4th GP2 Series season started in Circuit de Catalunya. Pastor Maldonado took first pole position of the season, but he couldn't use the advantage after a very bad start. Alvaro Parente won in his debut race in the series. In the sprint race, Romain Grosjean was heading for victory until late-race safety car. When the safety car went back to the pits, Grosjean straight-lined chicane and lost momentum. He then blocked Kamui Kobayashi, receiving drive through penalty. Kobayashi won the race while Grosjean was left without points.
At Turkey, Giorgio Pantano won from pole in the feature race. Grosjean won the sprint race which included several accidents on the first lap, as well as two stray dogs on the track. One of them was hit by Bruno Senna whose car was damaged and he had to retire. Luckily Senna escaped without injury. Senna then won at Monaco, on the track where his uncle Ayrton had won six times. In the sprint race, which was held for the first time in Monaco, Mike Conway was victorious. He was heading for third place in feature race before being punted off by Javier Villa on the final lap. He was lucky in the event, as only eight drivers were unlapped, so he ended in eight and therefore for the pole in the sprint.
Magny-Cours feature race was won by Pantano after Grosjean and Senna suffered mechanical retirements. The sprint race started on damp track and few drivers gambled starting with slicks. This worked well for Arden drivers, as Sébastien Buemi won from 21st on the grid. His teammate Yelmer Buurman was second. At Silverstone Pantano won the feature again, and wet sprint race was dominated by Senna.
At Hockenheim Grosjean finished first on the road, but he was later penalized for overtaking under yellow flag, giving Pantano third straight feature race victory. Karun Chandhok won the sprint race from pole. At Hungaroring, Lucas di Grassi who had returned to GP2 in Magny-Cours, won the feature race, while Buemi won the sprint after polesitter Andy Soucek made a small mistake.
The feature race at Valencia ended in dramatic fashion. Pantano was on road for victory before he ran out of fuel on the final lap. Several other drivers suffered same fate, including Senna who could get his car over the finish line but in 9th place. Vitaly Petrov inherited the win. Pantano recovered well in sprint race to take third place while Senna crashed out. di Grassi was the winner.
With four races to go, Pantano led by 13 points on Senna and 20 on di Grassi. Senna took the pole in Spa, but his race was destroyed by drive through penalty for unsafe release by the team in his pit stop. Pantano suffered mechanical glitch during safety car and was dropped to back of the field. He was recovering until he collided with di Grassi on the final lap. Pantano was disqualified for the race and also excluded from the sprint. Grosjean won the feature while Maldonado took his first victory of the season in the sprint, overtaking Jérôme d'Ambrosio on the final lap.
Pantano got perfect start for final weekend with pole, therefore knocking di Grassi out from the championship hunt. A race started in wet conditions and mandatory pit stop was done as late as possible, as the track was ready for slicks. di Grassi won while Pantano ended in 10th after drive through penalty for crossing white line at the pit exit. It didn't matter much: while Senna couldn't finish better than 5th, Pantano clinched the title with one race to go. The sprint race was held in wet conditions as well and won by polesitter Davide Valsecchi.
Teams and drivers.
On 19 October 2007, it was announced that the same 13 teams which took part in 2007 would continue into 2008.
Schedule and results.
The original calendar was released on 25 March 2008 and had a standalone event on the 31 May – 1 June at the Valencia's Ricardo Tormo circuit. However, on the 18 April 2008, it was confirmed that a deal had been agreed for a GP2 event to run alongside the new European GP at the Valencia Street Circuit instead of the original date at the Ricardo Tormo circuit.
Also, for the first time in the history of GP2, two races were held at Monaco.
All of the races supported the Formula One Grands Prix indicated by the relevant flags, except the round at Valencia which supported the 2008 European Grand Prix.


Jonathan Levin (footballer)

Jonathan Levin Kolangui (born May 5, 1993) is a Mexican footballer who plays as a midfielder. He is Jewish.


Burlington Curling Club

The Burlington Curling Club, which was founded in 1952, is located in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
The club is one of the busiest curling rinks in Canada, being home to over 800 active members.
Affiliation.
BCC is a member club of the Ontario Curling Association (OCA). This association divides the province into sixteen zones which are then organized into four regions. This association oversees all curling activities in Ontario. The OCA runs a variety of competitions each year for men, women, and youth. Some competitions lead to provincial championships while others lead to national and, in some cases, international championships. The association also provides training clinics for coaches, ice-technicians, officials, and players.
BCC is in Zone 13, along with 11 other clubs. These include: Burlington Golf and CC, Dundas Granite CC, Dundas Valley CC, Glanford CC, Glendale Golf and CC, Hamilton Victoria CC, Niagara Falls CC, St. Catharine's CC, St. Catharine's Golf and CC, and Welland CC.


Simon Okker

Simon Okker (1 June 1881 – 6 March 1944) was a Dutch Olympic epee and foil fencer, who was killed in the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Biography.
Okker was Jewish, and was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He participated in the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens, Greece, coming in 5th, and in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, England.
Okker was killed by the Nazis in the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944.