__NOTOC__
This list shows notable sports-related deaths, events, and notable outcomes that occurred in March of 2009. Deaths in March
Current sporting seasons
Australian rules football 2009
Australian Football League
Auto racing 2009
Formula One Sprint Cup
Nationwide Series Camping World Truck Series A1 Grand Prix GP2 Asia Series
WTTC V8 Supercar Speedcar Series American Le Mans
Rolex Sports Car Series
Super GT
Basketball 2008–09
American competitions: NBA NCAA men tournament NCAA women tournament Pan-European competitions: Euroleague Eurocup EuroChallenge
Greece Iran Israel Italy Philippines Fiesta Conference Spain Turkey
Cricket 2008–09
Football (soccer)
2008–09 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying UEFA (Europe) Champions League UEFA Cup Copa Libertadores (South America) CONCACAF (North & Central America) Champions League OFC (Oceania) Champions League AFC (Asia) Champions League CAF (Africa) Champions League England Germany Iran Italy Spain France Argentina 2009 USA Japan
Golf 2009
European Tour PGA Tour LPGA Tour
Ice hockey 2008–09
National Hockey League Kontinental Hockey League
Motorcycle racing 2009
Superbike World championship Supersport racing
Rugby league 2009
Super League NRL
Rugby union 2008–09
Heineken Cup English Premiership Celtic League Top 14 Super 14 Sevens World Series
Days of the month
March 31, 2009 (Tuesday)
Basketball Euroleague Quarterfinals: Game 3 of best-of-5 series: TAU Cerámica 69–62 Regal FC Barcelona. TAU leads series 2–1. Real Madrid 71–63 Olympiacos Piraeus. Olympiacos leads series 2–1. Montepaschi Siena 53–72 Panathinaikos Athens. Panathinaikos leads series 2–1. Partizan Igokea 56–67 CSKA Moscow. CSKA wins series 3–0. CSKA advance to the Final Four for the seventh straight season. NCAA Division I Women's Tournament Regional Finals (seeding in parentheses): Trenton region in Trenton, New Jersey: (1) Connecticut 83, (6) Arizona State 64 Oklahoma City region in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: (1) Oklahoma 74, (6) Purdue 68 National Invitation Tournament: Final Four in New York: Semifinals: Baylor 76, San Diego State 62 Penn State 67, Notre Dame 59 CollegeInsider.com Tournament: Championship game in Peoria, Illinois: Old Dominion 66, Bradley 62 NBA: The Denver Nuggets clinch a playoff berth with 111–104 win over the New York Knicks. The San Antonio Spurs also clinch a playoff berth despite losing 95–96 to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Football (soccer) 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying: CONMEBOL (South America), matchday 12: 2–0 Friendly internationals: 0–2 in Lausanne, Switzerland 0–2
March 30, 2009 (Monday)
Basketball NCAA Division I Women's Tournament Regional Finals (seeding in parentheses, all times EDT): Raleigh region in Raleigh, North Carolina: (3) Louisville 77, (1) Maryland 60 Berkeley region in Berkeley, California: (2) Stanford 74, (4) Iowa State 53 College Basketball Invitational: Championship best-of-3 series, game 1 in Corvallis, Oregon: Oregon State 75, UTEP 69
Cricket India in New Zealand: 2nd Test in Napier, day 5: 619/9d; 305 and 476/4 (f/o, Gautam Gambhir 137, V.V.S. Laxman 124*). Match drawn, India lead 3-match series 1–0.
March 29, 2009 (Sunday)
Auto racing Formula One: Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia: (1) Jenson Button (2) Rubens Barrichello (3) Lewis Hamilton Brawn GP take first and second in their first ever race, with Button becoming the first driver since Juan Manuel Fangio at the French Grand Prix in 1954 to win from pole in a first drive for a brand new team. Jarno Trulli finished third in the race, but was given a 25-second penalty post-race for passing Hamilton under the stabilised safety car conditions, in which the race finished. Sprint Cup Series: Goody's Cool Orange 500 in Ridgeway, Virginia: (1) Jimmie Johnson (2) Denny Hamlin (3) Tony Stewart Drivers' standings (after 6 races): (1) Jeff Gordon 959 points (2) Clint Bowyer −89 (3) Kurt Busch −132 V8 Supercars: Sprint Gas V8 Supercars Manufacturers Challenge in Melbourne: (1) Craig Lowndes (2) Mark Winterbottom (3) Will Davison
Basketball NCAA Division I Men's Tournament: Regional Finals (seeding in parentheses): Midwest region in Indianapolis, Indiana: (2) Michigan State 64, (1) Louisville 52 South region in Memphis, Tennessee: (1) North Carolina 72, (2) Oklahoma 60 Final Four matchups: Michigan State vs. Connecticut North Carolina vs. Villanova NCAA Division I Women's Tournament Regional semifinals (seeding in parentheses): Trenton region in Trenton, New Jersey: (1) Connecticut 77, (4) California 53 (6) Arizona State 84, (2) Texas A&M 69 Oklahoma City region in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: (6) Purdue 67, (7) Rutgers 61 (1) Oklahoma 70, (4) Pittsburgh 59 Sooners center Courtney Paris becomes the first player in U.S. college basketball history—regardless of governing body, division or gender—with 2,500 points and 2,000 rebounds in her career. NBA: The Los Angeles Lakers secure the #1 seed in the Western Conference and home advantage in the first three rounds of the playoffs despite losing 76–86 to the Atlanta Hawks, as their nearest rivals, the San Antonio Spurs, lose 86–90 to the New Orleans Hornets.
Cricket India in New Zealand: 2nd Test in Napier, day 4: 619/9d; 305 and 252/2 (f/o, Gautam Gambhir 102*). India trail by 62 runs with 8 wickets remaining. England in West Indies: 4th ODI in Bridgetown, Barbados: 239/9 (50 ov); 136/1 (18.3/20 ov). England win by 9 wickets (D/L method), 5-match series level 2–2. Australia in South Africa: 2nd Twenty20 in Centurion: 156/5 (20/20 ov); 139/8 (20/20 ov). South Africa win by 17 runs and win 2-match series 2–0.
Cycling Track World Championships in Pruszków, Poland: Women's keirin: Guo Shuang Clara Sanchez Willy Kanis Men's omnium: Leigh Howard 19 pts Zachary Bell 21 Tim Veldt 24 Women's points race 25 km: Giorgia Bronzini 18 pts Yumari González 15 Elizabeth Armitstead 13 Men's sprint: Final: Grégory Baugé beat Azizul Hasni Awang 2–1 Bronze medal race: Kévin Sireau beat Shane Perkins 2–0
Football (soccer) 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying: COMNEBOL (South America), matchday 11: 1–1 1–3 Standings after 11 of 18 rounds: Paraguay 23 pts, Argentina, Chile 19, Brazil 18, Uruguay 16, Colombia 14, Ecuador 13, Venezuela 10, Bolivia 9, Peru 7. CAF (Africa) third round, matchday 1: Group 2: 0–0 Group 3: 1–1 Group 4: 1–0 Group 5: 5–0 22 spectators die and more than a hundred are injured in a stampede after a wall collapse in Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium shortly before the kick-off.n:Stadium disaster claims lives at football World Cup qualifier match in Ivory Coast
Golf PGA Tour: Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida: Winner: Tiger Woods 275 (−5) Woods wins his first title since his comeback from injury and sixth title at this tournament. European Tour: Open de Andalucia in Andalusia, Spain: Winner: Søren Kjeldsen 274 (−14) LPGA Tour: Phoenix LPGA International in Phoenix, Arizona: Winner: Karrie Webb 274 (−14)
Ice hockey NHL: The Detroit Red Wings clinch the Central Division title as their nearest rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks, lose 0–4 to the Vancouver Canucks.
Rowing 155th University Boat Race on the River Thames, London: Oxford University Boat Club (Michal Plotkowiak, Colin Smith, Alex Hearne, Ben Harrison, Sjoerd Hamburger, Tom Solesbury, George Bridgewater, Ante Kušurin, Colin Groshong) 17:00 beat Cambridge University Boat Club (Rob Weitemeyer, Henry Pelly, Ryan Monaghan, Peter Marsland, Deaglan McEachern, Hardy Cubasch, Tom Ransley, Silas Stafford, Rebecca Dowbiggin) by 12 secs (3½ lengths) The Dark Blues' win reduces Cambridge's overall lead to 79 against 75, with one dead heat.
Rugby union Sevens World Series: Hong Kong Sevens in Hong Kong Final: 24–26
Winter sports
Biathlon World Cup 9 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia: 15 km mass start men: (1) Simon Eder 37min 14.4sec (0 penalties) (2) Dominik Landertinger at 12.1 (1) (3) Ole Einar Bjørndalen 17.0 (3) Final overall World Cup standings (after 26 events): (1) Bjørndalen 1080 points (2) Tomasz Sikora 870 (3) Emil Hegle Svendsen 844 Final World Cup mass-start standings (after five events): (1) Landertinger 208 points (2) Bjørndalen 199 (3) Christoph Sumann 197 12.5 km mass start women: (1) Simone Hauswald 36:54.6 (1 penalty) (2) Helena Jonsson at 15.1 (0) (3) Andrea Henkel 26.9 (3)... 6. Kati Wilhelm 1:20.3 (2) Final overall World Cup standings (after 26 events): (1) Jonsson 952 points (2) Wilhelm 952 (3) Tora Berger 894 Jonsson wins the title because she won 4 races against 3 wins for Wilhelm. Final World Cup mass-start standings (after five events): (1) Jonsson 210 points (2) Wilhelm 186 (3) Hauswald 174
Curling World Women's Championship in Gangneung, South Korea: (seeding in parentheses) Final: (1) China 8–6 (4) Sweden Bronze medal game: (2) Denmark 7–6 (3) Canada
March 28, 2009 (Saturday)
Athletics World Cross Country Championships in Amman, Jordan: Senior men – 12 km: Gebregziabher Gebremariam 35:02 Moses Kipsiro 35:04 Zersenay Tadese 35:04 Teams: 28 28 50 Senior women – 8 km: Florence Jebet Kiplagat 26:13 Linet Chepkwemoi Masai 26:16 Meselech Melkamu 26:19 Teams: 14 28 72
Basketball NCAA Division I Men's Tournament: Regional Finals (seeding in parentheses): West region in Glendale, Arizona: (1) Connecticut 82, (3) Missouri 75 East region in Boston, Massachusetts: (3) Villanova 78, (1) Pittsburgh 76 NCAA Division I Women's Tournament Regional semifinals (seeding in parentheses): Raleigh region in Raleigh, North Carolina: (3) Louisville 56, (2) Baylor 39 (1) Maryland 78, (4) Vanderbilt 74 Berkeley region in Berkeley, California: (4) Iowa State 69, (9) Michigan State 68 (2) Stanford 84, (3) Ohio State 66
Cricket India in New Zealand: 2nd Test in Napier, day 3: 619/9d; 305 and 47/1 (f/o). India trail by 267 runs with 9 wickets remaining.
Cycling Track World Championships in Pruszków, Poland: Women's omnium: Josephine Tomic 26 Tara Whitten 27 Yvonne Hijgenaar 27 Women's Sprint: Final: Victoria Pendleton bt Willy Kanis 2–1 Bronze medal race: Simona Krupeckaitė bt Olga Panarina 2–0 Men's madison 50 km: (Michael Mørkøv, Alex Rasmussen) (Leigh Howard, Cameron Meyer) (Martin Bláha, Jiří Hochmann)
Football (soccer) 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying: UEFA (Europe): Group 1: 0–3 0–1 0–0 Denmark and Hungary lead the group on 10 points. Group 2: 0–4 0–2 1–1 Greece and Switzerland share the lead on 10 points, with Israel one point behind. Group 3: 3–2 0–0 Northern Ireland goes to the top of the group on 10 points from 6 games, followed by Slovakia on 9 points from 4 games. Group 4: 2–0 0–2 4–0 Germany lead the group on 13 points, Russia second on 9 points and a game in hand. Group 5: 2–2 2–4 1–0 Spain lead the group with perfect record of 15 points from 5 games. Group 7: 2–3 0–1 Serbia on top with 12 points, followed by Lithuania on 9 points. Group 8: 2–1 0–2 1–1 Italy takes sole possession of first place on 13 points, 2 points ahead of Ireland. Group 9: 3–0 Netherlands maintains its perfect record with 12 points from 4 games. COMNEBOL (South America), matchday 11: 2–0 4–0 2–0 Argentina win its first official match with Diego Maradona as coach, and leap over Brazil into second place on 19 points, 4 points befind leader Paraguay. Uruguay goes into fourth place on 16 pts. Colombia in sixth place on 14 pts. CONCACAF (North-Central America) fourth round, matchday 2: 1–1 The Soca Warriors salvage a point at home courtesy of a Khaleem Hyland goal in the 90th minute. 2–0 Mexico gets level with Costa Rica in second place on 3 points. 2–2 Team USA comes back from a 2–0 deficit in San Salvador behind goals from Jozy Altidore and Frankie Hejduk, and takes sole possession of first place in the hexagonal with 4 points from 2 matches. AFC (Asia) fourth round, matchday 6: Group A: 1–0 Japan goes to the top of the group, with 11 points from 5 games, ahead of Australia with 10 pts from 4 games. 4–0 Uzbekistan gets level with Bahrain and Qatar on 5 points Group B: