Not golf, nor basketball. But how about snooker, or curling?  Shooting a pistol or casting a lure out onto the still quiet pond?  These less physically demanding sports may find the ladies as good as the men.  Darts anyone?

Appreciate any discussion.

Or is there something in the mental makeup of one sex or the other which will permit  superior performance in these lower physical sports?  Not calling chess a sport, but i don't think men and women compete at the highest level despite nearly zero physical needs.  So perhaps something in the genes (or jeans) gives men the edge.

Perhaps sports that favor finesse, balance, and grace.  Gymnastics, figure skating, and diving come to mind, especially the floor exercise in gymnastics.

I'm surprised to read that female bowlers can compete.  I would have thought more strength to impart more speed to the bowling ball would help knock down the pins thus favoring men.

Too much speed in bowling is not a good thing.   There is an ideal speed range in bowling and weight of the ball, spin, ball path all factor in.  I.e, physical strength/size may not be a such advantage.   I am not surprised women can do well in bowling but at the end of the day, men are more competitive in anything and it will be really hard to find a sport which women can perform better at.

Right.  Some of the greatest bowlers of all-time (Norm Duke, Walter Ray Williams Jr.) were much more "finesse" style and threw it straight and with only moderate power/revs.  The current best bowlers do lean a little towards the more powerful, however - Jason Belmonte and Sean Rash are probably 1 and 2 right now and their power is a big part of it.

Women certainly aren't equal to the men right now (power does matter some, and the depth of field, etc, etc), but they CAN compete right along side of them, and frequently beat them without it being considered a fluke or aberration.

I can't think of any other "mainstream" sports where this is true.  If Olympic sports are our guide, I'd say perhaps many of the equestrian events and also shooting events?  I don't know.

I've never understood why there was a women's professional billiards league or a women's chess federation.

For a long time in pool's history, women weren't even allowed in poolhalls, it was strictly a place where men went to be men.  After that restriction was lifted there was (and still is)  a heavy dose of sexism in the sport.  Men don't like get beat by "girls."  There are some relatively famous anecdotes about male pros taunting each other before and after getting beaten by Jean Balukas.

Today, the two main professional games are 9-ball and 10-ball and these games require a pretty powerful break shot to pocket a ball and spread the others enough to run-out.  So, I think, men have a physical advantage there.  However, there's no power requirement in straight pool and the main reason women don't compete (or if they compete, don't fare well) in straight pool is simply because they have enough 9- and 10-ball events that it doesn't make sense to practice straight pool enough to compete in the big tournaments (there are only a couple "big" straight pool tournaments a year.)

There has never yet been a male champion in all-comers grudge holding.

I agree that men can do harder jumps.  But there is also presentation and a grace and beauty aspect.  Overall I think the women are better.

I was going to say Table Tennis (Ping Pong), but. . .

http://protabletennis.net/content/differences-men%E2%80%99s-and-women%E2%80%99s-game

http://www.pingskills.com/table-tennis-forum/men-vs-woman-table-tennis/

Currently there are not as many women who are 5'10" and up and as athletic as their male counterparts, but what's to say that someday in the future there could be a women golfer who could out drive Bubba or Dustin? I know a lot of tall and big young girls who are no longer discouraged from being too aggressive in some sports, so that day might come where there could be women athletes who can compete with their male counterparts. . .

+1.

Figure skating score has two parts: technical and presentation/artistic.

Men are more athletic in their ballet movements whereas women are more graceful and artistic.  Even their arm/hand gestures are completely different between men and women.

I have to strongly disagree with you on men can be as graceful as women.

I think in general, women can compete with men in any sports that does not require strength and speed.

I agree with this.

Wow...you're on pretty shaky ground here. J u st a couple of pieces from the last day or two:

I suppose Borat would agree with you.

Girl, 11, is youngest US chess master

12 May 2015 Last updated at 00:00 BST