Indian Sports Calendar in 2023: Major events to look forward to in December

Asian Sailing Championships acts as Paris Olympic qualifying event.

The month of December promises to be a busy affair for Indian sports with several major events lined up in the Indian sports calendar. Olympian Nethra Kumanan will lead the Indian contingent at the Asian Sailing Championships which offers Paris Olympics qualifying spots. The Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams are set to head to Spain and participate in 5 Nations Tournament.

Take a look at the full December calendar for Indian athletes in the Indian sports calendar.

Major events to look forward to in December

Badminton

The final BWF World Tour tournament of the year is scheduled to be held in China. The top eight shuttlers this season have qualified for the prestigious competition. However, none of the Indian’s have made it to the event as all finished outside the top 8.

• December 13-17: BWF World Tour Finals 2023

Cricket

After finishing runner-up at ICC World Cup 2023, the Indian men’s cricket team will head to South Africa to take part in a bilateral series. Simultaneously in India, the women’s team are scheduled to square off against mighty English and Australian sides.

• December 10-7 January: India’s tour of South Africa (Men)
• December 6-17: England’s tour of India (Women)
• December 21-2 January: Australia’s tour of India (Women)

Fencing

India’s top two Sabre fencers, Bhavani Devi and Karan Singh will be seen in action at the Nouma Grand Prix in France. Parallelly, the foil world cup for both men’s and women’s will be held in Serbia and Japan respectively.

• December 7-8: Sabre Grand Prix, Nouma
• December 8-9: Foil World Cup

Football

After a two-week long break, the ISL teams are back in action. Kerala Blasters continue to occupy the top spot in the points table with 17 points. They are closely followed by FC Goa and Mohun Bagan Super Giants with 16 and 12 points. However, the former two teams have played two and four matches less than the table toppers.

• September 21-March 2024: Indian Super League season 10 (ongoing)

Hockey

The Indian men’s and women’s national teams will be playing in the 5 nations tournament in Spain. This will be an important competition for the women’s team ahead of their Olympic qualifying event in January. The men’s team meanwhile will be returning after a two-month break post the Asian Games triumph.

• November 29-10 December: FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup (ongoing)
• December 5-16: FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup
• December 15-22: 5 Nations Tournament, Spain

Sailing

India’s top sailors including Olympians Nethra Kumanan and Vishnu Saravanan are scheduled to take part in the Asian Championships. The Indian contingent had a decent outing in the Asian Games with the latter winning bronze medal. Moreover, this competition offers eight Paris Olympic qualification quotas.

• December 10-21: Asian Sailing Championships

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Table Tennis

The world’s top 18 teams will square off in Chengdu, China for ITTF Mixed Team World Cup 2023. Teams will be divided into four groups and matches will be played in a round-robin format. India is seeded 13th and will be led by experienced Sanil Shetty.

• December 4-10: ITTF Mixed Team World Cup

Volleyball

Ahmedabad Defenders are set to become the first Indian club to participate in the Club World Championships 2023. They qualified by virtue of winning the Prime Volleyball League season 2. The team will be led by setter Muthusamy Appavu and assisted by coach Dakshinamoorthy.

• December 6-10: Men’s Volleyball Club World Championships 2023

Weightlifting

The IWF Grand Prix 2 will act as an Olympic qualifying event for Paris 2024. Mirabai Chanu who finished fourth at the Asian Games 2023 will be participating in the competition but it is yet to be known if she will lift or has just entered the name.

• December 4-14: IWF Grand Prix 2

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