Indian Sports Calendar December 2024: World Tour Finals, BGT, Hockey India League, World Chess Championship and more events to watch

The month of December in Indian Sports Calendar will see some year-ending events.

The month of November witnessed impressive performances from Indian athletes in sports like hockey, badminton, and cricket. After a disappointing campaign at the Paris Olympics, the Indian women’s hockey team made a remarkable comeback at the Asian Champions Trophy, winning their third title.

In badminton, the duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, after their quarterfinal exit at the Paris Olympics, returned to competition by reaching the semifinals of the China Masters 2024.

Although there aren’t many sporting events in December in the Indian Sports Calendar, with numerous sports having already completed their seasons, cricket, badminton, chess, football, hockey, table tennis, and others are some prominent sports to watch out for before 2025 ushers in more sporting action. Let’s take a look at the Indian sports calendar for the month of December.

Major events to follow in December in Indian Sports Calendar

Athletics

Although track and field competitions are over for the year 2024, many elite Indian marathon runners will be competing in the Pune Marathon, slated for December 1. Additionally, the Bengaluru International Midnight Marathon is another prominent long-distance running event to watch out for in December.

• December 7-11: Junior National Athletics Championships, Bhubaneswar
• December 14: Bengaluru International Midnight Marathon

Badminton

December will witness many badminton tournaments in India, with the Syed Modi International concluding on the 1st of the month after starting on November 26. Besides the tournament in Lucknow, the Guwahati and Odisha Masters are two other major events scheduled to take place in December.

All eyes will also be on Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand as they are the only Indian shuttlers to have qualified for the BWF World Tour Finals 2024. Other top athletes who will be in action in December include PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, Priyanshu Rajawat, and others.

• December 3-8: Guwahati Masters
• December 10-15: Odisha Masters
• December 11-15: HSBC BWF Tour Finals

Boxing

In December, prominent Indian boxers will be battling it out at the Men’s Elite National Boxing Championships scheduled from 23 to 26th of this month.

• December 23- 26: Men’s Elite National Boxing Championship

Basketball

Young Indian talents will feature in domestic basketball competitions, with youth and sub-junior events taking place in December. Below is the schedule and the dates for the events mentioned:

• November 29-5 December: 39th Youth (U16) National Basketball Championship (5×5)
• December 16-22: 49th Sub Junior (U13) National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls (5×5)

Chess

The World Chess Championship 2024 is one of the biggest chess events taking place in December. It began on November 25, with challenger Gukesh D from India contending against reigning world champion Ding Liren in a Best of 14 games format.

• November 25-13 December: World Chess Championship (Ongoing)

Cricket

After a disappointing home series whitewash loss to New Zealand, the Indian men’s cricket team kickstarted their Australia tour with a clinical victory in the first test of the five-match Border-Gavaskar Test series.

However, it will be a challenging task for the India to overcome the hosts, with the remaining four Tests scheduled for December. Meanwhile, the women’s team will tour Australia for a three-match ODI series before hosting West Indies play a series of three T20Is and ODIs against the West Indies as the Caribbean nation tours India.

Border Gavaskar Trophy

• December 6-10: Second Test, Adelaide
• December 14-18: Third Test, Brisbane
• December 26-30: Fourth Test, Melbourne

India’s Tour of Australia (Women)

• December 5: First ODI (Brisbane)
• December 8: Second ODI (Brisbane)
• December 11: Third ODI (Perth)

West Indies Tour of India (Women)

• December 15: First T20I (Navi Mumbai)
• December 17: Second T20I (Navi Mumbai)
• December 19: Third T20I (Navi Mumbai)
• December 22: First ODI (Vadodara)
• December 24: Second ODI (Vadodara)
• December 27: Third ODI (Vadodara)

Fencing

Indian sabre fencers will be in action at the Grand Prix Nuoma in Orleans for both men and women on December 5 and 6.

• December 5-6: Korea World Cup
• December 5-7: Orleans Grand Prix
• December 6-7: Japan World Cup

Football

The final round of the prestigious Santosh Trophy is slated for December, although the schedule is yet to be announced. Meanwhile, the quarterfinals will take place on December 17 and 18, with the semifinals scheduled for December 20. The final is scheduled for December 22 in Hyderabad.

• September 13-12 March: Indian Super League (Ongoing)
• December 1-15: National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy Final Round

Golf

Aditi Ashok, Pranavi Urs, Diksha Dagar, and Tvesha Malik are a few prominent names participating at the Andalucia Costa del Sol Open de Espana, concluding on December 1.

• November 28-1 December: Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España (Ongoing)

Handball

The 20th edition of the Asian Women’s Handball Championship is taking place in India from December 3-10. This is the first time the WAHCH is taking place in South Asia.

• December 3-10: Asian Women’s Handball Championship, New Delhi

Hockey

The Indian junior men’s and women’s field hockey teams will aim to emerge as Asian champions, with both competitions scheduled for December. While the men’s event has already kicked off, the women’s tournament is scheduled to take place from December 7 to 15 in Muscat, Oman. Meanwhile, the Hockey India League will also take place in December.

• November 26-4 December: Men’s Junior Asia Cup (Ongoing)
• December 7-15: Women’s Junior Asia Cup Muscat
• December 28-1 February, 2025: Hockey India League

Kabaddi

The 11th edition of the Pro Kabaddi League will be held from October 18 onwards. The league phase of PKL 11 will take place until December 24 following which the playoffs will be held.

• October 18-29 December: Pro Kabaddi League (Ongoing)

Squash

The 2024 edition of the WSF World Squash Team Championships will take place in Hong Kong, China, from December 9-15. Matches will be held at the Hong Kong Football Club.

• December 9-15: World Team Championship, Vietnam

Table Tennis

With the absence of seasoned campaigners like Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, and Harmeet Desai, India will be fielding an eight-member squad featuring the likes of Manush Shah, Manav Thakkar, and Yashaswini Ghorpade at the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup 2024.

• December 1-8: ITTF Mixed Team World Cup

Weightlifting

Mirabai Chanu will skip the World Weightlifting Championships that will take place in Manama, Bahrain, from December 6 to 15. Bindyarani Devi is expected to lead India’s contingent in Mirabai’s absence.

• December 4-14: World Weightlifting Championships, Bahrain

Wrestling

The National Wrestling Championship will take place in Bengaluru from December 6 to 8. Almost all states have announced their contingent.

• December 6-8: National Wrestling Championships, Bengaluru

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