Indian Sports Calendar in 2023: Major events to watch in first week of May

The Men's World Boxing Championships will be an important event for the country.

A lot of sporting events are lined up in the upcoming week of the Indian Sports Calendar. After successfully hosting the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships the action now shifts to the male counterparts. The IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships is set to start on May 1 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Mirabai Chanu will be in action for the first time in 2023 and is set to take part in the Asian Weightlifting Championships (Olympic qualifying event).

Here we take a look at the events to follow in the upcoming week (May 01-07) in the Indian sports calendar.

Tennis

April 30-7 May: Gwangju Challenger (ATP 75)

Doubles - Anirudh Chandrasekhar / Vijay Sundar Prasanth

Singles - Sasikumar Mukund

Anirudh Chandrasekhar and Vijay Sundar Prasanth are seeded third in the men’s doubles. The Indian pair lost in the opening round last week. Sasikumar Mukund too lost in the opening round but won two qualifying matches.

Weightlifting

May 3-13: Asian Weightlifting Championships

The continental championship will be the second in the series of qualifying events for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and will be in the upcoming week of the Indian Sports Calendar. The Tokyo Olympics 2020 silver medallist will be leading the six-member Indian contingent.

Men - Shubham Todkar (61kg), Jeremy Lalrinnunga (67kg), Achinta Sheuli (73kg), Narayana Ajith (73kg)

Women - Mirabai Chanu (49kg) and Bindyarani Devi (55kg)

Sports Climbing

May 6-7: IFSC Climbing World Cup (Speed), Jakarta

Deepu Gowda will be taking part in the second consecutive World Cup. He created a new national record in speed climbing (Seoul World Cup) last week.

Boxing

May 1-14: IBA Men’s Boxing Championships

The Men's World Boxing Championships begin in the upcoming week of the Indian Sports Calendar.

India's Squad - Govind Sahani (48kg), Deepak Bhoria (51kg), Sachin Siwach Jr. (54kg), Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg), Varinder Singh (60kg), Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), Akash Sangwan (67kg), Nishant Dev (71kg), Sumit Kundu (75kg), Ashish Chaudhary (80kg), Harsh Choudhary (86kg), Naveen Kumar (92kg) and Narender Berwal (92+kg)

Tokyo Olympian Amit Panghal missed out on qualifying for the World Championships. 2015 World Championships bronze medallist Shiva Thapa will be leading the Indian contingent. 

Athletics

May 5: Diamond League, Doha

The first of the 14 Diamond League events begin in the upcoming week of the Indian Sports Calendar. Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra is set to start his 2023 season at the Doha Diamond League. Commonwealth Games silver medallist Eldhose Paul (triple jump) will be making his maiden appearance at the Diamond League.

Shooting

May 4-15: ISSF Shooting World Cup (Rifle/Pistol), Baku

The World Cup in the upcoming week of the Indian Sports Calendar will be the fifth of the season, with the last one concluding recently in Lima. The NRAI (National Rifle Association of India) announced a 22-member Indian squad for the World Cup.

Rowing

May 5-7 May - Rowing World Cup I, Zagreb

Fencing

May 5: Epee Grand Prix 

Men’s - Udaivir Singh

Women’s - Tanishka Khatri

Tanishka Khatri and Udaivir Singh will start their Olympic qualification cycle at Grand Prix Epee.