Indian Sports Calendar in 2023: Events to watch in first week of September

Rohan Bopanna will look to cement his place in the top 10 of ATP doubles rankings.

A lot of sporting events are lined up in the upcoming week of the Indian sports calendar. The US Open 2023 is entering into its final stages and several top ranked players have exited the tournament facing shock defeats. After a month's break, the BWF World Tour makes its entry through the China Open. The last major archery tournament this season - Archery World Cup finals - is set to feature five Indian archers.

Here we take a look at the events to follow in the upcoming week (September 04-10) in the Indian sports calendar.

Archery

After the conclusion of four stages of the World Cup this season, the top-eight archers based on their performances have been selected for the World Cup Finals. Five Indian archers — Prathamesh Jawkar, Abhishek Verma, Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Aditi Swami Gopichand and Dhiraj Bommadevara - across both the recurve the compound events are set to take part in the competition.

• September 09-10: Archery World Cup Finals, Hermosillo

Badminton

After a month's break, the BWF World Tour is back once again with the BWF 1000 China Open. Top Indian shuttlers, including HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen are set to take part in the competition. This will be the last event for majority of the Indian players ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games.

• September 05-10: China Open (BWF 1000)

Cricket

Asia's biggest cricket tournament the Asia Cup is scheduled to be held for two weeks with a total of six teams participating in the mega event. The tournament is set to be held across two nations - Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Reigning champions Sri Lanka alongside India and Pakistan are the favourites to lift the title.

The much-anticipated India vs Pakistan clash got abandoned due to rain. All the teams have played at least one match with the top four teams making it to final four.

• Aug 30-17 September: Asia Cup (ongoing)

Football

The Indian U-16 men's football team have started their SAFF Championships campaign on a bright note by defeating Bangladesh in the opening encounter. India are the defending champions and will look to lift the trophy for the fifth time at ongoing edition.

Meanwhile, the men's U-23 national team led by Sivasakthi Narayanan is placed in Group G alongside UAE, Maldives and hosts China. The top team from each group along with four best runner-up reaches the U-23 Championships scheduled to be held in Qatar.

• September 02-10: SAFF U-16 Men's Championships (ongoing)
• September 06-12: U-23 Asian Cup Qualifiers

Table Tennis

All the top Indian paddlers are set to take part in the Asian TT Championships. The winner of the competition - in men's and women's team events alongside mixed doubles- earns a direct spot for the Paris Olympics 2024. Achanta Sarath Kamal and Manika Batra will look to go deep into the competition in the men's singles and women's singles sections respectively.

• September 03-10: Asian Table Tennis Championships

Tennis

The US Open 2023 has almost reached the mid-way stage with several top ranked players facing early round exits. India's top ranked men's doubles player Rohan Bopanna is the only Indian player remaining in the senior section with Yuvana Nandal and Aryan Shah making it to the main draw in juniors.

• August 28-10 September - US Open (ongoing)

Volleyball

Indian women's volleyball team after registering victory over Iran have confirmed their spot in the next round of the Asian women's Volleyball championship 2023. After a opening match win, India suffered a heavy defeat against tournament favourites Japan. The winner of the tournament earns a direct entry into World Volleyball Championship 2025.

• August 30-06 September: Asian Women's Volleyball Championships

Weightlifting

The World Weightlifting Championships are part of the Paris Olympics qualifying tournaments. Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Mirabai Chanu has tendered to only attend the weigh-in and will not be lifting any weights, setting her focus for the Asian Games.

• September 04-17: World Weightlifting Championships