2023, similar to 2022, will be packed with World Cup action in all sports, a multi-sport event held every four years, along with multiple World and Asian Championships.
From an Indian perspective, next year will be crucial. 2023 will mark the third consecutive year that Indian athletes will compete in a multi-sport event, with the Asian Games being postponed in September in China due to COVID-19.
In 2021 and 2022, Indian athletes set new standards at the Tokyo Olympics and Birmingham Commonwealth Games, and similar exceptional performances are expected at the Asiad in Hangzhou. Additionally, this year will be the culmination of the Olympic qualifying cycle, with a number of opportunities for Indian athletes to secure their place at the Paris 2024 Games.
Here’s ESPN India’s handy guide to what to watch out for in 2023:
(For more information, here is a detailed calendar of all Indians in service through 2023.)
Hockey World Cup (men’s) in January
Earlier this year, India will host the Men’s World Hockey Championships in Odisha from January 13-29. This may interest you : Sports Streaming Makes Us All Losers. India might not be a big favorite for the title but they are expected to have a big run.
At the 2018 World Cup – also held in Odisha – India lost to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. But since then the team has grown in strength with medals at the 2021 Olympics (bronze) and the 2022 Commonwealth Games (silver) along with a good performance in the FIH Pro League (third place in the ’20-’21 edition).
The hosts are placed in Pool D along with England, Spain and Wales. India will open their campaign against Spain on January 13th.
In ice hockey, both the Indian men’s and women’s teams will also compete in the FIH Pro League – the high-level competition with nine teams – over the course of the year. While the men’s team qualified via the leaderboard, the women’s team won the FIH Nations Cup to make the cut.
Asian Games in October
This will be the big test for Indian athletes. To see also : Bernie Stolar, former President of Sega of America and founder of SCEA, has died at the age of 75. The Asian Games serve both as a dress rehearsal for the 2024 Olympic Games and as an Olympic qualifier in many disciplines.
Keep an eye out for all the Indian star names in action across all major sports as they will look to build the kind of momentum they had at the last edition in 2018 which was then carried over to the next Olympic cycle and Tokyo games. Asiad will also see India’s Kabaddi teams in action after a long hiatus, as well as the debut of new Olympic sports, Breaking and eSports in this edition.
Cricket World Cups
Yes, world championships. Several. 2023 will see three different world championships – the women’s T20 world championship in February, the men’s ODI world championship in October and the first-ever women’s U19 world championship (delayed by the pandemic) in January. On the same subject : How to actually play Netflix’s surprisingly great games. Any World Cup is always remarkable from an Indian cricket perspective and this year is no different.
Athletics World Championships in August
The World Athletics Championships will be held for the second consecutive year in 2023 (the one delayed by COVID-19 took place last year). They are expected to take place in Budapest from August 19 to August 27, 2023. In 2022, in Oregon, Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win a medal at the World Championships…and wasn’t satisfied with the silver he won. Also in athletics and Neeraj Chopra’s watch, there is Diamond League competition throughout the year.
Asian Wrestling Championships in March and April
Delhi will also host the Asian Wrestling Championships from March 28th to April 2nd. Delhi also hosted the tournament in February 2020. The tournament is important because it sets the seeding for September’s World Championships, which is an Olympic qualifier.
World Wrestling Championships in September
This brings us to the World Championships, which will be held in Belgrade, Serbia for the second year in a row. Dates are yet to be determined as they will clash with the Asian Games being pushed back. The World Championships will have 90 Olympic quota places available – 5 in each category – making it a very important event for Indian wrestlers.
Boxing World Championship — Women’s in March, Men’s in May
India will host the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship for the third time (after 2006 and 2018), with New Delhi hosting this year. The IBA Men’s World Boxing Championship will be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan next year from May 1-14.
India has a reigning world champion in Nikhat Zareen, who is also ESPN India’s Sportswoman of the Year for her title in 2022 and she is hoping to defend her title at home. New Delhi 2023 will also be the first event to introduce digital judging and fight scoring, touted as an important tool for the sport of boxing.
Weightlifting and Table Tennis Worlds
The other world championships this year are the World Weightlifting Championships, due to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in September, and the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals – the individual world championship event – in Durban in May. While Mirabai Chanu will once again be a medal favorite (she won silver in 2022), an elusive table tennis medal will be one of the goals of the ever-improving TT contingent.
Indian badminton
Indian Badminton is at a stage where there is something to consider at any tournament. In January 2023, PV Sindhu is poised for her injury comeback after missing half of the 2022 season with the injury sustained during her gold medal run at the Commonwealth Games in July. In men’s singles, India currently has three top 15 players in the world No.7 Lakshya Sen, No.8 HS Prannoy and No.12 Kidambi Srikanth. The highest ranking Indians and ESPN India’s Male Athlete of the Year are Satwilsairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty ranked No. 5 in the world.
These players made their mark in 2022 with a historic Thomas Cup win and a CWG win and are sure to carry that momentum into the new year as the Olympic qualifying cycle begins in May. The big tournaments will be the Asian Games, always a difficult affair for badminton, the World Championships in August and the Sudirman Cup in May – the mixed-team world championships that alternate with the Thomas and Uber Cups.
NOTE: The India Open, to be played in Delhi in January, has been increased to 750 this year and will have the international top stars in action despite a deadly tie for Indians.
Indian football
The 2023 AFC Asian Cup could be postponed to 2024 as the hosts have switched from China to Qatar and the weather conditions there mean winter is the best choice. But there are two other continental club competitions that Indian football should keep an eye on – the AFC Cup and the AFC Champions League in the second half of the year.
Women’s FIFA World Cup in August
The FIFA Women’s World Cup will be held in Australia and New Zealand. The tournament was expanded to 32 teams, similar to the men’s. The USA are two-time defending champions. Remember Megan Rapinoe was a ballerina in 2019?
In addition, the Men’s Rugby World Cup will be held in France in September and October, and the Men’s Basketball World Cup will be held in several Asian countries in August and September.
New Delhi, the capital of India, has twice hosted the Asian Games: the first Asian Games in 1951 and the Asian Games in 1982.
