28th December to 3rd January
Welcome back for another short week of world sports events. For many Christmas Day would have been different than ever before, and we trust that it was as pleasant as it could possible be despite the current restrictions in many areas. The difficult year we have had will have prepared several sports governing bodies to become much more inventive with their season for 2021.
Looking at current major events taking place, the leaders of the Vendée Globe are currently located between New Zealand and the southern tip of South America. Once the skippers have successfully rounded Cape Horn, it is up the Atlantic back to the starting point of Les Sables-d'Olonne in western France. The expected arrival is sometime next month. Frenchman Yannick Bestaven has been sharing the lead with fellow countryman Charlie Dalin for a while now. Yesterday the Junior Men Ice Hockey World Championship started in Edmonton, Alberta. Ten teams have taken careful precautions to isolate leading up to the event. The hosts are the current holders and it would appear are again the favourites to retain the trophy. Apart from that, the winter season across Europe continues at a steady pace. The major annual event this week is the Snow Queen World Cup in Zagreb starting on Sunday. Finally, the much anticipated 2021 Dakar Rally also starts next Sunday with Saudi Arabia as the host nation. The motor sport event is regarded as the toughest in the world.
Until next time, Happy New Year and have a great sporting week!
Chess
26th December to Wednesday - European Youth Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship 2020 - Novi Sad, Serbia
Cricket
26th December to Wednesday - New Zealand v Pakistan (1st Test) - Tauranga, New Zealand; Australia v India (2nd Test) - Melbourne, Australia; South Africa v Sri Lanka (1st Test) - Centurion, South Africa
Sunday to 7th January 2021 - New Zealand v Pakistan (2nd Test) - Christchurch, New Zealand; South Africa v Sri Lanka (2nd Test) - Johannesburg, South Africa
Cycling
Sunday - 2020-2021 UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup - Hulst, The Netherlands
Darts
15th December to Sunday - PDC World Darts Championship - London, Great Britain
eSports
3rd December to 21st February 2021 - FIS eSports Alpine World Ski Championships
Ice Hockey
25th December to 5th January - 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship - Edmonton, Canada
Luge
Saturday to Sunday - Eberspächer World Cup and Team Relay World Cup - Berchtesgaden-Königssee, Germany
Motor Sport
Sunday to 15th January - 2021 Dakar Rally - Saudi Arabia
Polo
Wednesday - Herbie Pennell Cup - USA
Sunday to 13th January - Joe Barry Memorial Cup - USA
Running
Thursday - Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana - Madrid, Spain
Sailing
8th November to January 2021 - Vendée Globe
Ski & Snowboarding
26th December to Tuesday - FIS Men's Downhill and Super G World Cup - Bormio, Italy
Monday - FIS Masters Cup Men's Giant Slalom - Abetone, Italy
Monday to Tuesday - FIS Women's Giant Slalom and Slalom World Cup - Semmering, Austria; FIS Men's Ski Jumping World Cup - Oberstdorf, Germany
Thursday to Friday - FIS Men's Ski Jumping World Cup - Garmish Partenkirchen, Germany
Friday to Sunday - FIS Cross-Country World Cup and Stage World Cup - Val Müstair, Switzerland
Saturday to Sunday - FIS Men's Ski Jumping World Cup - Innsbruck, Austria
Sunday to 6th January - FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Snow Queen Trophy 2021 - Zagreb, Croatia
Ski Marathon
Tuesday - Vasaloppet China - 25km CT and 50km CT - Changchun, China
Surfing
21st December to 31st March 2021 - World Surf League - Jaws Championship Pe'ahi Women's and Men's Big Wave Stop 1 - Haiku, Maui, Hawaii