31st December to 6th January
The ATP and WTA tennis season has started in earnest this week with the Hopman Cup in Perth and five additional tournaments in countries like India, China, New Zealand and Australia. This is all building up to the first Grand Slam of the season starting on the 14th January in Melbourne. Apart from tennis, the week ahead is dominated by winter sports like Skiing, Luge, Bobsleigh and Skeleton. There are three FIS Cross-Country and Jumping World Cups, with one each of Alpine and Nordic Combined. Next Sunday the only IAAF Gold Label Road Race is the Xiamen Marathon, while over the weekend World Fencing produces five Junior World Cup tournaments with Hungary and Italy hosting.
One of the main tournaments concluding this week is the William Hill Darts World Championship. The semi-finals will be decided between Michael Smith v Nathan Aspinall and Michael van Gerwen v Gary Anderson. The final is scheduled for Tuesday. In addition, the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships finishes on Monday, while the IIHF World Men's U20 Ice Hockey Championship finishes on Saturday. The following day World Ice Hockey resumes with the start of the U18 Women's World Championship in Obihiro, Japan. Thursday also sees the start of the World Junior-B Curling Championships in Lohja, Finland. This tournament is for smaller affiliated nations and acts as a qualification for the main event later this year.
It is a quieter week in sport, but from the 7th January onward many more sporting seasons will resume. We wish you a Happy New Year and all the best sporting success in 2019!
Bobsleigh
Saturday - BMW IBSF World Cup (2-woman Bobsleigh / 2-man Bobsleigh) - Altenberg
Sunday - BMW IBSF World Cup (4-man Bobsleigh) - Altenberg
Chess
25th December to Monday - World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2018 - St. Petersburg
Cricket
Thursday - New Zealand v Sri Lanka, 1st ODI - Mount Maunganui; Australia v India, 4th Test - Sydney; South Africa v Pakistan, 2nd Test - Cape Town
Curling
Thursday to 10th January - World Junior-B Curling Championships 2019 - Lohja
Darts
13th December to Tuesday - William Hill World Championship - London
Draughts
28th December to 12th January - World Title Match: A.Shvartsman - R.Boomstra - various locations, Netherlands
Fencing
Saturday - Junior Men World Cup (Epée) - Tokyo; Junior Women and Men World Cup (Sabre) - Budapest
Saturday to Sunday - Junior Women World Cup (Epée & Foil); Junior Men World Cup (Foil) - Udine
Ice Hockey
26th December to Saturday - 2019 IIHF World Men's U20 Championship - Vancouver
Sunday to 13th January - 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship - Obihiro
Luge
Wednesday to Thursday - FIL Junior Luge World Cup on Natural Track - Obdach-Winterleiten
Saturday to Sunday - Viessmann World Cup; Viessmann Team Relay World Cup presented by BMW - Berchtesgaden-Königsse; FIL Junior Luge World Cup on Natural Track - Seiseralm
Marathon Ski
Friday - FIS Worldloppet Cup - Vasaloppet China - Changchun
Running
Sunday - Xiamen Marathon (IAAF Gold Label Road Race) - China
Skeleton
Friday - BMW IBSF Women's and Men's World Cup - Altenberg
Ski & Snowboarding
Monday to Tuesday - Jumping - Men's HS142 - Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Tuesday - Cross-Country - Women's and Men's Sprint F - Val Müstair
Tuesday - Alpine - Women's and Men's City Event - Oslo
Wednesday to Thursday - Cross-Country - Women's and Men's 10 km C, 10 km F Pursuit and 15 km F Pursuit - Oberstdorf
Thursday to Friday - Jumping - Men's HS130 - Innsbruck
Friday to Sunday - Nordic Combined - Men's Gundersen NH HS97/10.0 km - Otepää
Saturday to Sunday - Jumping - Men's HS142 - Bischofshofen
Saturday to Sunday - Cross-Country - Women's and Men's 10 km C Mst; 15 km C Mst; Final Climb - Val di Fiemme
Saturday to Sunday - Alpine - Women's and Men's Slalom - Zagreb
Tennis
29th December to Saturday - Hopman Cup - Perth
30th December to Saturday - Shenzhen Open - Shenzhen (WTA)
Monday to Saturday - ASB Classic - Auckland (WTA); Tata Open Maharashtra - Pune (ATP); Qatar ExxonMobil Open - Doha (ATP)
Monday to Sunday - Brisbane International - Brisbane (ATP/WTA)