24 - 30 July
With several records already broken, the World Aquatics Championships enter into the final week in Fukuoka, Japan. Moving further south to Australia and New Zealand, the FIFA Women's World Cup resumes with further group matches. Remaining in Australia, the next generation of squash stars are shining at the World Squash Federation World Junior Championship with the champions to be decided on Saturday. Two major underwater sports are currently in progress. Brisbane hosts the CMAS Underwater Hockey Elite and Masters World Championship, while in the Bahamas the most famous freediving competition features at Dean's Blue Hole, the world's second deepest of 202 metres. The AIDA Vertical Blue 2023 completes on Sunday.
We have several World Sailing Championships in progress hosted by various European nations. These classes include Cadet, J/22, Formula 18, ILCA 4, Yngling, Vaurien, Mirror, and Topper. Milan takes centre stage for fencing experts at the FIE Fencing World Championship that concludes on Sunday. Not far from there, Monte Carlo hosts the 54th Backgammon World Championship. Over in Germany, the city of Mannheim will determine the Men's Fistball World Champion 2023 on Saturday. One of the highlights of the Olympic spirit is currently underway in Maribor, Slovenia. Europe's Youth are attending the 2023 Summer Olympic Festival until Saturday.
Monday begins with two World Military Championships. Vilnius hosts Basketball 3x3, while Judo experts gather in Santo Domingo. There are five more World Sailing Championships this week. These include RS500 in Nechranice, RS Aero in Calasetta, Topper for Masters in Cork, 29er in Weymouth, and Dart 18 in Bridlington.
We have four major Air Sports competitions. Experts in Model Gliding gather in Rodekro, Denmark, for the F3B World Championship. Toruń in Poland hosts the World Glider Acrobatic and the World Glider Advanced Acrobatic Championships. Turkey's Aksaray is the location for next Paragliding World Cup starting on Saturday. The following day we see the World Rally Flying Championship begin in Mâcon, France.
The toughest date on the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship calendar heads to Sibiu, Romania, for the Red Bull Romaniacs. The main pentathlon competition this week is for the rising stars at the UIPM U19 World Championship in Istanbul. The biggest stars of Footbag will be in action in Medellín, Colombia, for the IFPA World Footbag Championship.
Windsurfers are heading to Sotavento on the island of Fuerteventura for the next stage of the Professional Windsurfers Association World Cup. The T293 and T293Plus class compete at Quiberon in France. Part of the World Obstacle stable, Orlando hosts the Ninja World Cup USA starting on Thursday. Postponed from last year, the biggest event for students features in Chengdu from Friday at the FISU World University Games. Very popular in Taiwan, Taipei City hosts the U23 Baseball World Cup.
In further motorsport, the Czech Round makes up Round 8 of the FIM Superbike World Championship. The famous Spa-Francorchamps hosts the Belgian Grand Prix as Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team appear unstoppable in the current season of the FIA Formula One World Championship. Formula E completes the season in London with Rounds 15 and 16 over the weekend. The FIM Sidecar Motocross World Championship moves to Cusses Gorse in England for Grand Prix 11 of the year. Rounding up on motorsport, the FIM Motocross World Championship heads to Vantaa in Finland for the big race on Sunday.
Held every four years since 1989, Jeux de la Francophonie is mostly for French-speaking nations and former colonies of France and features a combination of sporting and artistic events. Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo hosts from Friday. Moving further south in Africa where Cape Town opens the Netball World Cup 2023 also on Friday. The shortened Rugby Championship completes the third and final round on Saturday with matches in Melbourne and Johannesburg.
Chess fans are focussed on Baku from Saturday for the FIDE World Cup 2023 and the FIDE Women's World Cup 2023. Two forms of triathlons feature over the weekend. XTERRA with mountain bikes as a component, will be competing around Lac des Hermines, a lake near Super-Besse, France. Sunderland brings up the next stage of the World Triathlon Championship Series. Cunha in the state of São Paulo will be the next location for the International Federation of Sleddog Sports World Cup.
We have another Cornhole World Championship. On this occasion the American Cornhole League presents in Rock Hill, South Carolina, from Saturday. The area around Lake Tahoe will be the location for the 18th World Rogaining Championship. Mountain runners are in Piedmont, Italy, on Sunday for the Masters Skyrunning World Championship. Finally, a non-competitive event, the 17th World Gymnaestrada in Amsterdam brings together the largest number of active participants of any gymnastic event from Sunday until 5 August.
Until next time, have a great week in sport.