Sport calendar 2014: From the Winter Olympics to the World Cup in Brazil, the events to look forward to in the year ahead

 
Standard Sport24 December 2013

2013 had a tough act to follow after an Olympic year but lived up to it. So what does 2014 have in store?

January

Cameron Spencer/Getty

The man of 2013, Andy Murray, faces his first big test of the year in the Australian Open (13-26) where expectation will be high after his Wimbledon success despite having undergone surgery for an ongoing back problem. England’s cricketers, meanwhile, will be hoping to begin 2014 better than they ended this year with the fifth and final Ashes Test in Sydney and one-day series.

February

Britain have never won more than four medals at a single Winter Olympics but the team have been predicted to come away with five at the Games in Sochi (7-23). Also, Warren Gatland, who guided the Lions to victory in Australia, will be hoping to follow up on the finest year of his career as Wales look to defend their Six Nations crown (Feb 1-Mar 15). Meanwhile, the Super League season begins (7).

March

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The first silverware of the football season is up for grabs in the Capital One Cup Final at Wembley (2), where Bradford caused a shock by reaching the big event last season. There has been nothing surprising about Formula One but the FIA hope that the change in engine rules will alter this. Only time will tell as Sebastian Vettel (above) starts his quest for a fifth straight world title at the Australian Grand Prix (16). Jessica Ennis-Hill will potentially get the chance to test her recovery from injury at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Sopot, Poland (7-9), as British Winter Paralympians strive for gold in Sochi (7-16). In addition, England’s cricketers will try to win back the ICC World Twenty20 trophy (Mar 16-Apr 6).

April

Andrew Redington/Getty Images

This year’s Masters proved a glorious turnaround for Adam Scott, who bounced back from his 2012 Open implosion to win a play-off against Angel Cabrera. This time (10-13), he will be looking to fend off the likes of Tiger Woods, who is targeting a fifth Green Jacket. Three great institutions of British sport also pervade the month: the Grand National (5), the Boat Race (6) and the London Marathon (13), where Mo Farah will be competing over the 26.2-mile distance for the first time.

May

Trying to predict who will battle it out in the Champions League Final (24) in Lisbon is tough with the last-16 draw only recently being made. Last year's winners Bayern Munich will fancy their chances if they can overcome Arsenal in the next round. As for the Europa League Final (14) in Turin, where 32 teams are still involved, you can take your pick! By then, the fate of the English Premier League champions will already be known, the last weekend of matches taking place on the 11th with the FA Cup final six days later. There has been much conjecture about the future direction of European rugby but the last Heineken Cup as it stands also takes place during the month in Cardiff (24) and it’s the second Grand Slam of the year with the French Open (May 26-June 8).

June

The World Cup (June 12-July 13) gets under way with Brazil’s game against Croatia in Sao Paulo (12) while England open their campaign in Manaus against Italy (14). Clashing with the World Cup, there may not be quite the same public fervour as Murray bids to retain his Wimbledon crown (June 23-July 6), while another Briton, Justin Rose, will be defending his US Open title (12-15) at Pinehurst. The first home Test series of the summer begins against Sri Lanka at Lord’s (12).

July

The beginning of the month sees the start of the quarter-final stage of the World Cup and similarly the same stage of Wimbledon. Chris Froome will start his Tour de France defence (5-27) in Leeds of all places with the customary finish in Paris, while the British public will also be looking for a home winner at the British Grand Prix (6). The two-week long Commonwealth Games also begin in Glasgow (July 23-Aug 3) plus the month plays host to the Open Championship at Hoylake (17-20), won in 2013 for the first time by Phil Mickelson. England also start their five-match Test series against India at Trent Bridge (9).

August

The month marks the return of the Premier League action for another season while the Commonwealth Games reach their conclusion in Scotland. Murray will be hoping to add to his 2012 US Open title (Aug 25-Sept 8) and to bounce back from his exit at the quarter-final stage in 2013. The likes of Ennis-Hill, Farah and Christine Ohuruogu (above) will hopefully spearhead the British team at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich (12-17) while the Rugby Championship (Aug 16-Oct 4) gets under way. Wigan will also be hoping for a successful Challenge Cup defence in the final at Wembley (23).

September

With the qualifying matches having preceded it in the summer, the first round of group games begins in the Champions League (Sept 16-17). The British public will once again throng to the streets for the Tour of Britain cycling race (7-14) just ahead of the Road World Championships (21-28) in Ponferrada, Spain.

October

Getty

Wigan will be hoping to be in the box seat for the defence of their Super League Grand Final title at Old Trafford (11) while, injury permitting, Serena Williams will once again be the one to beat as the women’s top eight tennis players head to Singapore for the WTA Championships (20-26).

November

The Formula One season reaches its finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (23). Tennis is to the fore in the capital as London once more plays host to the end-of-season ATP World Finals between the top eight players in the men’s game (9-17), which is followed shortly afterwards by the Davis Cup Final (21). The northern and southern hemispheres collide once more with the autumn internationals, with England taking on New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.

December

A bunch of bananas attend the opening day of action
PA Wire

After the Ashes debacle, at least England won’t be Down Under as Christmas approaches. In fact, they will be in Sri Lanka for a series of one-day and Twenty20 matches, so it will be India up against the Aussies, who could be No1 in the world by then. Meanwhile, there should be plenty of festive cheer and fun at Alexandra Palace as the PDC World Championships (Dec 12-Jan 1) brings the year to an end.

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