LOOKING AHEAD
Sporting highlights for your 2022 calendar
The world’s collective hangovers should have worn off and it is full speed ahead with New Year’s Resolutions for 2022 – for those who have not already given up until 2023, that is.
The sporting world is also looking to make a fresh start this year after the huge impact of COVID-19 on the calendar for 2020 and 2021.
It is full steam ahead already this month, which started with football’s African Cup of Nations on January 9. The tournament runs until February 6 as the 24 teams look to be crowned the kings of the continent.
Blink and it is time for another big event – the Australian Open. The first tennis Slam of the year runs from January 17 to 30 at Melbourne Park. This is the 110th edition of the event and it is not likely to disappoint.
Way on the horizon is the biggest event of them all, the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, which will take place from November 21 to December 18, but there is plenty more to come in between.
So what else can we look forward to in the months to come?
Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games – February 4-20
History will be made when the Olympic cauldron is lit to mark the opening of the 24th Winter Games as Beijing will become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
Events will take place in the Chinese capital, including at venues previously used for the Summer Games of Beijing 2008, and on the slopes on neighboring Hebei Province. Despite the difficulties presented by international travelers descending on China during the coronavirus pandemic organizers are confident that they will put on a Games to remember as the world feasts on 109 events over 15 disciplines in seven sports.
Super Bowl LVI – February 13
The NFL’s annual showpiece is set to roll into Los Angeles this year and will be making itself at home in the plush surroudings of the $5 billion SoFi Stadium if all goes to plan.
Local living legend Dr Dre has been booked for the halftime show and the long-awaited commercials have already begun being teased, too.
However, COVID-19 means that the Super Bowl might yet have to switch venues, with the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, the home of the Cowboys, among alternative options being mentioned if Los Angeles cannot play host.
One thing is for sure, the show will go on, wherever it is and whoever makes it.
Women’s ODI Cricket World Cup – March 4-April 3
Postponed for a year because of COVID-19, which then cut last year’s qualifiers short, the World Cup finally arrives in New Zealand where the top eight teams will battle it out for the one-day crown.
Bangladesh, Pakistan and the West Indies are in on account of their One Day International rankings and they join the hosts along with Australia, England, South Africa and India. England are the reigning champions after winning at home five years ago though Australia might be favorites.
The men’s T20 World Cup takes place in Australia from October 16 to November 13 with the hosts also the holders.
Southeast Asian Games – May 12-23
Another event that was meant to take place in 2021 before COVID-19 saw it delayed until this year, the SEA Games will take place in Vietnam for this 31st edition of the regional competition.
This time there will be 40 sports on show, most of which are from the Olympics alongside regional favorites such as muay thai, sepak takraw and pencak silat.
2021 Summer World University Games – June 26-July 7
Formerly known as Universiade, the tournament pits the best sporting students in the world against one another in 18 sports across 268 events. This is another tournament that has been delayed a year with Chengdu set to become the third Chinese city to host the sporting jamboree.
UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 – July 6-31
England steps up to host another European Championships with the women’s event coming a year after their men went all the way to Wembley before losing to Italy in the final last summer, the yearlong delay of which pushed this tournament back to 2022.
The hosts will be vying with the holders the Netherlands to lift the trophy which they won at the 2017 edition. All 16 teams, incuding debutants Northern Ireland, will have dreams of Wembley.
Commonwealth Games – July 28-August 8
Birmingham becomes the third English city to host the Commonwealth Games this summer where it will lay on 283 events in 20 sports. Some of the biggest names in athletics are expected to be on show as more than 5,000 athletes from 72 nations battle it out for gold.
2022 Asian Games – September 10-25
Hangzhou follows Beijing and Guangzhou in hosting the jewel in the crown of Asian sporting excellence, with the city welcoming athletes from Oceania for the first time at an Asian Games.
Those athletes will be taking part in events where Paris 2024 qualification is on offer, while eSports will be full medal events for the first time after making its debut as a demonstration sport in 2018. China’s athletes, who so impressed at the Tokyo Olympics last year, will look to put on a show at home.
Rugby World Cup – October 8November 12
The ninth women’s edition of the tournament was delayed a year with hosts New Zealand also the reigning champions.
They played a part in the previous tournament, which was held in Northern Ireland, posting record attendance and viewing figures and organizers World Rugby will be looking for similar success in the southern hemisphere summer.
The men’s Rugby League World Cup, which runs from October 15 to November 19 in England, means it is a bumper month for rugby fans.
The National Football League regular season ended on January 9 night and with it the road to the Super Bowl has taken shape as the final playoff spots were cemented.
This season was the first in NFL history to feature 17 regular-season games and two players went into the final game with a chance of putting their names into the record books. One of them – Tom Brady – has his name written into American football history many times over while Cooper Kupp has had a season to remember.
The Los Angeles Rams wide receiver went into his team’s matchup with the San Francisco 49ers within sight of two single-season records – receptions and receiving yards. In the end the Pro Bowl wide receiver came up short despite seven catches for 118 yards and a touchdown.
Kupp needed just 18 more yards to best Calvin Johnson’s single-season record of 1,964 yards but he goes down as the second best, while he needed five more catches to set a single-season best in receptions, setting another second best mark.
Never mind, Kupp won the receiving Triple Crown – finishing the season as the NFL’s leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns – a feat not managed since 2005.
He is one of only four players to capture the Triple Crown, joining the San Francisco 49ers legend Jerry Rice, Sterling Sharpe of the Green Bay Packers and Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers.
Over the course of this season the 28-year-old clocked 145 receptions, 1,947 receiving yards and 16 receiving touchdowns.
It was a stellar solo season for Klupp as he guided the Rams to the NFC West title and they move on to face their divisional foes the Arizona Cardinals in the wild card game. This came despite defeat to the 49ers in the regular-season finale.
The San Francisco 49ers had a wild journey of their own to the wild card game – coming back from 17-0 down to the Rams before pulling ahead in overtime to take a 27-24 win. The win takes them to a wild card game against the Dallas Cowboys – the first time since the mid-1990s that the once dominant forces clash heads on the road to the Super Bowl.
Like the Niners, the Pittsburgh Steelers stole in at the last, too. Their wild card spot came thanks to the unlikeliest of routes.
The Jacksonville Jaguars, who had been out of the postseason conversation for the best part of a month after their poor performances, pulled off a shock victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the final game of the season. The Steelers had edged past the Baltimore Ravens in overtime to give themselves the best chance but they then needed the Las Vegas Raiders and San Diego Chargers game to end with a win rather than a tie.
The Raiders came good in OT to send the Steelers to the playoffs thanks to a field goal and move on to meet the Cincinnati Bengals in the wild card game. The Bengals had already secured a first playoff appearance since 2015 and rested up their starters in a season ending dead rubber defeat to the Cleveland Browns.
The Steelers will now face the Kansas City Chiefs, who come into it with nine wins in their last 10 games and as second seeds in the AFC behind the Tennessee Titans – just missing
out on a bye to the next round of the playoffs. The Chiefs – Super Bowl winners in 2020 and runners-up to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last time out – beat the Denver Broncos to wrap up that ninth win in a row.
Last year’s Super Bowl champions are still in the hunt for another seat at the Big Dance next month, though they needed Brady at his legendary best once again.
Brady passed 5,000 yards on January 9, becoming the oldest player to do so and only the second player to meet the mark in multiple seasons. His feat came in a 41-17 win over the Carolina Panthers, in which he also broke his own Bucs single-season record for touchdown passes – clocking up numbers 41, 42 and 43 of the season. Brady also surpassed Drew Brees – the only quarterback with more 5,000-yard seasons – for single-season pass completions, setting a new mark of 471. Brady, even at 44, has thrown his way back into the MVP conversation.
The Buccaneers – who won 13 games in a season for the first time in franchise history – secured the No.2 seed in the NFC playoffs and now meet the Philadelphia Eagles in their wild card game.
“Thirteen wins and it hasn’t been easy,” said coach Bruce Arians. “We’ve had a lot of guys down all season.”
“In the end, it’s a great achievement to get the two seed,” said Brady, who finished with a career-high 5,316 passing yards as he enters his 19th postseason.
“It just felt good to win today. Whatever happened with other teams, you can’t ever really control those things. Even for the next game – I don’t know, what, you’re worried about two games from now? I’m not worried about two games from now. I’m worried about one game from now, which is the Eagles.”
Brady’s former team, the New England Patriots, will take on Buffalo Bills in the wild card – the third time that the AFC East rivals will go head-to-head this season. The Bills are the form team and took the divisional title ahead of the Pats who had slowed up in recent weeks, finishing off with a loss to the Miami Dolphins. Experience could be a factor as Bill Bellichick’s Pats are old hands when it comes to the postseason but this is only the second time the teams have met in the playoffs.
The Green Bay Packers – the No.1 ranked team in the NFC – join the Titans in getting a bye as the top-ranked teams in the conference. Both the Packers and Titans will be rewarded with a home game against the lowest-seeded team from their respective conferences to make it through the wild card round.