Sports schedule 2026. (Photo- pti/getty)

Sports Event Schedule 2026: The new year 2026 is going to be full of excitement and expectations for Indian sports fans. Indian players will be in the race for medals and titles in many big international tournaments, and the journey of qualification for Los Angeles Olympics 2028 will also begin. From cricket to chess, badminton and athletics, there will be challenges and opportunities in every field. Which will start from the very first month of the year.

Expectation of two big titles in cricket

The year will start with cricket. The Under-19 World Cup will be played in Zimbabwe and Namibia from January 15 to February 6, where young stars like Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre will look for a chance to shine. Then the Men's T20 World Cup will be held between India and Sri Lanka from 7 February to 8 March, where the Indian team will try to defend the title. On the other hand, in tennis, the Australian Open will be held in January, while in the All England Badminton Championship in March, players like PV Sindhu will try to leave behind past failures. For football fans, the Indian women's team will participate in the AFC Women's Asian Cup in Australia in March after a long gap.

April to June: Chess, badminton and women's cricket

The World Championship challenger will be decided by the Candidates Chess Tournament in Cyprus in April, where defending champion D Gukesh will be in focus. Indian players like Praggnananda, Vaishali, Humpy and Divya will be participating. At the same time, Asian Boxing Championship will also be held in Mongolia. On the other hand, Indian teams have qualified in the Asian Weightlifting Championship in Ahmedabad, Thomas-Uber Cup Badminton and World Team Table Tennis Championship in London. After this, Harmanpreet Kaur's team will be a strong contender in the Women's T20 World Cup in June. Diamond League will start in athletics, where all eyes will be on Neeraj Chopra's javelin throw. Apart from these, Tennis Grand Slam French Open and Wimbledon will also be held in the same period. The big event of FIFA World Cup will be held in America, Mexico and Canada in June.

From Commonwealth to Asian Games

The Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow in July-August, where India will be significantly strong in athletics, boxing and weightlifting, but sports like shooting, wrestling and hockey are out. At the same time, World Badminton Championship will be seen in Delhi, Hockey World Cup in Netherlands-Belgium (men's team qualifier, women's qualifier) ​​and Athletics Tour in Bhubaneswar. After this, the hockey gold winner will get an Olympic ticket at the Asian Games in Japan in September, with a quota in shooting also at stake. Diamond League finals and Chess Olympiad will also be held at the same time.

These big tournaments between October and December

In the last months of the year, there will be World Wrestling Championship in Bahrain, Weightlifting World Championship, ISSF Shooting World Championship in Doha and World Chess Championship in December (date and venue yet to be decided). In such a situation, 2026 can prove to be a memorable year for Indian sports, where new stars will emerge and experienced players will reach new heights.