Sporting events to look forward to in 2021 

Sports across the globe have been heavily affected by the pandemic. There have been delays, cancellations and stops altogether to the calendars fans so look forward to each coming year. Yet with the optimism of vaccines on the horizon, it can be firmly said that good things are coming for those who have patiently waited for sports to remerge across pitches and television screens worldwide. Here’s a list of 2021 sporting events to look forward to in the new year.

Snooker

Snooker is a sport that has been undoubtedly a favourite for generations. As the Masters World Championship approaches in the upcoming new year – coupled with the BetVictor German Masters and Gibraltar Open in January 2021 – things really are looking up for fans all around the world. With so many snooker events to look forward to, be sure to watch via the snooker live stream, just to make sure that one doesn’t miss a second of the action!

UEFA Champions League 

The UEFA Champions League has been put on hold due to the outbreak. Since March officials were not willing to move forward with this event. However, due to improvements, preliminary round matches began again in August, with group stages beginning in October, and are estimated to continue (fingers crossed) with all steam ahead up until the 29^th of May for the final within Istanbul. 

The key thing that officials are trying to learn from the uncertainty of the pandemic is that unfortunately everything will need to be taken one day at a time, with some expectations of delay (give or take a few days). Nevertheless, the final is something that everyone will be putting in their calendar as something to look forward to, despite all the ambiguity at the moment. 

IIHF World Championships 

The IIHF World Championships are set to commence this coming May and June of 2021. Of course, before the event is set to take place, many sportsbooks have already taken picks of their favourites to win many months ahead of the live games. The current favourites are Canada and the US as they’re expected to have a chance of winning the entire tournament. Yet as time goes on and players resume training, the player line-ups, injuries and other variables will surely change the odds. 

The champions from the previous World Championships tournament Russia and Finland – as well as other great playing top teams such as Germany, the Czech Republic and Sweden – will be there trying to win and nab up the title for themselves. Only time will tell how these teams will actually compete!

Royal Ascot 

Everyone remembers how the lack of a crowd from the 2020 Royal Ascot was a disappointing event indeed. It can never be the same without the buzz, excitement and energy that the fans and spectators bring to the tournaments. The atmosphere, unfortunately, was rather flat and many are hoping that the affair in June 2021 will be something more uplifting as it was in the good old days. Usually, around 300,000 people can fill up the racing event over the five-day period. If the next tournament shows even just half of the numbers, the energy will be returned once more, that is for sure.

Many suspect that Stradivarius will be the second horse in history to win the Gold Cup four times in a row. We will just have to see how things ultimately unfold in the new year.

National European Championships

The National European Championships are set to take place in June and July 2021. There will be a total of 24 teams taking it out against one another with hopes becoming the elite winner and football champions of Europe. The tournaments will take place across the globe within 12 different countries. With the travel restrictions that have loomed over everyone this year, let’s hope quarantining is something of a distant past once the vaccine is underway. 

The favourites for next year’s event are currently France due to their well-deserved win within the Final of the World Cup in Russia. Of course, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Germany will make sure that France has a lot to work to earn that win.

Summer Olympics 

When have the Olympics ever not been something to globally look forward to? The 32^nd Olympics will take place in Tokyo, Japan in the summer of next year. There will be a total of 200 regions across the world participating, with over 11,000 athletes attempting to win the gold for their country. The last time that Japan hosted the event was in 1964, and the venues being used next year will be the same that were used over 50 years ago – just with a few modern updates.

One thing that is for sure is that everyone should hold tight and be patient. All sports have suffered through this pandemic and spectators have not been able to enjoy them together but rather only through television screens. However, things will improve and get better again, it is just a case of when. Fingers crossed things these exciting sporting events continue as planned!

The editorial unit