What's on in November: A guide to all the major sports events this month

In the month of October, Indian sports saw the rise of new stars and the glow of the old. From young grappler Ravinder to the legendary Mary Kom, from Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy to Anandan Gnanasekaran, many athletes did the country proud in the international stage last month.

However, November promises to be just as exciting (if not more) for all Indian sports lovers. Let’s take a look at the major upcoming sports events and tournaments where the country’s top athletes will take part and fight for the top prizes:

Badminton:

BWF hosts a series of tournaments in November with the major events being, Fuzhou China Super 750 Open which will be held from 5th to 10th November. India's top shuttlers are supposed to take part in this tournament. YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open which will be held from 12th to 17th November, INFOSYS FOUNDATION India International Challenge from 20th to 24th and Syed Modi International Badminton Championships from 26th November to 1st December.

Football:

India will play two important matches for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023. The first match will be played against Afghanistan on 14th November and the next match would be played against Oman on 19th November. India had lost 2-1 against Oman in its first match and the other two matches were a draw. Therefore, winning these two matches would be very important for the Indian Football team.

Tennis:

In Tennis, the ATP Challenger( Pune) would be held from 11-17 November. Adding on, the India-Pakistan Davis Cup tie will be tentatively held on 29 or 30 November in Islamabad. However, the venue and date would be fixed after a security review on 4th November by All India Tennis Association (AITA).

Women's Cricket:

The Women's Cricket team will begin their journey this month from 3rd November. They will be playing 3 T20I and 2 test matches this month. The T20I will begin on 3rd followed by 7th and 10th November, against Bangladesh. The test matches would be played against Bangladesh again on 14th and 22nd November. All these matches would he home matches which would be beneficial to the Women's Cricket Team.

Hockey:

Both the Indian Men and Women team would play the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers Odisha from 1st Nov to 2nd Nov. The women's team would play against the USA and the match would be broadcasted on star sports at 18:00 IST on both the days. The men's team would be playing against Russia and their match would be broadcasted at 20:00 IST on both the days.

Also read: Do-or-die for India at Hockey Olympics Qualifiers: All you need to know

Shooting:

In Rifle Shooting, the 14th Asian Championships would be held from 3rd to 13th November in Doha, Qatar. The Championship would include both the junior and senior category. The athletes would also face the most important event that is the ISSF (International Shooting Sports Federation) World Cup Final which would be held from 17th to 23rd November.

Along with Rifle Shooting, shotgun athletes would also participate in the 14th Asian Championships in Doha from 5th to 8th November in Trap category and 9th to 12th November in Skeet category. The championship for the junior category would be from 5th to 13th November. This championship is very important as thirty-eight Olympic quota places will be up for grabs in the continental tournament in the Qatari capital. A 41-member strong Indian shooting squad will look to secure the maximum possible

Archery:

Bangkok will host the Asian Archery Championships(CQT for 2020 Olympic games) which will be held from 21st to 29th November.

Boxing:

Indian elite men and women boxing team will participate in the Test Event of 2020 Tokyo Olympic games at Tokyo, Japan from 26th October till 1st November. The Indian contingent comprises of 8 athletes and 3 support staff.

Weightlifting:

The Alexandra Cup which is the qualification event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games will be held from 1st to 4th November in Grodno, Belarus.

With the Tokyo Olympics coming close it is very important for the Indian athletes to perform exceptionally in the qualification and other remaining tournaments to get an entry into the Olympics. This will bring about a strong contingent size for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.