2011 has finish and 2012 is starting and the Rugby is going to be coming thick and fast. There is no time to breath as we get straight into it. So what going to be on in January.
Tennis
The Tennis season is restarting at the moment with all the English players featuring this month. There are 8 ATP tour tournaments and 4 WTA tournaments. With the 1st of the 4 majors of the year starting on the 16th of January. The Australian Open is a competition that all of the English players will want to be part of.
There are 4 Female players in with a possibility of qualifying for the Ozzie open. Keaothavong(72), Watson(92), Robson(133) and Broady(196). The 1st 3 have a realistic chance of making it but they may have to go through the tough and grueling qualifying process, with Broady having her work cut out if she is to qualify. If they do get through to the main draw then they will be fighting for bigger money and ranking points that comes with the majors. They will want to be there and have that chance for success.
There is only 1 real male player in with a chance of making the main draw. James Ward who caused those big shocks back at Queens last year. Ward is currently ranked 162 and will also have to go through the qualifying phase to get into the main draw.
There are a few English Juniors that will be at the Australian Open playing in the Junior tournament and if the recent Juniors major competition are to go by then we are in a with shout of seeing an English Junior champion especially in the Boys category.
All of the top English players are in Australia or New Zealand trying to get any many points as they can in the build up competitions so that they can try and get straight into the main draw without qualifying. Good luck to them all and we hope to see you in the Australian Open and doing well.
It is worth mentioning that the Scots of Elena Baltacha and Andy Murray are the best British players at the moment and will both be in the main draws in Oz with Andy Murray having a great chance of winning his 1st major and the 1st British major champion in 75 years.
Golf
The Golf season kicks off in January. The European tour starts down in the beautiful South Africa on the 5th to the 8th of January at the Africa Open follow by the Joburg Open on the 12th till the15th and the Volvo Golf Champions on 19th till the 22nd with Paul Casey defending his title from last year. Then the last tournament of the month is the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on the 26th till the 29th of January. All of the English players will be looking to get a good start to the season as this year is a Ryder Cup year and everyone would love to play in the Ryder Cup.
The PGA tour also starts in January with 2 tournaments in the glorious Hawaii starting with Hyundai Tournament of Champions on the 6th to the 9th followed by the Sony Open from the 12th to the 15th. Then the tour moves to sunny California when they play the Humana Challenge Clinton Foundation tournament and the Farmers Insurance Open at the world renowned Torrey Pines. There are 13 English players that played on the PGA tour last year. All the English boys will be wanting to watch and take notes about the US players for the Ryder Cup and to play on US turf to get us to the playing field.
All the English players will be wanting to continue the great form of the English lately and to try and get as many ranking points and prize money as possible.
Cricket
England are starting the year as the World number one test team. They now look to keep a top of the ranking tables when they take on Pakistan. Pakistan are a big cricket country and are a formidable force in world and test cricket. England will play a 3 match test series in the UAE. The 1st test match in on the 17th to the 23rd of January in Dubai and then just 3 days later the 2nd test starts on the 25th to the 30th with the 3rd test being played in the beginning of February. England will hopefully have the series wrapped by the end of January and be 2-0 so they can take it easy in the 3rd test before the ODI’s and the Twenty20 matches in February.
Athletics
The English Athletes are starting what could be the biggest and most important year of their lives. They will be training hard and doing everything in their power to do what is needed to make Team GB for the Olympics.
The Great Winter Run is on the 7th of Jan up in the cultured city of Edinburgh. The low distance runners will use this event as good training running in the cold hills of Edinburgh. With a lot of the world’s best in attendance including such people as Mo Farah.
Then we move a few miles down the road to Glasgow for the Aviva international on the 28th of Jan. There are 17 events planed for this day. Currently there are 10 English competitors confirmed but with there still being over 3 weeks to go to the day there will be many more by the day of competition. There are 4 male and 6 female English competitors, the main one being once again Mo Farah who will be in the final event the 1500metres.
So what are you looking forward to this month?
SweetEngland 