Welcome to ESPN India Edition
Unlike the last four years, there will be no multi-sport event to look forward to in 2025. However, a year with a regular sporting calendar is also a good way for Indian sports fans forged after Paris 2024 to engage with Olympic sports and experience the non-televised grind during a fallow year that makes for a successful Games.
Despite no major medals to win, there is plenty of sporting action in 2025, not least being World Championships in several core sports India looks for Olympic podiums in. Of course, the usual annual big events will be peppered through the season: The four Grand Slams in tennis, Super 1000s in badminton, World Cups in shooting and archery; the conclusion of the Indian Super League season and the qualification for the Asian Cup in football; the FIH Pro League in hockey and continental events in a bunch of other sports. But the biggest moments will likely come from World Championships and quadrennial events.
Here’s a look at the major events to watch for in 2025, mainly from an Indian sports perspective:
This is a big one, from an Indian perspective. This is the world’s biggest single para-sport competition and it’ll be held in India for the first time.
Taking place from September 26 – October 5 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, the host nation can expect a bunch of medals again. There were a whopping 17 at the last edition in 2024 and as we saw the Paralympics, these athletes keep raising the standard by significant margins.
This event will also test India’s ability to host big para-sport events, which will be crucial in the 2036 Olympics bid. Right now, India has rudimentary para-friendly facilities at most stadiums and even more basic public infrastructure for the differently abled. This will need to change before the championship.
Delhi will host the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in March before this, which will give us an idea of India’s preparedness.
This year will feature World Championships in three of India’s most prominent Olympic core sports and it brings with it a plethora of intriguing storylines to follow.
The BWF World Championships start on August 25 in Paris, at the same venue as last year’s Olympics.
The Athletics World Championships will be held between September 13 to 21 in Tokyo, at the same stadium as the 2021 Olympics.
The Shooting World Championships will be at the start of November in Egypt.
The ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals 2025 will be in Doha from May 17th to 25th.
And oh are there storylines to watch out for!
There is Neeraj Chopra, the reigning javelin champion looking to defend his world crown after losing his Olympic one. He is as competitive as they come and we can be sure that he has already started training with this world defence as his biggest goal for 2025.
There will be plenty of other Indian interest too as track and field stars look to push the envelope – remember the men’s relay team at the last edition?
In badminton, India has to smash that final roadblock – major BWF titles. There’s been only one Indian world champion – in PV Sindhu – despite a long list of silver and bronze medals. Can that change in 2025? The platform is there but the final push is needed.
Shooting was India’s most successful sport at the Olympics and now will look for more glory at the World Championship. Once again, India does not have many world champions in the sport despite considerable podium finishes. 2025 can change that.
For table tennis, the bar right now keeps getting moved higher as young Indians script firsts. There’s been many a shock wins and an Asian games women’s doubles medal in the last few years. Now for it to be replicated on the biggest stage.
There is plenty of chess action through the year, and stakes for Indians as they try to reach the Candidates to potentially challenge reigning world champion D Gukesh, increase their ELO marks and for Gukesh, to now challenge in other formats.
The big one though is the World Cup. Held every two years, the FIDE Chess World Cup is slated for this season. In the 2023 edition, R Praggnanandhaa had stunned the field to reach the final before losing to Magnus Carlsen. Two years down the line, Indian chess has progressed so significantly that there will be multiple favourites this time around. The Women’s Chess World Cup will be held in Batumi, Georgia, from 5 July to 29 July. There is no confirmation of the dates and venue for the men’s event yet.
The inaugural Kho Kho World Cup, will be held in New Delhi from January 13-19. This first Kho Kho World Cup will feature both men’s and women’s teams, which is always a positive development. It is also set to include 25 countries such as, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, England, Germany, Brazil, Ghana, Kenya.
No one knows quite what to expect from this event as it’s the first time it’s being held but it’s a sport most Indians are familiar with and nostalgic about – thus, there will be something different to look forward to.
The men’s hockey Asia Cup, to be held in Rajgir, Bihar between August 27 – September 7 will be a chance for the Indian team to reiterate their supremacy in Asia. They are the reigning Asian Games champions and are in a good space since winning a second successive Olympic bronze.
At home, they will want to keep up the good momentum and do well to set a couple of slights right: 1 – the poor showing at the World Cup at home in 2023 and 2 – the poor showing at the last edition of the Asia Cup in 2022 – where they finished third.
These are the two major, multi-team cricket events of the year where the Indian teams will look for.
The Champions Trophy (19 February to 9 March) will be held in Pakistan – but in UAE for India – will be a chance for Rohit Sharma and co. to show their ODI chops despite the venue chaos and Test disappointments.
The Women’s ODI World Cup will be hosted by India in August and it’s crucial for the women’s game in India that Harmanpreet Kaur and co. put up a performance to remember at home. They will have big crowds backing them unlike back in 2013, and the expectations and critique will also be high. There’s a lot riding on this one for the team that created a revolution after the 2017 ODI World Cup.
Side note: In international football, the main non-seasonal events to hold the spotlight will be Women’s Euro 2025 and a revamped Club World Cup.
