The key sporting dates in 2013

After such a momentous 2012 with the Olympics and Paralympics, European Championship and the Ryder Cup to name but a few highlights, one could be forgiven for thinking 2013 would be rather quiet on the sporting front.

But you’d be wrong as there is the World Athletics Championships, Rugby League World Cup, the women’s Cricket World Cup, the Ashes and ICC Champions Trophy and in football the Africa Cup of Nations and women’s European Championships all to look forward to.

The year starts with the Australian Open tennis, already underway in Melbourne, and ends with start of the England Ashes cricket tour of Australia.

Here BBC Sport picks out some of the key sporting dates in 2013.

JANUARY

January 19-February 10
Africa Cup of Nations

The 29th Africa Cup of Nations is being held in South Africa and the hosts take on first-time qualifiers Cape Verde at the Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg in the opening game. Sixteen nations have qualified for the event, which Zambia won in 2012 after a penalty shoot-out win over Ivory Coast.

The Final will be played at Soccer City on Sunday, February 10. The other host cities are Durban, Port Elizabeth, Nelspruit and Rustenburg.

January 31-February 17
Women’s Cricket ICC World Cup

Hosts India will open the ICC Women’s World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The top eight women’s sides in the world will battle it out to be crowned world champion across five venues. Holders England, along with New Zealand, Australia and India all qualified for the event by finishing in the top four of the ICC Women’s World Cup in 2009. Joining the top four will be the top four sides from the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in 2011; West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

FEBRUARY

February 2-March 16
Rugby Union Six Nations

Wales are defending champions. A scramble for places on next summer’s Lions tour of Australia will be the sub-plot to the seven-week long annual tournament, which looks likely to climax on March 16 in Cardiff, when Wales play England.

February 3
The Superbowl

Super Bowl XLVII, the 47th edition of the Super Bowl and the 43rd modern era National Football League championship game will take place at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 2012, the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots 21-17 in Indianapolis.

February 6

England v Brazil

The first of three special England home football friendlies to mark the Football Association’s 150th anniversary, with matches against the Republic of Ireland (29 May) and Scotland (14 August) also lined up.

February 20-24:
World Track Cycling Championships in Belarus

February 24
Capital One Cup final

Wembley will host the 54th final of the League Cup. Last year Liverpool beat Cardiff on penalties after the match ended 2-2.

MARCH

March 12-15
Cheltenham Festival

The great horse racing festival, featuring the top jump jockeys and horses takes place over four days in Gloucestershire, culminating in the Gold Cup.

March 31
Boat Race

The 2013 contest between Oxford and Cambridge Universities will be the 159th running of the race. Oxford will be looking for revenge after Cambridge’s win in 2012.

APRIL

April 6
Grand National

All eyes will be on Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool for the Grand National. A British sporting institution, the Grand National attracts more than 154,000 race-goers, with over of 11 million viewers tuning in to watch the 2012 race.

April 11-14
The US Masters

In the first major of the golfing year, Augusta will again play host to this historic tournament. After American Bubba Watson’s surprise victory in 2012, the likes of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald will all have their eyes on the green jacket come 2013.

April 20-May 6
Snooker World Championship

Snooker’s biggest tournament is held at the Crucible in Sheffield.

April 21
London Marathon

More than 30,000 runners will hit 26 miles of London’s streets in the 33rd London Marathon. Wilson Kipsang and Mary Keitany secured an impressive Kenyan double in 2012 by winning the men’s and women’s races.

MAY

May 11
FA Cup Final

It’s hard to believe more than 750 teams started out their FA Cup journey at the beginning of the 2012-13 season and now, after 380-plus matches played, only two survive and will meet at Wembley in the final.

May 23 & 25
Champions League Finals

The fourth Uefa Women’s Champions League final will be played at Chelsea’s ground, Stamford Bridge, on 23 May, with the men’s at Wembley on 25 May.

May26
Scottish Cup Final

The Scottish Cup Final will move from its traditional Saturday kick-off to Sunday so as not to clash with the Champions League final at Wembley.

May 26-June 9
French Open Tennis

Rafael Nadal has been virtually unbeatable at Roland Garros since he won his first title as a 19-year-old in 2005, with his lone defeat against Robin Soderling in 2010.

The women’s title has been much harder to pick in recent years, with the likes of Li Na and Francesca Schiavone winning their only major titles to date there and Maria Sharapova finally completing her Grand Slam set in 2012.
JUNE

June 1
Epsom Derby

The 234th Epsom Derby is the pinnacle of the Flat racing season. The race is part of the Triple Crown, preceded by the 2,000 Guineas and followed by the St Leger and it is run at Epsom Downs over one mile, four furlongs and 10 yards.

June 1-6 July 6
British and Irish Lions tour

The British and Irish Lions will play nine matches, including three Tests, during their tour of Australia plus a game against Barbarians in Hong Kong en route.

June 5-18
Under-21s Euro 2013

The 2013 tournament will be the 19th staging of Uefa’s European Under-21 Football Championship. Holders Spain will play the Netherlands, Russia and Germany while hosts Israel will face England, Norway and Italy.

June 6-23
ICC Champions Trophy

England and Wales will host the three-week 50-over tournament featuring the top eight one-day sides in world cricket. Australia are the current holders, having beaten New Zealand by six wickets in the 2009 final in South Africa. The final of 2013 trophy will be held at Edgbaston.

June 13-16
US Open golf

Golf’s second major of the year, the US Open, takes place at Merion in Pennsylvania. American Webb Simpson defends the title he won by one shot from countryman Michael Thompson. Rory McIlroy will also be chasing a second US Open crown after his breakthrough major victory at Congressional in 2011.

The Merion course near Ardmore will be hosting its fifth US Open and among its list of former winners is the great Ben Hogan, who recovered from a near-fatal car crash to triumph in 1950.

June 18-22
Royal Ascot

Top racing action mixes with high fashion at the five-day meeting which features some of the top equine stars from around the world. The 2011 meeting’s highlights included victories for the unbeaten champion Frankel and Australian mare Black Caviar.

June 24-July 7
Wimbledon

The 127th Championships are likely to be dominated by a familiar theme – can a Briton win Wimbledon? Hopes will be higher than at any time since Fred Perry’s 1936 victory after Andy Murray made it all the way to the final last year, but Roger Federer proved too strong then and will be determined to win an incredible eighth title in 2013.

Serena Williams is not far behind on five, and currently more dominant than the Swiss.

June 29-July 21
Tour de France

The 100th Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages, covering a total distance of 2,088 miles. After dropping by Corsica, the Tour de France will be able to claim it has visited all of France and 2012 winner Bradley Wiggins will once again be seeking control of the yellow jersey early on.

June 30
British Grand Prix

Red Bull’s Mark Webber won in 2012 and the Australian will likely be a contender once again, along with teammate and reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel.

JULY

July 10-29:
Women’s 2013 European Championships

The tournament will be held in Sweden, with England facing France, Russia and Spain in the group stages after Hope Powell’s side secured their place at the tournament with a 3-0 victory over Croatia in September.

July 10-August25
The Ashes

England will host Australia in the Ashes series in July and August. The sides will contest five Test matches at Trent Bridge, Lord’s, Old Trafford, Chester-le-Street and The Oval.

July 18-21
The British Open

Ernie Els will defend his Open title at Muirfield in East Lothian, Scotland. Els lifted his second Claret Jug and fourth major title after Australian Adam Scott’s infamous collapse with four bogeys in the last four holes to lose by one at Royal Lytham in 2012.

July 20-28
IPC Athletics World Championships

After the excitement of last summer’s Paralympic Games, the next stop for the world’s best Paralympic athletes will be the French city of Lyon.

AUGUST

August 10-18
Athletics World Championships

Russian capital Moscow will host the 14th Athletics World Championships and many of the stars of 2012 will be on show in their first major tournament since the London Olympics.

August 26-September 8
US Open

Andy Murray achieved the seemingly impossible at Flushing Meadows in New York in 2012, when he won his first major title and ended Britain’s 76-year wait for a male Grand Slam singles champion.

Serena Williams always creates headlines at this event, both good and bad, but will be hard to stop in pursuit of a fifth title.

SEPTEMBER

September 1
British MotoGP

The 2013 British MotoGP moves from its traditional summer slot in June to September to host round 13 of the World Championship. Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo took the spoils at the Northamptonshire-based circuit in 2012 on the way to his second title.

OCTOBER

October 26-November30
Rugby League World Cup

Australia, being the dominant force in world rugby league, once again start favourites, having won nine of the 13 tournaments staged since it first evolved in 1954. The final is at Old Trafford on November 30.

NOVEMBER

November 4
ATP World Tour Finals

Novak Djokovic put a firm stamp on his position as world number one with victory at London’s O2 Arena in 2012 and it is likely to have a large bearing on the year-end rankings once again.

November-January 2014:
The Ashes

England will travel to Australia for the return Ashes series between November 2013 and January 2014. The Tests are being held at Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. England won the last series Down Under 3-1 in 2010-11, their first triumph on Australian soil for 24 years.