Sports » Sport | 107 June is the month from which we will require two television sets. At least two! Competitions start “doubling up” from dawn to dusk, and we will need to be fit to make it to the finish. We should record the date of 11th June in red letters, as that’s when will see the green light signalling the start of theEuropeanFootball Championship, which runs for exactly one month, until 11th July. The competition schedule hasn’t changed and for now the Euros are still due to be played in 12 cities and 12 countries. No possible combination includes Serbia, with the teamhaving failed to return to the ranks of the best national teams on the Old Continent after a break of more than two decades following defeat in its qualification play-off match against Scotland. The world’s most famous bicycle race, the Tour de France, runs from 26th June to 18th July, and all the riders will bewanting to turn their pedals as quickly as possible in order to beat Slovenian Tadej Pogačar, who celebrated victory in 2020. Two days later, on 28th June, NovakĐoković will begin his latest quest to be crowned atWimbledonagain, while anextremely important tournament for all of us will take place from 29th June to 4th July. Namely, that’s when Serbia’s top basketball players will take to the court at the Belgrade Arena in an attempt to reach the Olympics. A total of six national teams will be participating, but only one of them will earn a visa for Tokyo. Theworld’smost important sportingeventwillfinally take place from23rd July to8th August. Lots of “pushand pull”was requiredbetween the organisers and theWorld HealthOrganization,while thedelay ledtothehost country losing several billiondollars. It has nowbeendecided that the Games will be held, whatever the cost. Fear of the novel Coronavirus remains strong among athletes, so a major question mark remains over whether all of the top competitors will agree to travel to the Japanese capital. It is predicted that Serbia will win ten medals – three golds, four silvers and three bronzes. Đoković represents the greatest hope that wewill hear a renditionof Godof Justice, the Serbiannational anthem, while plenty of success is also expected of Serbia’s volleyball, water poloandbasketball teams, thenthe country’smarksmen, wrestlers and the taekwondo national team. We will bid farewell to the summer at the U.S. Open in New York, where the world’s best tennis players will do battle from 30th August to 12th September. The title will be defended by Austrian DominicThiem, who took advantageofĐoković’s disqualification to securehisfirst ever Grand Slam win. In September, on the ninth day of the ninthmonth, NFLplayerswill take to thefields,while that’s also theperiodwhenplaygetsunderway inEurope’sbiggest football leagues. Autumn alsomarks the start of the series of indoor tennis tournaments, while popularmarathons also take place during this season – London on 3rd October, Tokyo on 17th October and New York on 7th November. All in all, this will be a wonderful year for all sports fans! 2022WorldCup. As Serbia’s “Eagles”won’t be competing in the continental championships, wewill have toutilise all of our footballingprowess tomake it toQatar. And the road to theMiddle East will be tougher than ever. Serbia is first set to play the Republic of Ireland (24th March), then three days later welcomes the incredible Portugal, led by the evenmore incredible Cristiano Ronaldo, only for this mini-series to end in Azerbaijan on 30th March. If we survive the first part intact, then we’ll have something to hope for in the remaining five matches, scheduled for September, October and November. A long way fromBelgrade, but close toQatar, we are awaitedby the start of thenewFormula 1 seasonon28th March.The traditionof raising the curtain inAustralia is nomore, however, unlike2020,Melbournehas saved its race, whichwill takeplaceon21st November. Interestingly, the plan is tohold23GrandPrixRaces, while the possibility has remained to include another couple of races, providedconditionspermit. LewisHamiltonhaswonhis seventh title and the chances are high that he will celebrate victory again this year. However, we hope to enjoy inuncertaintyuntil the seasonends inAbuDhabi on12th December . Among the debutants on the tracks will also be Mick Schumacher, the son of seven-time champion Michael, who we’re all hopeful will recover. The excitement of tennis returns on 23rd May, with the start of the French Open, while the final of footballs’ UEFA Champions League is scheduled to take place in Istanbul on 29th May. This match of all matches to conclude the competition of elite football clubs will be played at Atatürk Stadium. And the Coronavirus will dictate whether or not there will be spectators in attendance. Defending the title is Bayern Munich, which won the cup in 2020 in a completely new system that saw the entire tournament played in Lisbon. We owe you information on how long the French Open runs - until 6th June.
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