Basketball
At the end of October, games in the strongest league on the planet - the NBA - will begin. The start will be given on the 28th with the match "Philadelphia" - "Miami". After that, fans of the orange ball can expect exciting battles every day.
Meanwhile, club cup tournaments have started in Europe, among which the EuroLeague-FIBA and the EuroLeague-ULEB stand out. These two leagues are competing organizations. On the side of FIBA is a serious international organization that somewhat lost its authority some time ago and is now trying to regain its former power. On the side of ULEB are more favorable financial conditions for clubs and, automatically, stronger clubs.
Ukrainian teams compete under the auspices of FIBA. Mariupol's Azovmash landed in Group A. In November, its opponents will be: Belgian Oostende (05.11, Mariupol), Russian UNICS (12.11, Kazan), Lithuanian Alita (19.11, Mariupol), French Le Havre (26.11, Mariupol).
BC Kiev competes in Group C. The Kievans' November matches will be as follows: November 5 - Israeli Hapoel (game in Tel Aviv), November 11 - Russian Ural-Great (Perm), November 18 - Latvian Skonto (Kiev). November 25 - German Bamberg (Kiev).
MBK Odessa landed in Group D. On November 4, Odessans will play against Czech Opava (in Nymburk). On November 11 - against French Nancy (in Odessa). On November 18 - against Estonian Kalev (in Tallinn). On November 25 - against Greek Maroussi (in Odessa).
On the same days, the other teams in all four groups will play. In addition, in the FIBA Europe Cup (not to be confused with the League!) in the Northern Conference, Khimik-OPZ from Yuzhny (men) and Kozachka-ZAlK (women) will compete. And on November 8 in Madrid, the draw for the men's basketball tournament of the 2004 Olympic Games, which, we recall, will take place in August in Athens, is to take place.
Volleyball
On November 1, the World Cup for women's national teams will begin at sports venues in Japan. The national teams of Korea, the USA, Italy, Egypt, Argentina, Japan, Dominica, Cuba, Brazil, China, Turkey and Poland will take part.
And from November 7 to 9, the qualification stage of the CEV Cup will take place. In Piatra Neamț (Romania), Kharkov's Yurakademiya will try to advance to the next round, and in Durrës (Albania) - Mariupol's Markokhim.
Handball
In November, Ukrainian handball will be represented on the European stage exclusively by men's teams (women will start competing in January 2004). Matches involving our three teams will take place on November 8-9 and 15-16 (the exact date will be determined after negotiations between the opponents).
In the Cup Winners' Cup, Portovik from Yuzhny will meet Portuguese Sporting from Lisbon (first game in Yuzhny). In the EHF Cup, Donetsk's Shakhtar-Akademiya will be opposed by Romanian Dinamo from Bucharest (first game in the Romanian capital). And in the Challenge Cup, Svetotekhnik-Kolos from Brovary district of Kiev Oblast will compete with Greek Kilkis and will play the first match away. In parallel, Zaporozhye's ZTR will continue its performances in the Champions League.
Speed skating
Winter is setting in. The Speed Skating World Cup will be held in Norway (city of Hamar). Athletes will fit into two days - November 8 and 9.
Tennis
Tennis life will slow down in November. The season is coming to an end - time to take stock. For men, there will be only one tournament in November (not counting the Paris Masters Series, which started back in October and will end on November 2). But what a tournament it will be! In Houston from November 8 to 16, the best tennis players in the world will gather to compete for the Masters Cup and $3.7 million in prize money.
In addition, on November 28, 29 and 30 in Australia, the matches of the final tie for the Davis Cup among national teams will take place. The hosts (Australians) and the Spaniards will contest the title of the strongest team on the planet. Until the last moment, the Swiss and the Argentines claimed participation in the final, but both teams lost to the finalists with the same score - 2:3.
There will not be much variety in women's tournaments in November either. From the 5th to the 10th of this month, something like the men's Masters Cup will take place in Los Angeles. This tournament will be called the Bank of America Tour Championships. The prize fund is $3 million. The best female tennis players of the year will compete for it. In essence, this is the world championship, like the analogous tournament for men.
And then will come the time for the women's World Cup among national teams. From November 17 to 23, the so-called Fed Cup Four Tournament will be held in Moscow. First, the finalists will be determined in the semifinal pairs (Belgium - USA and Russia - France), and then it will be time to name the best women's team in the world of 2003. Let us recall that the Italians, Slovaks, Slovenians and Spaniards stopped one step short of the Tournament of Four.
Weightlifting
On November 14, in the Canadian city of Vancouver, the most important tournament of the year for the strongest men and women on the planet will begin - the World Weightlifting Championships. The strongest athletes will complete their competitions in 10 days, and the final chord of the championship will sound on November 24.
Figure skating
The next, third stage of the ISU Grand Prix, will be held in the capital of China - Beijing from November 6 to 9.
Football
Traditionally, the most interesting football events will be divided into three parts. The first is European cups. The second is matches of national (and youth) teams. The third is games in the best national championships of Europe.
In European tournaments, two rounds of group-stage matches in the Champions League are scheduled for November (November 4 and 5, November 25 and 26), as well as matches of the second round of the UEFA Cup. Among the pairs in the UEFA Cup, those involving our teams attract attention. Thus, on November 6 in Zagreb, the local Dinamo will play Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, in Moscow - Spartak and Dinamo Bucharest, and in Madrid - Villarreal and Moscow Torpedo. On November 27, return matches will take place - in Dnipropetrovsk, Bucharest and Moscow.
In the Champions League, we note the matches of Kyiv Dynamo (November 5 in London against Arsenal and November 25 in Moscow against Lokomotiv) and Moscow Lokomotiv (November 5 in Milan against Inter).
In addition, a number of interesting meetings stand out from the general list. Manchester United - Rangers (04.11), Porto - Marseille (04.11), Lazio - Chelsea (04.11), Monaco - Deportivo (05.11), Bayern - Lyon (05.11), Celtic - Bayern (25.11), Galatasaray - Juventus (25.11), Marseille - Real (26.11) and Ajax - Milan (26.11).
In the national and youth teams of Europe, the most important event of November will be the playoff matches for the right to appear in the final tournament of Euro 2004. The pair matches will take place on November 15-16 and 18-19.
In the national teams, the list of duellists is as follows: Latvia - Turkey, Scotland - Holland, Croatia - Slovenia, Russia - Wales and Spain - Norway. The youth teams have a longer list: Germany - Turkey, Portugal - France, Denmark - Italy, Serbia - Norway, Belarus - Poland, Sweden - Spain, Switzerland - Czech Republic and Croatia - Scotland.
And finally, let's move on to national championships. As usual, matches will take place on Saturday and Sunday (the exception is the English championship, where a round sometimes drags on until Tuesday). On November 1-2, the final 30th round will take place in Russia. These matches will finally put the teams in their places, and from the general list it is probably worth highlighting the matches in Moscow (Lokomotiv - Uralan), in Ramenskoye (Saturn - Zenit) and in Kazan (Rubin - CSKA).
In England this weekend, the meeting between Leeds and Arsenal promises to be the most interesting, as well as the matches Everton - Chelsea. In France, the pairs Bordeaux - Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain - Lens look more interesting than others. In Germany, the matches Borussia Dortmund - Hamburg and Schalke - Bayern promise intrigue. Italian football offers a super match Milan - Juventus (for dessert - the meeting of Chievo with Inter and Udinese with Lazio). And in Spain, the main attention will be paid to the matches Real - Athletic and Real Sociedad - Barcelona.
On November 8-9, there will be no fewer exciting duels. England: Chelsea - Newcastle, Liverpool - Manchester United and Arsenal - Tottenham. Germany: Bayern - Borussia Dortmund and Bayer - Schalke. Italy: Roma - Lazio and Parma - Milan. Spain: Deportivo - Real Sociedad and Sevilla - Real. France: Marseille - Lyon and Nantes - Paris Saint-Germain.
On November 22-23, there will not be many serious matches. The most interesting match of the weekend will take place in Dortmund (Borussia - Bayer). The Munich derby 1860 Munich - Bayern is never boring. In England, we advise you to visit the games Manchester United - Blackburn, Tottenham - Aston Villa and Middlesbrough - Liverpool. In Italy, Chievo - Milan and Bologna - Roma are more or less interesting. In Spain: Betis - Deportivo and Celta - Athletic. France will delight with the match Monaco - Lens.
November 29-30. There are several leaders of the weekend at once. These are the English pair Chelsea - Manchester United (in addition, it is worth looking at the London confrontation between Arsenal and Fulham), the Italian Juventus - Inter and two French: Marseille - Paris Saint-Germain and Nantes - Monaco.
Hockey
In the world of the fastest game, November is one of the busiest months. Firstly, national championships are in full swing (we will pay increased attention to the strongest leagues in the world - the NHL and the Russian one). Secondly, matches of the third round of the Continental Cup will take place in November. Thirdly, matches of the second stage of the Euro Hockey Tour and Euro Hockey Challenge will be held.
Let's start with the NHL. In November, 205 matches will take place in the regular season of this league. The most popular day for games is Saturday. On November 1, 14 matches will take place, on the 8th - 13, on the 15th - 12, on the 22nd - 12, on the 29th - 10. The most sparse in terms of regular season games were November 3 (2 matches), the 10th (3), the 17th (1) and the 23rd (3).
In the Russian championship, where many Ukrainians play, 9 rounds will take place in November. The 22nd round will be played on November 1, the 23rd on November 12, the 24th on November 14, the 25th on November 17 and 18, the 26th on November 19, the 27th on November 22, the 28th on November 24, the 29th on November 28 and the 30th on November 30.
Kyiv Sokil did not pass the second round of the Continental Cup, taking second place in the group. In the third round, matches will take place on November 21, 22 and 23 in Denmark and Austria. In northern Europe, the Danish Herning, Norwegian Vålerenga, Polish Unia and French Rouen will compete for the only berth in the final tournament. In the territory of the Alpine Republic, the Austrian Black Wings, Belarusian Keramin, Kazakh Kaztsink and Finnish Jukurit will fight.
Finally, from November 6 to 9, matches of the second stage of the Euro Hockey Challenge tournament will take place in Budapest with the participation of the Ukrainian national team, which will fight with the Croats and Belarusians, and then in a play-off match - with one of the teams from the other group (Hungary, Slovakia or Holland).
At the same time, the traditional stage of the Euro Hockey Tour - the Karjala Cup - will take place in Helsinki with the participation of elite European national teams - Russia, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland. Interestingly, on November 6, the Swedes and Czechs will play their match not in Helsinki, but on Swedish soil - in Norrköping.
Bandy
In November, one of the strongest national bandy championships in the world will take off - the Russian Championship. As before, teams will be divided into two groups based on territorial principle. The championship will begin on November 13 with matches of the western zone clubs (“Raketa” - “Vodnik” and “Start” - “Sever”). And the playing days in this month will be: November 16 (West), 19th (East), 20th (West), 22nd (East), 23rd (West), 26th (West and East), and also 29th (West and East).