Basketball
In the world of basketball, December is a month of routine turnover. National and international tournaments are in full swing, drawing all the attention of fans of the orange ball. In the NBA, where eight representatives of the former Soviet republics play, teams are just gaining momentum.
In European championships, essentially the same is happening. But in European cups, for example in the FIBA Europe League, the time has come for decisive matches for the right to advance to the next round. In December, three rounds will take place - on the 2nd and 3rd, 9th and 10th, and also 17th and 18th. Let us remind you that the three best Ukrainian clubs have a chance to advance to the next round: BC Kyiv, MBC Odesa, and the country's champion - Mariupol's Azovmash.
Biathlon
For biathletes, the December tournaments will end 10 days before the New Year - on December 21 in Osrblie (Slovakia). By the way, biathletes will stay there for five days (from the 17th). It is worth noting that the previous World Cup stages scheduled for December will be almost the same in duration. For example, in Kontiolahti, Finland (December 4-7) or in Hochfilzen, Austria (December 10-14). We will report on other events that biathlon will delight its fans with later.
Boxing
The elder of the Klitschko brothers, Vitali, will face 31-year-old Canadian heavyweight Kirk Johnson on December 6 in New York. And Vladimir Klitschko's opponent on December 20 in the German port city of Kiel will be Danell Nicholson, who has a win over John Ruiz and losses to Tua, Golota, and Johnson.
Handball
The main event of December is the World Championship among national women's teams, which will take place in Croatia. The championship starts on December 2 with matches between the national teams of Yugoslavia and Australia, as well as Russia and Korea. The best women's handball players in the world will put the final point on December 14. The World Championship features 24 teams, divided into four groups of six teams each. Among them is the Ukrainian national team, led by Leonid Ratner. Its opponents in the group stage will be the Norwegians (the first match with them), handball players from Kazakhstan, Tunisia, Romania, and Argentina. In addition to the above-mentioned teams, the championship features: Hungary, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Brazil, Czech Republic, Uruguay, Slovenia, China, France, Spain, Austria, Angola, Denmark, and Germany.
Alpine skiing
The main difference between World Cup stages in this sport is that men and women compete absolutely separately. In the sense that if women compete, say, in Austria, then men determine the best in Italy. Women will start the December competitions. From the 5th to the 7th of December they will ski in the vicinity of Lake Louise (Canada), on the 12th-13th - in Vratna (Slovakia), on the 13th-14th - in Spindleruv Mlyn (Czech Republic), on the 19th-20th - in Val Gardena (Italy), on the 20th-21st - in Laax (Switzerland), and on the 27th-28th - in Lienz (Austria). Men have one fewer World Cup stage in December. From the 6th to the 7th they will compete in Beaver Creek (USA), after which they will move to Italy. On December 13 they will start in Val d'Isere (until the 14th), on the 15th - in Madonna di Campiglio, on the 21st - in Alta Badia, on the 28th - in Bormio.
Speed skating
The main load on speed skaters in the last month of the calendar year will fall in the first half of December. During this time, two World Cup stages will take place: the first - from December 5 to 7 (Calgary, Canada), the second - from December 12 to 13 (Salt Lake City, USA).
Athletics
The Scottish capital, Edinburgh, will also become the athletics capital in the middle of the month. The European Indoor Championships in this sport are scheduled in this city.
Nordic combined
On the very first day of the month, Nordic combined athletes will start at a World Cup stage in the Finnish city of Kuusamo. A week later, they will continue their competition to the chanting of fans in Trondheim (Norway).
Cross-country skiing
December leaves no time for rest for male and female cross-country skiers. One tournament will replace another with barely a few days' pause, and coaches will have to make every effort not to 'run down' their charges. All of the above are World Cup stages.
From December 6 to 7, the skiing world will move its capital to the Italian town of Dobbiaco. On December 13-14, the main events will unfold in Davos, Switzerland; on the 16th, everyone will return to Italy (the town of Asiago); and on December 20 and 21, the ski camp will set up in Ramsau, Austria.
Swimming
Despite some lull, swimmers will have something to do in December. On December 5, one of the World Cup stages in short-course swimming will begin in Durban (South Africa), ending two days later, on the 7th. And on the 11th of the same month, the main events will move from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere: the European Short Course Swimming Championships will start in Dublin. The continental championship will finish on December 14.
Ski jumping
The jumpers will start December in Norway. The next World Cup stage will take place in Trondheim on December 6. On December 14, they will take to the start in the German town of Titisee-Neustadt.
Rugby
In Europe, the main attention will be drawn to the European rugby cups, in which clubs from England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, France, Ireland, and Italy will take part. Playing days in December: 5-7 and 11-14.
Triathlon
On December 6, the World Championship will begin in Queenstown (New Zealand) and will end the next day.
Figure skating
The main tournament for elite male and female figure skaters is the Grand Prix Final, which is scheduled to be held from December 12 to 14 in Colorado (USA).
Football
In essence, the first notable events of the month will be the German Cup round-of-16 matches, which will take place on 2 and 3 December. It is on the last day that the most interesting duels will take place: Werder against Hertha (in Bremen) and Bayern against Hamburg (in Munich). In addition, during this midweek, the next rounds of the national championships of Spain and France will be played. In Spain, the meetings of Madrid's Real and Atlético, as well as Real Sociedad and Valencia, will attract the most interest, while in France, Lyon and Bordeaux.
But the most significant event in the world of football in the first days of the month will undoubtedly be the draw for the qualifying tournament for the 2006 World Cup. Since the championship itself will be held in Germany, it was decided to hold the World Cup draw on German soil - in Frankfurt am Main, known for its huge airport terminal. The event is scheduled for 5 December. According to preliminary data, the number of participants will reach 3,500 people, and among the invited stars who will distribute the national teams into qualifying groups will be such sports figures as the all-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher.
In December, the group stage of the Champions League will end and the participants of the round of 16, the teams that will be transferred to the UEFA Cup, as well as the losers, will be determined. The matches of the final round will take place on 9 and 10 December.
On Tuesday, the teams of groups E (games in Glasgow and Manchester), F (Madrid and Belgrade), G (Prague and Istanbul) and H (Milan and Bruges) will take to the field.
On Wednesday, the participants in groups A (Lyon and Munich), B (in Kyiv, Dynamo will host Inter, and Moscow's Lokomotiv will play Arsenal in London), C (Athens and Eindhoven) and D (Turin and San Sebastián) will complete the group stage.
Another outstanding event in December will be the Intercontinental Cup match between the club champions of Europe and South America. The Old World will be represented by Milan, the club of Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko and Georgian Kakha Kaladze, and their opponent will be Argentina's Boca Juniors.
The rivalry between European and South American clubs began back in 1960 (when Real Madrid won), but for a long time the advantage was held by South American teams, which to this year maintain an overall superiority in the number of titles won in the Intercontinental Cup (21:20).
But it should be noted that since 1995 Europe has made a significant leap forward, losing only once... to the aforementioned Boca Juniors in 2000. At the same time, the list of European winners includes Ajax, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Bayern. Milan, by the way, could become the sole leader among clubs in terms of wins in the Intercontinental Cup (Uruguay's Nacional and Peñarol and Spain's Real Madrid also have three each). A victory for Andriy Shevchenko's and Kakha Kaladze's team would bring Italy level with Argentina in terms of wins in this tournament (they would have eight each, which is also the best indicator). Traditionally, the match will take place in Tokyo (the second name of the Intercontinental Cup is the Toyota Cup) on 14 December.
On 1 December, the World Youth Championship begins - the very one whose first winners were Soviet footballers back in 1977. The world championship for players under the age of 20 is held once every two years, and the Ukrainian team under the leadership of Anatoliy Kroshchenko took part in the previous tournament, losing in the round of 16 to Paraguayans.
The 2003 World Championship will be held in the UAE, with 24 teams from all continents taking part, divided into six groups. Europe is represented by Slovakia, Spain, the Czech Republic, England, Ireland and Germany, and the former USSR republics by Uzbekistan.
The group tournaments will be held over one week, with the round of 16 matches already scheduled for 8-9 December. The quarterfinals will be played on 12 December, the semifinals on the 15th, and the final and the third-place match on the 19th.
It only remains to add that, as usual, football fans can expect three fairly action-packed weekends - 6-7 December, 13-14 and 20-21. After that, the leading European championships will take a break (the German Bundesliga will go on the so-called Christmas break even earlier, on 18 December), and matches will only be played in the English Premier League. Full rounds are scheduled in England for 26 and 28 December.
Ice hockey
In hockey, as in basketball, everything important in the national tournaments and international leagues lies ahead. And domestic fans of the fastest game in the world should add to the never-ending battles of the NHL regular championship the matches of the VEHL championship and the Russian championship, the best European championship.
In addition, the next stage of the Euro Hockey Tour, the Baltic Cup, to be held in Russia, should be of great interest. As usual, Russia, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland - the traditional elite of continental hockey - will compete against each other. The Baltic Cup will begin on 18 December and end on the 21st.
Teams of a lower rank will compete a day later (19 December) in the framework of a similar tournament, the Euro Hockey Challenge. One of its stages will take place in Kyiv, and the Ukrainian national team's opponents will be Latvia, Denmark and Croatia.
Bandy
Fans of so-called bandy, mostly living in Russia and the Scandinavian countries, will not lack events - the Russian Bandy Championship is in full swing.