Malaysians will not need to wait long for their sporting fix as the Malaysia Open kicks off the year's calendar for the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
All the top badminton players will be gathering in Kuala Lumpur from Jan 10-15 as it has been elevated to a Super 1,000 event with a US$1.25 million (RM5.5 million) prize money. With the promotion, the Malaysia Open joins the All England, China Open, and Indonesia Open as the tour's highest-level tournaments.
It will be the season-opener for the expanded 31-event World Tour calendar, which sees more Super 1000, Super 750, and Super 500 tournaments, bringing greater prize money opportunities for players.
Hockey fans will be eagerly following the fortunes of the national hockey team as it will be battling it out in the Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar, India from Jan 13-29.
National coach A. Arul Selvaraj believes the Speedy Tigers, who are ranked 10th in the world, should be able to get into the quarter-finals.
In May, all eyes will be on the Malaysian contingent to shine when Cambodia hosts the SEA Games for the first time.
Athletes from 11 nations in the region will battle it out in 37 sports and 608 events.
The nation's elite athletes will be put to the test when China hosts the Asian Games in Hangzhou from Sept 23 to Oct 8.
The Asian Games were delayed by one year on the request of the host country because of the Covid-19 pandemic situation and Malaysia will be looking to improve on their haul of seven golds, 13 silvers and 16 bronzes from the 2018 edition in Jakarta.
Malaysia will be hosting the Junior Hockey World Cup in Kuala Lumpur with the dates yet to be determined.
Cycling fans will not be left out either in 2023 with Malaysia hosting the Asian Track Cycling Championships at the National Velodrome in Nilai and also the Le Tour de Langkawi. The dates for both events have not been fixed.
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