A look ahead to some of the major sports events in 2009

* Jan 19-Feb 1. Australian Open, Melbourne. Roger Federer,only one win short of Pete Sampras's record 14 grand slamtitles, relinquished his world number one ranking to RafaelNadal last year in the month after losing their epic Wimbledonfinal. He faces an equally potent threat in his attempt to winthe first of the year's four grand slams from Briton AndyMurray, who defeated the Swiss for the fifth time in their lastsix meetings in Doha last week.

* Feb. 1. Super Bowl XLIII, Tampa Bay, Florida. ThePhiladelphia Eagles meet the Arizona Cardinals on Jan. 18 todecide who will play the winners of the Pittsburgh Steelers vBaltimore clash on the same day for a place in the fourth SuperBowl to be staged in Tampa. The Eagles eliminated defendingchampions the New York Giants in the playoffs last Sunday.

* Feb 7-March 21. Six Nations rugby union championship.Wales start their defence of the European championship in acompetition given an extra edge by the British and Irish Lionstour to South Africa later in the year. Coach Ian McGeechan mustmould the best players from Wales, Scotland, England and Irelandinto a side capable of beating the world champions on home soil.* March 2. Barry Bonds, record holder for the most home runsin Major League Baseball, appears in the San Francisco federalcourt to face charges that he lied to a grand jury about usingsteroids in 2003.

* March 29. Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne. Briton LewisHamilton opens his title defence for the McLaren team at thestart of a challenging year for Formula One. The global economiccrisis has already hit motor racing with the withdrawal of theHonda team and within the sport there are fears that anothermanufacturer could withdraw. Drivers must also cope with majorrule changes including the use of slick tyres and revisedaerodynamics.

* April 6. Major League Baseball (MLB) season opens. The NewYork Yankees have not won the World Series since 2000 and thepride of the Bronx are determined to launch their new$1.3-billion stadium in style after lavishing more than $420billion on free agent pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett plusslugger Mark Teixeira.

* April 9. Masters. Augusta, Georgia. Tiger Woods plans tocome back stronger than ever after cutting short his 2008 seasonto undergo reconstructive surgery on his left knee. If hisrehabilitation programme is successful, he will attempt to win afifth green jacket at the Masters after a preliminary outing,possibly at the March 12-15 WGC-CA championship on theundemanding terrain of the Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami.

* May 27. Champions League soccer final, Rome. Defendingchampions Manchester United face a tough journey into thesemi-finals after they were paired with Italian champions andSerie A leaders Inter Milan in the last 16. Rome's StadioOlimpico will stage the final for the fourth time.

* June 5-21. Twenty20 World Cup, England. India defend theirtitle in the three-hour version of a game which stretches tofive days in test cricket. Twenty20 cricket may bear only apassing resemblance to the traditional game but it has becomeimmensely popular in the sub-continent with the launch of theIndian Premier League last year.

* July 4-26. Tour de France. Seven-times winner LanceArmstrong has come out of retirement to attempt another Tour deFrance title. An Independence Day start in Monaco is a good omenfor the American, who will take part in the Giro d'Italia priorto the Tour for the first time. However, at the age of 37 andafter three years in retirement an eighth title may bedifficult.

* July 8-12. First Ashes test, Cardiff. Australia open theirAshes defence against their oldest rivals England in the firstcricket test to be staged in the Welsh capital. The Australiansare no longer the force they were but England, in turn, havefailed to reach their heights they scaled when they won theunforgettable 2005 series.

* July 18-Aug 1. World swimming championships, Rome.American Michael Phelps, winner of a record eight gold medals atlast year's Beijing Olympics, plans to experiment with shorterdistances as he plots his programme for the 2012 London Games.

* Aug. 15-23. World athletics championships, Berlin.Jamaican phenomenon Usain Bolt, the only man to set 100, 200 and4x100 metres relay world records at a single Olympics, will bethe focus of attention, provided he does not succumb to injuryin the buildup to the 12th world championships.

* Oct. 2. Copenhagen. Chicago, the city where incoming U.S.President Barack Obama forged his political career, is one offour candidates to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. TheInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) will elect the host cityafter presentations from Chicago and the other three candidates-- Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo.

sursa: reuters