Sport and Leisure/Sport 2024

January

Jan 2

Wayne Rooney sacked as manager of Birmingham City after just 83 days in charge

PDC World Darts Championship semi-finals – Luke Littler bt Rob Cross, Luke Humphries bt Scott Williams

Luke Humphries becomes world number one

Jan 3

PDC final – Humphries bt Littler. Humphries is nicknamed “Cool Hand Luke”. Littler is nicknamed “The Nuke” and his walk-on-music is ‘Greenlight’ by American rapper Pitbull

PGA Tour Player of Year – Scottie Scheffler

Jan 4

India bt South Africa by seven wickets in the shortest Test to produce a winner in the history of the game, lasting 642 balls

Jan 6

Mario Zagallo dies

Four Hills Tournament – Andreas Wellinger (Germany)

Jan 8

Ding Junhui 147 against Ronnie O’Sullivan in Masters

Tony Mowbray appointed as manager of Birmingham City

Franz Beckenbauer dies

JPR Williams dies

Jan 10

European Track Cycling Championships start in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands

Jan 11

Bill Belichick leaves New England Patriots after 24 years as head coach

Andy Farrell is appointed head coach of the British and Irish Lions for the 2025 tour to Australia

Jan 12

Mark Allen 147 against Mark Selby in Masters

Men’s individual pursuit – Dan Bigham

Women’s sprint – Emma Finucane

Jan 13

Afcon starts in Ivory Coast

Masters semi-finals – O’Sullivan bt Murphy, Carter bt Allen

Men’s omnium – Ethan Hayter

Women’s 500m time trial – Katy Marchant

Jan 14

Masters final – O’Sullivan bt Carter. Eighth title

Women’s individual pursuit – Josie Knight

Jan 15

Fifa Best Awards –

Best Men’s Player – Lionel Messi

Best Women’s Player – Aitana Bonmati

Best Men’s Coach – Pep Guardiola

Best Women’s Coach – Sarina Wiegman

Best Men’s Goalkeeper – Ederson

Best Women’s Goalkeeper – Mary Earps

Jan 16

Jose Mourinho sacked as Roma manager

Louis Rees-Zammit to quit rugby union to play American football

Jan 19

Jordan Henderson moves from Al-Ettifaq to Ajax

Joe Schmidt appointed as head coach of Australia rugby union team

Bahrain Darts Masters final – Littler bt Van Gerwen

Dakar Rally – Cars classification won by Carlos Sainz, driving an Audi RS Q e-tron. Fourth win for Sainz

Jan 21

Dubai Desert Classic – McIlroy

World Grand Prix final – O’Sullivan bt Trump

Nick Dunlap wins The American Express title to become the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson in 1991

Australian Open fourth round – Zverev bt Norrie

Jan 22

World Indoor Bowls Championship. Men’s – Stewart Anderson. Women’s – Katherine Rednall

Jan 23

EFL Cup semi-final – Chelsea 6 Middlesbrough 1. Chelsea win 6-2 on aggregate

Longines World’s Best Racehorse – Equinox

Jan 24

EFL Cup semi-final – Liverpool bt Fulham

Big Bash League final – Brisbane Heat bt Sydney Sixers

Jan 25

Australian Open women’s semi-finals – Sabalenka bt Gauff, Zheng Qinwen bt Dayana Yastremska (Ukraine)

Lancashire spinner Tom Hartley makes England debut against India. His first ball is hit for six by Yashasvi Jaiswal

Jan 26

Australian Open men’s semi-finals – Sinner bt Djokovic, Medvedev bt Zverev

Mixed doubles final – Zielinski and Hsieh bt Skupski and Krawczyk

Luka Doncic scores 73 points for Dallas Mavericks against Atlanta Hawks

ICC Cricketer of the Year awards –

Men's Cricketer of the Year (Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy) – Pat Cummins

Men's Test Cricketer of the Year – Usman Khawaja

Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year – Virat Kohli

Men's T20 Cricketer of the Year – Suryakumar Yadav

Women’s Cricketer of the Year (Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy) – Nat Sciver-Brunt

Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year – Chamari Athapaththu

Women's T20 Cricketer of the Year – Hayley Matthews

Jan 27

Australian Open women’s final – Sabalenka bt Zheng

Men’s doubles final – Ebden and Bohanna bt Bolelli and Vavassori

Rohan Bopanna, aged 43, becomes the oldest men's doubles number one

FA Cup fourth round – Maidstone Utd bt Ipswich

Joao Pedro hat-trick for Brighton against Sheffield Utd

Dutch Masters final – Van Gerwen bt Littler

Jan 28

Australian Open men’s final – Sinner bt Medvedev

Women’s doubles final – Hsieh and Mertens bt Kichenok and Ostapenko

First Test (Hyderabad) England 246 and 420 (Pope 196) India 436 and 202 (Hartley 7-62). England won by 28 runs

West Brom vs Wolves FA Cup tie suspended for 38 minutes due to crowd trouble

AFC Championship Game – Kansas City Chiefs bt Baltimore Ravens

NFC Championship Game – San Francisco 49ers bt Detroit Lions

Pegasus World Cup – National Treasure

British Basketball League (BBL) Trophy final – London Lions bt Cheshire Phoenix

WBBL Trophy final – London Lions bt Essex Rebels

Jan 29

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva is given a four-year ban for doping

Jan 30

Elijah Adebayo hat-trick for Luton against Brighton