2022: What to look forward to in sports, science and pop culture

• The Ashes series between Australia and England started on December 8 and will end on January 18 
• The first Grand Slam of the year, Australian Open, is scheduled between January 17 and January 30, in Melbourne Park

Australia's fielders appeal unsuccessfully for a leg before wicket (LBW) against England's Ben Stokes (C) during the second cricket Test match of the Ashes series between Australia and England at Adelaide Oval on December 20, 2021, in Adelaide; Image: Brenton Edwards / AFP

• The 2022 Winter Olympics is all set to take place from February 4 to February 20 in Beijing  

• The twelfth edition of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup—after being postponed by one year—will take place in New Zealand
• The FIA Formula One World Championship will be contested over twenty-three Grand Prix, across the globe, starting from March and will go on till November  

MAY: 

• The second Grand Slam and the premier clay court championship French Open will take place towards the end of May
• Popular Swedish rock group of the 70s and 80s ABBA will be in a live virtual show that will feature younger versions of the band members alongside a live 10-piece band. The concert, Abba Voyage, will feature 22 songs from their back catalogue and new music. It is said to be held in a custom-built arena in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London between May 27 and December 4  

England women's cricket team captain Heather Knight (C), stands with teammates as she holds aloft the ICC Women's World Cup Cricket trophy, as the team arrives for a reception at 10 Downing Street in central London on August 29, 2017. England won the final against India at Lord's cricket ground on July 23, 2017; Image: Daniel LEAL / AFP

• Having taken the throne at the age of 25, in 2022, Queen Elizabeth will finish 70 years of service. The Royal Family has announced that it will travel all year to celebrate the Queen’s platinum jubilee. The British citizens will get an extended bank holiday from June 2 until June 5 to attend public events, and community activities such as a pageant combining theatre, street arts, music, circus and carnivals.

• Wimbledon, also known as The Championships—the oldest tennis tournament in the world—will take place at the All England Club in London in July.
• The 109th edition of the Tour de France will begin on July 1 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and end on July 24 at Champs-Élysées, Paris. 
• In July-August, the Commonwealth Games will be held in Birmingham, England. 

• BWF World Championships, badminton’s marquee competition, to be held from August 21 to 28 in Japan.
• The US Open Tennis Championships, the year’s final Grand Slam, will take place from August 29 to September 11. 

• Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China will host the multi-sport Asian Games September 10 to 25. 

• Australia—also the defending champions—will host the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in October and November.  

France's defender Raphael Varane (C) holds the trophy as he celebrates with teammates on the roof of a bus while parading down the Champs-Elysee avenue in Paris, on July 16, 2018 after winning the Russia 2018 World Cup final football match; Image: Eric FEFERBERG / POOL / AFP

• The FIFA World Cup will take place in Qatar from November 21 to December 18.

• The Al Dhafra PV2 solar project based in Abu Dhabi is expected to be commercially operational by 2022. It will be the world’s largest single-site photovoltaic plant that will generate enough electricity to sustain power for 160,000 homes in the UAE and reduce CO2 emissions by more than 2.4 million metric tonnes per year–equal to removing 470,000 cars from roads. 
• India’s third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, aims to be its first to make a soft landing (one that doesn’t damage the craft) and will carry its own rover. Japan will also attempt its first soft landing on the Moon, with the SLIM mission. The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter will inaugurate South Korea’s own Moon exploration.
• While 5G may be in its infancy, we'll see an increased focus on 6G in 2022. China and the US started research into 6G in 2018.
• Nasa will launch the Artemis I orbiter in the first test of the long-overdue launch system that is intended eventually to take astronauts back to the surface of the Moon. And the agency’s Capstone orbiter will conduct experiments in preparation for the Gateway, the first space station to orbit the Moon.