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January 2015

First of all, Happy New Year! (I know it’s a little bit late saying that)

Since it is a new year, let’s look ahead to what’s interesting ahead on the sports calendar. To be honest, 2015 isn’t the year that where many major sporting events will be held. You will still have your UEFA Champions League Final, World Championships, Grand Slams, Super Bowl, NBA Finals, and also a World Series that involves only two countries. Here are five things I’m looking forward for this year in sports:

1. Can McIlroy complete a “Rory Slam”?
All eyes will be on Rory McIlroy come this April when the Masters begin. Guess who was the last man to hold all four slams at once? It’s none other than Tiger Woods. Tiger was the last man to hold all four slams at once which was way back in 2001. With the Masters being the only major missing from Rory’s trophy cabinet, a win at Augusta will make him a step closer to complete a “Rory Slam”.

2. The End of the “Big Four”?
Honestly, is it a “Big Four” or a “Big Three”? Based on the accomplishments, it’s definitely still a “Big Three” of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic. Will this be the year where the dominance of these guys is officially done? Last year, the world witnessed two new grand slams winner: Wawrinka in the Australian Open and Cilic in the US Open. Who will be stepping up to threaten these guys? Raonic? Dimitrov? Nishikori?

3. Defending the UEFA Champions League Title
There’s always this curse in champions league football that no teams has ever successfully defend their title since the title name was introduced in 1992. Defending champion Real Madrid are in good shape to rewrite history by being the first team to successfully defend their title. Champions league football will return on February 17th when the Round of 16 begins.

4. Rugby World Cup
Perhaps the only major competition this year, the Rugby World Cup is all set in England come September. Defending champion New Zealand will hope that they will be able to win their first World Cup outside of home soil. This will be the eighth edition of the Rugby World Cup. New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and England are the only four countries that has ever won the title. France will definitely hope to nail their first title after losing in three finals.

5. Malaysia’s Badminton Future
The future of Malaysia’s badminton seems gloomy and bleakly. With Lee Chong Wei out indefinitely due to failed doping test, there are no players in the rank that are good enough to fill his shoes. All eyes will be on the coaching team changes in March when great Dane Morten Frost takes over as the performance director of the national badminton team. Hopefully the national badminton team will able to gain back those glory days we once had with a new man at the helm.

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