Ben Hamilton
January 26th, 2018

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This time next month we could be reflecting on one of Denmark’s best ever months in sport. And the world of culture could have plenty to crow about as well.

Woz close to Oz glory
Denmark could wake up on Saturday to the news that Caroline Wozniacki has won the final of the Australian Open, where she will hope to be third time lucky  and at last win a grand slam title.

Wozniacki, 27, who faces Romanian world number one Simona Halep in the semis, nearly went out in round two after she trailed the world number 119, Jana Fett, 1-5 in the decider and had to save two match points.

Should she beat Halep, she’ll replace her as at the top of the rankings.

Third title for men?
One day later on January 27 it could be the turn of the Danish men’s team in the final of the European Handball Championship, providing they see off Sweden in the semi tonight.

An unexpected loss to the Czech Republic was just what the Danes needed to discover their ‘A game’, and wins against Spain and Germany have emboldened their belief they can add to their 2008 and 2012 titles.

Should Denmark beat Sweden, they’ll play either France or Spain in the final.

The best of Danish
Should they lose, you can always drown your sorrows in the knowledge that the world loves Danish culture – specifically the BBC World Service, which at 16:00 on January 28 will be airing a Copenhagen episode of its monthly radio program ‘The Arts Hour on Tour’.

The line-up includes film director Lone Scherfig, crime author Jussi Adler-Olsen, comedian Omar Marzouk and actress Birgitte Hjort Sørensen. The program will be repeated on January 29 at 10:00.

Warming up winter
In what is becoming a busy month, it’s questionable whether you’ll have time to visit Tivoli, which is marking its 175-year celebration in 2018 with a new winter season from February 2-25.

Tivoli has also confirmed plans to stage the marching of its biggest ever parade (from May 1), which will feature a contribution from the World Disney World Resort, and a big birthday party on August 15.

Highly animated
Two days after Tivoli’s opening, the Danish film industry will be in attendance at the Roberts, where a cartoon, ‘Den utrolige historie om den kæmpestore pære’, is in contention to win Best Film for the first time in 11 years.

Elsewhere, though, there were few changes, as Trine Dyrholm and Nikolaj Lie Kaas have once again received acting nominations.

Carrying our hopes
February 9 will see the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where Denmark’s biggest medal hope, the speedskater Elena Møller Rigas, will be the flag carrier.

Denmark has assembled its second largest-ever squad – 15 entrants spread across curling (10), speedskating (3), alpine skiing (1) and cross country skiing (1) – in its bid to add to the solitary silver medal it won in 1998.

At liberty to boast?
The Berlin Film Festival (Feb 15-25) will premiere the first two episodes of DR’s much talked-about drama series ‘Liberty’, which has been selected for the Berlinale Series Section.

Set in Tanzania, the Sunday night drama series tells the story of two expat Scandinavian families in the late 1980s. The media gave it the thumbs up following a January 25 press screening.

Oscar hopes 
And finally, Two documentaries co-produced by Danish companies have been nominated for Oscars: ‘Last men in Aleppo’ and ‘Strong Island’.

Danish cinematographer Dan Laustsen has been nominated for ‘The Shape of Water’, as has Swedish film ‘The Square’, which stars Danish actor Claes Bang in the lead role, as Best Foreign Language Film.

They’ll all find out their fate on Sunday March 4.