Reuters Sports Schedule at 1400 GMT on Friday, March 27
Reuters sports schedule at 1400 GMT on Friday: - - - - CRICKET World Cup (to 29) New Zealand v Australia, Melbourne MELBOURNE - With the co-hosts making the cricket World Cup final we will provide full coverage of their preparations before the game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. We also moved a preview package from 0700 GMT/3 AM ET. (CRICKET-WORLD/FINAL (PIX), by Julian Linden, Nick Mulvenney, Ian Ransom and John Mehaffey) - - New Zealand hoping to get better of "big brothers" MELBOURNE - New Zealand's cricketers grew up playing backyard battles against imaginary Australia sides and will be eager to get one over their "big brothers" in the World Cup final, paceman Tim Southee said. (CRICKET-WORLD/ZEALAND-SOUTHEE (PIX), moved, by Ian Ransom, 400 words) - - - - MOTOR RACING Formula One: Malaysian Grand Prix (to 29) Hamilton quickest in practice SEPANG, Malaysia - Lewis Hamilton recovered from a frustrating morning session to lay down a marker to his Formula One rivals with the fastest time of the day in second free practice. (MOTOR RACING-PRIX/ (PIX), moved, by John O'Brien, 400 words) - - - - SOCCER Euro 2016 qualifiers (1945) Group C Macedonia v Belarus Slovakia v Luxembourg Spain v Ukraine - - Spain look to keep pace with Slovakia SEVILLE, Spain - Spain look to keep up the pressure on Group C leaders Slovakia, who are three points clear of the holders, when they host Ukraine. (SOCCER-EURO/SPAIN (PIX, TV) expect by 2145 GMT/5:45 PM ET, 400 words) - - Group E England v Lithuania Slovenia v San Marino Switzerland v Estonia - - Red-hot Kane dreaming of England debut LONDON - Tottenham Hotspur's red-hot striker Harry Kane is hoping to make his England debut when the Group E leaders take on Lithuania at Wembley. (SOCCER-EURO/ENGLAND (PIX), expect by 2145 GMT/5:45 PM ET, by Mike Collett, 400 words) - - Group G Liechtenstein v Austria Moldova v Sweden Montenegro v Russia - - Austria look to hold on to four-point lead Austria visit Liechtenstein where a victory will preserve at least a four-point lead at the top of Group C, while second-placed Sweden visit bottom side Moldova and Russia, a further point off the pace in third, travel to Montenegro. (SOCCER-EURO/AUSTRIA (PIX), expect by 2145 GMT/5:45 PM ET, 400 words) - - - - DOPING Park addresses media after doping ban SEOUL - South Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan speaks to the media for the first time since being hit with an 18-month ban for using a banned susbstance. (SWIMMING-PARK/DOPING (PIX, TV) expect by 0800 GMT/4 AM ET, by Peter Rutherford, 400 words) - - - - - - European Tour: Hassan II Trophy, Morocco (to 29) Copy on merit - - - - RUGBY Concussion package With concussion becoming one of the key welfare matters in rugby, Reuters has moved a package examining the issue. We have interviews with Simon Kemp, head of sports medicine at the Rugby Football Union, who has long been at the forefront of concussion research, and Sean Davey, a former coach and referee who is now a Television Match Official. We also have a feature on state-of-the-art impact sensors being used by English Premiership club Saracens to monitor the effect of concussion, as well as a general overview of the issue and how it affects a game that appears to be becoming an ever-more physical contest between bigger, fitter players. The master slug for all stories is RUGBY UNION-CONCUSSION/ and they were published at 0200 GMT/10 PM ET. - - - - FIGURE SKATING World Championships, Shanghai (to 29) Hanyu launches title bid Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu begins his bid to become the first Japanese to win back-to-back world titles, while Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates are eager to hold off Canadian favourites Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje in the ice dance. (FIGURE SKATING-WORLD/ (PIX), expect by 1000 GMT/6 AM ET, 400 words) - - - - MOTORCYCLING MotoGP: Qatar, Doha/Losail (to 29) Copy on merit - - - - CYCLING Tour of Catalunya, Spain (to 29) Copy on merit - - - - TENNIS U.S. women's game will flourish after Serena, says WTA head Just as American author Mark Twain described premature reports about his death as "greatly exaggerated", doom and gloom about U.S. women's tennis is way off the mark, according to WTA chairman and CEO Stacey Allaster. (TENNIS-US/ALLASTER (INTERVIEW), expect by 2000 GMT/4 PM ET, by Mark Lamport-Stokes, 500 words) - - - - GOLF PGA Tour: Texas Open, San Antonio, Texas (to 29) Hoffman a stroke in front in San Antonio American Charley Hoffman, bidding for a fourth PGA Tour victory, takes a one-stroke lead into the second round after opening with a flawless five-under-par 67 at the TPC San Antonio. (GOLF-PGA/ (PIX), expect end-of-day lead by 0130 GMT/9.30 PM ET, 400 words) - - LPGA Tour: Kia Classic, Carlsbad, California (to 29) Korean Lee leads by one, Ko two off the pace South Korean Lee Mi-rim set the pace with an opening seven-under-par 65 at Aviara Golf Club but she has a host of big name in hot pursuit with Yani Tseng of Taiwan one stroke back and New Zealand's world number one Lydia Ko just two off the pace. (GOLF-LPGA/ (PIX), expect end-of-day lead by 0130 GMT/9.30 PM ET, 300 words) - - - - NBA Warriors look to extend win streak to eight games The streaking Golden States Warriors, winners of seven consecutive games, visit the Memphis Grizzlies in a showdown between the Western Conference's top two teams in one of the 13 games of the National Basketball Association schedule. (NBA-HIGHLIGHTS/, expect by 0330 GMT/11:30 PM ET, 800 words) - - - - NHL Blackhawks host streaking Blue Jackets The Chicago Blackhawks face a tough test as they try to improve their playoff seed in the Western Conference against a visiting Columbus Blue Jackets team that is riding a four-game win streak in one of the three games on the National Hockey League schedule. (NHL-HIGHLIGHTS/, expect by 0330 GMT/11:30 PM ET, 300 words) - - - - NORTH AMERICAN SPORTS Roundups of off-field developments in the major North American professional sports leagues. (expect by 0000 GMT/8:00 PM ET, by The Sports Xchange, 400 words) (Europe desk editor: Ed Osmond)
