Reuters Sports Schedule at 1400 GMT on Wednesday, Oct 1

Reuters

Reuters sports schedule at 1400 GMT on Wednesday: - - - - SOCCER Champions League group stage (1845 unless stated) Zenit St Petersburg v Monaco (1600) Bayer Leverkusen v Benfica Arsenal v Galatasaray Anderlecht v Borussia Dortmund Malmo v Olympiakos FC Atletico Madrid v Juventus Basel v Liverpool Ludogorets v Real Madrid Atletico looking to ignite campaign at home to Juventus MADRID - Last season's runners-up Atletico Madrid, having lost their Group A opener at Olympiakos Piraeus, look to spark their latest campaign into life at home to Italian champions Juventus. (SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/ATLETICO (PIX, TV) expect by 2030 GMT/4:30 PM ET, 500 words) - - Leverkusen looking for change of fortune against Benfica BERLIN - Bayer Leverkusen did all the hard work but failed to win any points in their Champions League opener against AS Monaco but all that must change when they host Benfica in Group C. (SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/LEVERKUSEN (PIX), expect by 2045 GMT/4:45 PM ET, by Karolos Grohmann, 400 words) - - Malmo face Olympiakos as Champions league returns to Sweden MALMO - For the first time in 14 years a group game in the Champions League will take place on Swedish soil as Malmo take on Olympiakos at the Swedbank Stadium. (SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/MALMO (PIX) expect by 2030 GMT/4:30 PM ET, by Philip O'Connor, 200 words) - - Basel host Liverpool aiming for another Premier league scalp BASEL - FC Basel have beaten Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur in the last few seasons and will attempt to add another Premier League scalp to their collection when they face Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday. (SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/BASEL (PIX) expect by 2030 GMT/4:30 PM ET, 400 words) - - Weakened Dortmund still seen too strong for Anderlecht BRUSSELS - A weakened Borussia Dortmund are still firm favourites to extend their lead in Group D after a 2-0 home victory over Arsenal but Belgian champions and league leaders Anderlecht have been heartened by their opening draw at Galatasaray. (SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/ANDERLECHT (PIX), expect by 2100 GMT/5:00 PM ET, 350 words) - - Western Sydney beat Seoul to make Champions League final SYDNEY - The fledgling Western Sydney Wanderers continued their fairytale debut run in the AFC Champions League by beating FC Seoul 2-0 in their semi-final on Wednesday to move within one step of becoming the first Australia winners of the tournament. (SOCCER-ASIA/CHAMPIONS, moved, by Patrick Johnston, 400 words) - - - - ASIAN GAMES Asian Games, Incheon, South Korea (to Oct. 4) We continue our coverage of the quadrennial sporting extravaganza where world records have tumbled and controversy has reigned. (GAMES-ASIA/, expect throughout, by Julian Linden and Peter Rutherford) - - - - MOTOR RACING Hamilton hunting another win as F1 leader SUZUKA, Japan - Despite deposing Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg as Formula One leader, Lewis Hamilton still sees himself as very much the hunter rather than the hunted as he chases a hat-trick of victories in Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix. (MOTOR RACING-PRIX/PREVIEW, (PIX), moved, by Abhishek Takle, 500 words). A drivers' form sheet and statistics for Sunday's 15th round of the championship also moved. - - - - TENNIS ATP/WTA: China Open, Beijing (to Oct. 5) Djokovic maintains perfect record, Wozniacki bundled out BEIJING - Men's top seed Novak Djokovic maintained his perfect China Open record but Caroline Wozniacki's hopes of qualifying for the year-ending WTA Finals in Singapore took a hit after she crashed out (TENNIS-CHINA/ (PIX, TV), moved, 500 words) - - ATP: Japan Open, Tokyo (to Oct. 5) Nishikori wows sold-out Tokyo crowd TOKYO - Japan's Kei Nishikori began his quest for a second Japan Open title with a comprehensive 6-3 6-4 win over Croatia's Ivan Dodig in front of a sell-out crowd. (TENNIS-MEN/JAPAN, moved, 400 words) - - - - RUGBY South Africa team to play New Zealand in Rugby Championship CAPE TOWN - South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer named the following team on Wednesday to play New Zealand in a Rugby Championship test in Johannesburg on Saturday. (RUGBY-CHAMPIONSHIP/SAFRICA, moved, by Nick Said, 400 words) - - - - GOLF McIlroy named PGA Tour Player of the Year Northern Irish world number one Rory McIlroy was named on Wednesday as the PGA Tour's Player of the Year for a second time after a stellar 2014 campaign highlighted by two major victories.(GOLF-PGA/AWARDS), moved, 450 words) - - - - BASEBALL Pirates host Giants in wild-card showdown The Pittsburgh Pirates host the San Francisco giants in a one-game showdown to determine which wild card team advances to the best-of-five National League Division Series versus the Washington Nationals. (BASEBALL-PLAYOFFS/ (PIX), expect by 0345 GMT/11:45 PM ET, 400 words) - - - - NORTH AMERICAN SPORTS Roundups of off-field developments in the major North American professional sports leagues. (expect by 0001 GMT/8:01 PM ET, by The Sports Xchange, 400 words) (Europe duty editor: Ken Ferris)