victoria azarenka

Reuters Sports Schedule at 0001 GMT on Saturday, Jan 28

Jan 28 (Reuters) – Reuters sports schedule at 0001 GMT onSaturday (times GMT): TENNIS Australian Open (to 29) MELBOURNE – Belarussian Victoria Azarenka, through to herfirst grand slam final, takes on Russian Maria Sharapova in anintriguing women’s singles final. (TENNIS-OPEN/, lead andsidebars, pix, by Ian Ransom, Greg Stutchbury and PeterRutherford) – - – - NBA LeBron James and the Miami Heat, battling for top spot inthe hotly-contested Southeast division, look to make it threestraight wins when they host Carmelo Anthony and the New YorkKnicks. (NBA-HEAT/, expect by 0400, pix, by Simon Evans, 350words) – - Danilo Gallinari and the surging Denver Nuggets seek theirsixth straight victory when they host a Toronto Raptors teamthat just snapped an eight-game skid earlier this week.(NBA-NUGGETS/, expect by 0445, pix, 250 words) – - – - CRICKET Australia v India, fourth test (to 28) ADELAIDE – Australia are nearing a series sweep against ahapless India who are 166 for six in their second innings,needing 500 for victory. (CRICKET-INDIA/, pix, by NickMulvenney, 500 words) – - Pakistan v England, second test, Abu Dhabi (to 29) ABU DHABI – Pakistan will resume their second innings on 125for four, 55 runs ahead of England’s first innings total.(CRICKET-ENGLAND/, pix, by Matt Smith, 500 words) – - New Zealand v Zimbabwe, only test, Napier (to 30, 2130) – - – - GOLF Abu Dhabi Championship ABU DHABI – Little-known Dane Thorbjorn Olesen startsSaturday’s third round with a one-stroke lead but most eyes willbe on former world number one Tiger Woods, who is two strokesoff the pace. (GOLF-EUROPEAN/, expect by 1200, pix, 450 words) – - PGA Tour: Farmers Insurance Open, San Diego (to 29) SAN DIEGO – South Korea’s Bae Sang-moon recorded fivebirdies on his outward nine before grabbing an early two-shotlead in Friday’s second round at the Farmers Insurance Openwhere Phil Mickelson missed the cut. (GOLF-PGA/, moved, expectupdate, pix, by Mark Lamport-Stokes, 400 words) – - – - SOCCER African Nations Cup, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon (to Feb.12) Botswana v Guinea, Franceville (1600) Ghana v Mali, Franceville (1900) LIBREVILLE – Both Ghana and Mali take a winning start in theAfrican Nations Cup into their second game of the tournament inFranceville on Saturday. Both sides won by a single goal intheir opening encounter on Tuesday. Their match in the Gaboneseprovicial town is preceded by the clash between Botswana andGuinea, both seeking their first points in Group D.(SOCCER-AFRICA/NATIONS, expect by 2100, pix, by Brian Homewoodand Mark Gleeson, 400 words) – - Serie A Catania v Parma (1700) Juventus v Udinese (1945) with AC Milan not playing until Sunday, Serie A leadersJuventus can move four points clear at the top with victory athome to third-place Udinese. (SOCCER-ITALY/, expect by 1845,pix, 400 words) – - Bundesliga (1430 unless stated) Bayern Munich v VfL Wolfsburg Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen Hertha Berlin v Hamburg SV Augsburg v Kaiserslautern Borussia Dortmund v Hoffenheim Cologne v Schalke 04 (1730) BERLIN, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Leaders Bayern Munich host VfLWolfsburg as Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04, also on 37points, take on Hoffenheim and Cologne respectively and arehoping for a slip-up of their title rivals to take control ofthe Bundesliga. (SOCCER-GERMANY/, expect by 1630, pix, byKarolos Grohmann, 400 words) – - Ligue 1 (1800 unless stated) Auxerre v AS Nancy Stade Brest v Paris St Germain FC Lorient v Sochaux Olympique Lyon v Dijon Nice v Montpellier HSC Toulouse v Caen Lille v St Etienne (2000) – - La Liga Rayo Vallecano v Athletic Bilbao (1700) Espanyol v Real Mallorca (1700) Real Madrid v Real Zaragoza (1900) Villarreal v Barcelona (2100) MADRID – Real Madrid will seek to get over their King’s Cupexit during the week with a victory at home to bottom club RealZaragoza on Saturday to maintain their lead at the top of LaLiga over Barcelona, who visit Villarreal. (SOCCER-SPAIN/ expectby 2100, pix, by Mark Elkington, 450 words) – - Dutch championship Heerenveen v Utrecht (1745) NAC Breda v de Graafschaap Doetinchem (1845) Heracles Almelo v Excelsior (1845) Roda JC Kerkrade v AZ Alkmaar (1945) – - English FA Cup fourth round (to 29) Queens Park Rangers v Chelsea (1200) Liverpool v Manchester United (1245) Blackpool (II) v Sheffield Wednesday (III) (1500) Bolton Wanderers v Swansea City (1500) Derby County (II) v Stoke City (1500) Hull City (II) v Crawley Town (IV) (1500) Leicester City (II) v Swindon Town (IV) (1500) Millwall (II) v Southampton (II) (1500) Sheffield United (III) v Birmingham City (II) (1500) Stevenage Football Club (III) v Notts County (III) (1500) West Bromwich Albion v Norwich City (1500) Brighton & Hove Albion (II) v Newcastle United (1715) LONDON – Liverpool v Manchester United and Queens ParkRangers against Chelsea are eagerly-anticipated Cup tiesfollowing the racism furore which hit both corresponding leaguefixtures. (SOCCER-ENGLAND/CUP, expect by 1500, pix, by MarkMeadows, 400 words) – - – - ATHLETICS U.S. Open indoor athletics, New York – - – - ALPINE SKIING World Cup: Women’s downhill, St Moritz, Switzerland (0930) Men’s downhill, Garmisch, Germany (1100) ST MORITZ, Switzerland – Lindsey Vonn, who won Friday’ssuper-combined on the same piste, is the clear favourite for thewomen’s downhill in St Moritz. (ALPINE SKIING/WOMEN, expect by1630, pix, by Patrick Lang, 350 words) – - GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany – Swiss Didier Cuche,boosted by his fifth win in Kitzbuehel a week ago, will try toavenge his loss to Canada’s Erik Guay at last year’s worldchampionships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in a World Cup donwhillin the German resort. (ALPINE SKIING/MEN, expect by 1430, pix,by Manuele Lang, 350 words) – - – - FIGURE SKATING European championships Copy on merit. – - – -