Reuters Sports Schedule at 1400 GMT Tuesday, Oct 27

Reuters sports schedule at 1400 GMT on Tuesday: - - - - FIFA Russia ready to support Infantino in FIFA election MOSCOW - Russia will support Gianni Infantino's bid to become FIFA president if UEFA president Michel Platini is unable to run for the post, said the president of the Russian Football Union (RFU) and Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko. (SOCCER-FIFA/RUSSIA, moved, by Dmitriy Rogovitskiy, 200 words) - - - - RUGBY We continue the build-up to the Rugby World Cup final between New Zealand and Australia this weekend. (RUGBY-WORLD/, expect throughout) - - Defence looms as key to final, say Wallabies LONDON - For all the flair and attacking instincts that Australia and New Zealand have, the Wallabies believe defence is still looming as the decisive factor in Saturday's World Cup final. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/AUSTRALIA-DEFENCE, moved, by Julian Linden, 450 words) - - Battered Pocock ready for fight of his life LONDON - With two blackened eyes, bruises and cuts on his cheeks, and a swollen, broken nose streaming with blood, David Pocock's commitment to Australia's World Cup campaign is plain to see. (RUGBY UNION-WORLD/AUSTRALIA-POCOCK), moved, by Julian Linden, 600 words) - - - - SOCCER Capital One Cup fourth round (all 1945 GMT) Everton v Norwich City Hull City v Leicester City Sheffield Wednesday v Arsenal Stoke City v Chelsea Struggling Chelsea seek Capital One Cup boost LONDON - Holders Chelsea will seek a lift from their Premier League gloom as they take on Stoke City for a place in the quarter-finals. (SOCCER-ENGLAND/CUP, expect by 2200 GMT/6 PM ET, 400 words) - - German Cup second round Nuremberg (II) v Fortuna Duesseldorf (II) (1800) Mainz v TSV 1860 Munich (II) (1800) Erzgebirge Aue (III) v Eintracht Frankfurt (1800) FSV Frankfurt (II) v Hertha Berlin (1800) Unterhaching (IV) v RB Leipzig (II) (1930) SV Darmstadt 98 v Hanover 96 (1930) VfL Bochum (II) v Kaiserslautern (II) (1930) VfL Wolfsburg v Bayern Munich (1930) Bayern face holders Wolfsburg in second round BERLIN - Holders VfL Wolfsburg could face an early exit as they meet mighty Bayern Munich in the German Cup second round. (SOCCER-GERMANY/CUP (PIX), expect by 2130 GMT/5:30 PM ET, by Karolos Grohmann, 400 words) - - Serie A Bologna v Inter Milan (1945) Table-topping incentive for Inter MILAN - Fourth-placed Inter Milan can displace AS Roma as Serie A leaders with a victory at Bologna who are third from bottom. (SOCCER-ITALY/, expect by 2200 GMT/6 PM ET, 300 words) - - Dutch Cup third round PSV Eindhoven v SC Genemuiden (IV) (1730) Achilles '29 (II) v Spakenburg (III) (1900) Almere City (II) v Den Bosch (II) (1900) Berkum (V) v HHC (III) (1900) Dordrecht (II) v Capelle (III) (1900) Heracles Almelo v Kon HFC (III) (1900) VVSB (III) v Emmen (II) (1900) Go Ahead Eagles Deventer (II) v Willem II Tilburg (1945) Copy on merit - - - - TENNIS WTA Finals, Singapore (to Nov. 1) Victories for Sharapova and Pennetta SINGAPORE - Maria Sharapova continued her mastery of Romania's Simona Halep with a high quality 6-4 6-4 victory filled with bruising baseline rallies to edge closer to a last four berth at the WTA Finals. (WTA-WOMEN/FINALS (PIX), moved, by Patrick Johnston, 457 words) - - ATP Tour: Swiss Indoors, Basel (until Nov. 1) Valencia Open (until Nov. 1) Copy on merit - - - - BASEBALL Royals, Mets open World Series in Kansas City The Kansas City Royals, back in the World Series for a second consecutive year, host the New York Mets in the opening game of Major League Baseball's best-of-seven championship series. (BASEBALL-WORLDSERIES/, expect by 0345 GMT/11:45 PM ET, by Larry Fine, 400 words) - - - - NHL Canadiens one win shy of record start The Montreal Canadiens can tie a National Hockey League record by extending their season-opening win streak to 10 games when they visit the Vancouver Canucks in one of the 10 games on the schedule. (NHL-HIGHLIGHTS/, expect by 0330 GMT/11:30 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) - - - - GYMNASTICS World championships, Glasgow (to Nov. 1) GLASGOW - Led by twice world champion Simone Biles and Olympic gold medallist Gabby Douglas, the Americans will be determined to complete a hat-trick of team titles as the countdown to next year's Rio Games begins at the world championships. (GYMNASTICS-WORLD/ (PIX), expect by 2130 GMT/5:30 PM ET, by Pritha Sarkar, 500 words) - - - - (London desk editor: Tony Jimenez)