Reuters Sports Schedule at 0600 GMT on Friday, Oct 7

Reuters sports schedule at 0600 GMT on Friday (times GMT): SOCCER 2018 World Cup qualifiers Europe (1845) Group A France v Bulgaria Luxembourg v Sweden Netherlands v Belarus Group B Hungary v Switzerland Latvia v Faroe Islands Portugal v Andorra Group H Belgium v Bosnia Estonia v Gibraltar Greece v Cyprus European champions Portugal, France and Dutch in action Euro 2016 winners Portugal and runners-up France resume their World Cup qualifying campaigns with comfortable looking home games against Andorra and Bulgaria, while the Netherlands continue their bid for a place at the finals against visiting Belarus having missed out on the European Championship. (SOCCER-WORLDCUP/ (PIX), expect from 2045 GMT/4:45 PM ET, 400 words) Africa Ghana v Uganda (1530) Ghana begin road to hoped-for fourth straight World Cup TAMALE - Injury-plagued Ghana host the opening game of the group phase of African World Cup preliminaries, seeking to reach their fourth straight finals, but face a tough task against a resurgent Uganda, who have been buoyed by their qualification for the 2017 African Nations Cup. (SOCCER-WORLDCUP-GHA-UGA/, expect by 1800 GMT / 2:00 PM ET, 250 words) International friendly Cuba to host USA for friendly The United States visit Cuba for the first friendly between the nations on Cuban soil since 1947 when they clash at Havana's Estadio Pedro Marrero. (SOCCER-FRIENDLY-CUB-USA/ (TV, PIX), expect by 2330 GMT/7:30 PM ET, 350 words) MOTOR RACING Japanese Grand Prix practice Rosberg sets early pace at Suzuka SUZUKA, Japan - World championship leader Nico Rosberg set the pace ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes dominated the opening session of practice for the Japanese Grand Prix.(MOTOR-F1-JAPAN/, moved with updates to follow, by Abhishek Takle, 400 words) We will also have stories from around the paddock. TENNIS China Open, Beijing Murray faces Edmund, Raonic takes on Jaziri Men's world number two Andy Murray of Britain plays compatriot Kyle Edmund, while second seed Rafa Nadal takes on Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals. (TENNIS-OPEN/CHINA-MEN, expect by 1630 GMT/12:30 PM ET, 300 words) Radwanska faces Cornet or Shvedova, Kvitova takes on Keys Women's world number three Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland faces Alize Cornet or Yaroslava Shvedova, while Wuhan Open winner Petra Kvitova meets American Madison Keys in the quarter-finals. (TENNIS-OPEN/CHINA-WOMEN, expect by 1530 GMT/11:30 AM ET, 300 words) Japan Open, Tokyo Monfils takes on Karlovic, Cilic faces Monaco Second seed Gael Monfils of France faces seventh seed Ivo Karlovic whose fellow Croatian and fourth seed Marin Cilic takes on Argentina's Juan Monaco in the quarter-finals. (TENNIS-OPEN/JAPAN-MEN (PIX), expect by 1430 GMT/10:30 AM ET, 300 words) RUGBY Rugby Championship (round six) South Africa v New Zealand Boks skipper Strauss talks to media ahead of final home game DURBAN - South Africa captain Adriaan Strauss faces the media ahead of the Rugby Championship clash with New Zealand at King's Park in Durban on Saturday, his last match on home soil before retiring from international rugby at the end of the season. (RUGBY UNION-CHAMPIONSHIP/STRAUSS, expect by 1000 GMT/6 AM ET, by Nick Said, 400 words) Read faces media after tough week with Smith sent home DURBAN - New Zealand captain Kieran Read talks to the media ahead of the Rugby Championship clash with South Africa at King's Park in Durban on Saturday after a difficult week in which scrumhalf Aaron Smith was sent home in disgrace. (RUGBY UNION-CHAMPIONSHIP/READ, expect by 1230 GMT/830 AM ET, by Nick Said, 400 words) CRICKET India, New Zealand captains preview final test INDORE - India captain Virat Kohli and his New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, who is likely to be back for the final test, preview the third test at Indore's Holkar Stadium. (CRICKET-INDIA/, expect by 0900 GMT/5 AM ET, 400 words) England v Bangladesh, 1st ODI England begin one-day series against gritty Bangladesh DHAKA - Jos Buttler will lead a slightly weakened England side in the first of the three one-day internationals against a Bangladesh team with a strong home record in the last two years. (CRICKET-BANGLADESH (PIX), expect by 1700 GMT/1 PM ET, 350 words) GOLF Dunhill Links Championship (to 13) Swede Noren setting the pace ST ANDREWS, Scotland - Swede Alex Noren, chasing his third European Tour win of the season, takes a one-shot lead into the second round of the pro-am event. (GOLF-EUROPEAN/ (PIX), expect by 1800 GMT/2 PM ET, 200 words) (Asia duty editor: Greg Stutchbury)