The FA Cup the Australian Open Six Nations Rugby
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Sport Six Nations Rugby CI The entire Six Nations rugby championships returns to the BBC for the first time since 1998.The jewel in the crown of Northern hemisphere rugby is back on the BBC and is set to thrill rugby fans, who can follow the whole championships, featuring England, France,Wales, Ireland and Scotland, free of charge, over a seven-week period.The games are live and exclusive on BBC Television, kicking off on Saturday 15 February when England take on France at Twickenham and relative newcomers Italy face Wales. The FA Cup LF Match Of The Day features live coverage of The FA Cup, as the Premiership teams enter the third round in January. At this stage of the competition, there’s always the potential for one of the top teams to be knocked out by a lower-league “giant killer”. Gary Lineker presents all the action, with expert analysis and insight from the top team of Alan Hansen,Trevor Brooking and Mark Lawrenson. Commentary comes from experts including John Motson, Barry Davies and Steve Wilson. Football Focus brings pre-match team news, half-time summaries and goal flashes, while Final Score delivers the verdicts on all the afternoon games in England and Scotland. The Australian Open CI BBC One’s live coverage of the first Grand Slam event of the year is presented by Sue Barker, as the Australian Open serves up more top-class tennis, starting overnight on 24 January with the Ladies’ Final. Grandstand will show the highlights the following day, and the Men’s Final will be shown live overnight, again with highlights the following day in Sunday Grandstand on BBC Two.The BBC’s coverage began early last year when Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski met in an earlier round, which was screened live during daytime television; should this happen again, schedules may once more be cleared to bring the clash of the Brits to viewers. Great Britain’s Davis Cup progress can also be followed with coverage of the 2003 competition from 7-9 February. 24 BBC ONE Winter 2003 www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice The Heineken Cup CI The Heineken Cup, Europe’s premier club rugby tournament, returns to the BBC to fire up rugby fans for the winter months.The competition, pitting the top 24 club sides from England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, France and Italy against each other, restarts on Saturday 11 January with rounds five and six, prior to the final stages of the competition in April and May. In the studio, Steve Rider is joined by England and Lions icon Jeremy Guscott, and the BBC’s top commentators – Eddie Butler, Nick Mullins and Welsh legend and expert summariser Jonathan Davies – are all on hand to take viewers to grounds around Europe. Powergen Cup Rugby CI Powergen Cup rugby moves into the quarter-final stage at the end of January, with the cream of the Premiership and National leagues competing for glory.This National Cup competition saw the Premiership clubs join in the previous round and could see some giant-killing by the remaining teams from the National leagues.The competition hots up with the semi-finals on 1 March. A place in next season’s Heineken Cup, competing against the best sides in Europe, is at stake. Benson And Hedges Masters Snooker CI Some of the world’s best snooker talent gathers at Wembley Conference Centre for the Benson and Hedges Masters. Steve Davis and John Parrott play host to eight days of top-class snooker action between 2-9 February. Sport 25 Sport The Challenge Cup CI Exclusive coverage of rugby league’s most prestigious prize, the Challenge Cup, features from Saturday 8 February, in Grandstand, with coverage from the fourth round onwards.The fifth round takes place on 1 March and the sixth round on 15 March. Commentary and analysis comes from a team which includes Ray French, Joe Lydon and Jonathan Davies. World Indoor Athletics Championships RC The Indoor athletics season kicks off on 1 March and builds up to the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham from 14-16 March. Britain’s second-biggest city will be keen to emulate Manchester’s success in hosting the Commonwealth Games, as Britain’s finest athletes take on the world’s best at the Championships. Commentary and analysis comes from a team that includes Sue Barker, Roger Black, Sally Gunnell, Brendan Foster and Paul Dickinson. 26 BBC ONE Winter 2003 www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice.