Short Corner — Chandigarh

Paes, Bhupathi crash out in semifinal
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi crashed to a three-set loss on centre court to the Dutch pair Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis in the semi-finals of the Super 9 Monte Carlo Open on Saturday. After losing first set at 2-6, the Indian duo looked set to go down in straight sets, trailing 2-5 in the second set. But they hung on to take the set to the tie-breaker and set off visions of yet another comeback win. Taking the tie-break at 7-5, they looked set to cruise into the final when they led 5-2 in the decider. But the Dutchmen reeled off an incredible five games in a row to take the match.

Nirupama loses
World No 184 Nirupama Vaidynathan lost to No 188 Noelle Van Lottum of France 3-6, 6-7 (6) in the semis at the $25,000 Espinho Challenger. Despite the loss, it was quite a productive trip to Portugal for her.

Tahir captain
Veteran forward Tahir Zaman has been retained Pakistan captain while Shahbaz junior would be his deputy for the World Cup hockey tournament beginning at Utretcht, Holland, from May 20.

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Formidable sides
Last year at Jabalpur, the Santosh Trophy final had seen a young Goa side take on experienced Bengal. Experience had prevailed with Raman Vijayan scoring the golden goal. This time, the title clash is again between the two formidable sides, but the roles seem to have been reversed.

Protest resignation
In an unprecedented move, eight of the 12 executive committee members of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) resigned on Sunday. The election and annual general body meeting of HCA would be held next month. World Cup planINDIAN skipper Mohammed Azharuddin feels it is too early to plan for the 1999 World Cup in England .