Short Corner — Chandigarh

India tottering at 247 for 8
Pakistani off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq extracted life out of a bald Ferozeshah Kotla wicket with a haul of five wickets to leave India tottering at 247 for 8 on the opening day of the second Test in New Delhi on Thursday. At close, Saqlain returned with five scalps for 94 runs, the third consecutive five-wicket haul, to put India into defensive after the hosts had a relatively fine start with Sadagoppan Ramesh and V V S Laxman putting up 88 runs for the opening stand.

Paes, Bhupathi win
Top seed Lleander Ppaes and compatriot Mmahesh Bbhupathi carved out straight set victories over their opponents to storm into the men’s singles semi-finals of the ATP Tour Cchallenger Ttennis Cchampionship in Calcutta on Thursday. Paes scripted a fluent 6-4, 6-3 victory over Pakistan’s Aisam Qureshi while Bhupathi had to sweat a little more to suppress Gregory Carraz of France with a hard-fought 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) victory.

Test of nerves
Coach Vasudevan Baskaran looked a satisfied man when he walked out of the bench after his team’s loss to Pakistan in Delhi yesterday. He had good reasons too, as the young Indian side showed remarkable tenacity to level scores twice in the opening match of the nine-match Pepsi Hockey Cup series. However, he would agree that the team gave a patchy display and there is need for more cohesion upfront, if Pakistan are to be reigned in. The second match of the series beginning in Bhopal on Friday will be a test of nerves with Pakistan.