Indian sports news wrap, May 6

FOOTBALL

FIFA World Cup 2022 photo exhibition held in Telangana

For any football lover to be there at the FIFA World Cup is itself a dream come true. And, one can imagine the sense of pride when a photographer experiences the unbelievable atmosphere at the World Cup venues, freezes those unforgettable moments of ecstasy and agony and looks back, shares those memories.

That’s what Mohammad Shamsuddin, Editor of Snaps India, founded by the late M.A. Rahim in the 60s as a freelancing agency to provide news pictures, did when the Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali formally launched the one-day photo exhibition on the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Doha (December 2022).

The pictures ranged from capturing the emotions of the players out there in the field to the die-hard fans.

A couple of those images (there were many, for sure) which caught the imagination of the visitors on Saturday was the solitary frame of a Brazilian teenager in tears in the stands, clearly depicting the changing moods of those fans at the venues.

Another pic which could be a connoisseur’s delight was the scissors kick by the incredible Cristiano Rolando of Portugal.

“It was a different kind of experience. You just don’t have time to relax like in some other sports. Action swings from one half to the other in seconds. You have to be on your toes,” said 54-year-old Shamsuddin, who also covered the 2012 London Olympics, Australian Open and many other major sporting events over the years.

“The biggest challenge, of course, is to be ready to catch the emotions of the players when they come close to you when you have to switch your camera gear at lightning speed,” said the lensman for whom it was his maiden FIFA World Cup.

Well, it is not for nothing, this City-based lensman, who happened to be the only one from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh who covered the World Cup.

“Yes, it is a great privilege to be there, and I am glad to inform you that I have got the accreditation for the FIFA Women’s World Cup to be held jointly in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20 this year,” said the proud lensman.

“I am grateful to my Vijayawada-based photographer-friend Srinivas Reddy (Fellow, Royal Photographic Society, Great Britain) for sifting these pics from the thousands I have had to ensure that some of the best are here for the exhibition,” Shamsuddin said.

The exhibition featured about 160 pictures reliving the memories of what is arguably the biggest sporting event in the world.

The images of the winning captain of Argentina Lionel Messie getting a feel of the World Cup after winning laying his hands on the glittering trophy, and the losing finalist’s star player Kylian Mbappé Lottin walking past it, perhaps wondering where it went wrong, were truly special.

Some of the dignitaries who visited the exhibition included British Deputy High Commissioner Gareth Wynn Owen, P.V. Prabhakar Rao, son of former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, Dr K Lakshmi IAS, Director State Gallery of Art, former India football captain Shabbir Ali.

-V V SUBRAHMANYAM