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

GOLF

Rain forces Maekyung Open to three rounds, Kochhar best Indian at tied 12th

Long-hitting Karandeep Kochhar fired an eagle on a Par-4 for the second time in as many days to emerge as the best Indian at tied 12th in the GS Caltex Maekyung Open in Seongnam, Korea on Saturday.

With rounds of 69-69, Kochhar was 4-under for two rounds even as heavy rains, which led to bunkers and fairways getting water logged, forced the tournament to be reduced to 54 holes after the third round was washed out early at Namseoul Country Club.

The third, which now becomes the final round, will restart on Sunday at 7.50am local time.

Kochhar was one of the four Indians to make the cut and that included veteran Jeev Milkha Singh (71-70), who despite missing a lot of fairways and greens in regulation hung in for a 1-under 70 and made the cut in tied 41st place alongside Honey Baisoya (69-72).

Gaganjeet Bhullar (69-72) was tied 57th.

Shiv Kapur (73-71) and Ajeetesh Sandhu 72-72 missed the cut on a day when it was raining and was gloomy.

Unheralded Korean Chanmin Jung led the tournament after two rounds. He was 11 under, two ahead of Korea’s Junghwan Lee and four ahead of his compatriots Yubin Jang, an amateur, Taeyang Jung, and Bio Kim — the defending champion.

This is only the second time in its history that the event — first played in 1982 — has been reduced to three rounds. The other occasion was in 1998 when Hong Kong’s Scott Rowe triumphed at Lakeview.

Just six weeks ago Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho, who surprisingly missed the cut this week, won the World City Championship at the Hong Kong Golf Club after the tournament was reduced to 54 holes due to inclement weather.

Only a handful of groups teed off this morning when play eventually started at 11.30am local time, before the round was cancelled just 40 minutes later.

– PTI

ICE HOCKEY

Indian Women’s Ice Hockey team was defeated 0-13 in the Asia Oceania Championships semifinal against Thailand.

Earlier, the women’s team made history by becoming the first Indian team to enter the semifinal of the tournament. India will play either Iran or Singapore for the bronze medal.

-Team Sportstar

TENNIS

Junior Billie Jean King Cup: India beats Indonesia for 11th place

India won its two singles matches through Sejal Bhutada and Asmi Adkar and beat Indonesia 2-1 for the 11th place in the Asia-Oceania Junior Billie Jean King Cup under-16 girls tennis tournament in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, on Saturday.

Japan beat host Kazakhstan 2-1 to emerge the champion. Australia beat Korea 2-0 to take the third qualification spot from the region for the World Group competition.

The results:

Play-off (11th place): India bt Indonesia 2-1 (Sejal Bhutada bt Laitaul Fajria 6-3, 6-0; Asmi Adkar bt Cylova Hukmasabiyya 6-4, 6-3; Sejal & Aakruti Sonkusare lost to Cylova & Anjali Junarto 4-6, 6-7(4)).

-Team Sportstar