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31/01/2016
Squash Player's Photo of the Year Award
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click on image for larger view
 This
spectacular dive by Colombian action man Miguel Angel Rodriguez was voted Squash
Player Photo of the Year by the magazine’s readers from a shortlist of 10.
The picture was taken by Steve Line during Rodriguez’s shock Tournament of
Champions quarter-final win over Greg Gaultier in New York.
Line said of the photo: “As an action photographer, as soon as Miguel Rodriguez
is announced on court, then the telephoto lenses get packed away and the wide
angles come out in anticipation of one of his famous dives. Then it’s a question
of waiting and watching.
“Even with the advent of better autofocusing systems, a pin-sharp photograph is
never guaranteed. The autofocus point has to be selected and that point trained
on the top half of the player. A slip in concentration and you can miss the shot
of a lifetime. It was the Tournament of Champions held in the cathedral-like
venue of Grand Central Terminal in New York, the court lighting was pretty good
and Miguel was wearing light-coloured patterned clothing, always a help for
autofocusing.
“It was the third game of the quarter-final against Gregory Gaultier and Miguel
was fired up in a match where he eventually secured his best-ever win.
“He was caught out of position in the back of the court behind Gaultier, who had
just played a short cross court. I fired the motor drive as Miguel started
sprinting around his opponent and ended up diving right across me at full
stretch to just reach the ball.
“Instinctively, a photographer knows if he has the shot and I had the entire
sequence pin-sharp. The pick of the shots was this swallow dive - absolutely
perfect!”
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