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Photos: Slick tricks with freestyle footballer Akshay Yadav in Mumbai
Updated On Aug 24, 2018 10:12 am IST
Akshay Yadav, 23, a Mumbai native is self taught football freestyler. Years of practice has him counted among the top freestylers from India. He wishes to make this flourish-focused offshoot of the world’s most played sport popular in the country and increase awareness about it. The 23-year-old who picked up this sport when he was in school, and became a national champion six years ago, is now representing India at the World Football Freestyle Championships in Prague, which are running from August 21 to August 25.
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Football freestyler Akshay Yadav shows off his skills at Bandra Reclamation. The 23-year-old picked up the sport when he was in school, and became a national champion six years ago. He is representing India at the World Football Freestyle Championships in Prague, which runs from August 21 to August 25. (Kunal Patil / HT Photo)
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Two boys practice tricks at Dadar in Mumbai. A person who performs football tricks using his body is not how one would describe an athlete or an artist. But a small group of people across the globe are associating themselves with this discipline and using it as a form of self-expression. (Kunal Patil / HT Photo)
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With a world governing body already in place, the fledgling sport is slowly mushrooming into the mainstream. There are quite a few freestylers in India as well and are growing in numbers. (Kunal Patil / HT Photo)
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Born and brought up in Mumbai, Yadav was first introduced to the discipline while playing football in school. While his aspirations of becoming a footballer didn’t pan out, in the bargain he discovered a unique talent for freestyling and hasn’t put the ball down since. (Kunal Patil / HT Photo)
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Yadav calls himself an artistic athlete rather than an athlete or an artist. His training began as a school kid, and from then built up a repertoire of skills and tricks, which gave him the confidence to participate in various freestyle tournaments. “I always wanted to do something out of the box,” says Yadav. “I always wanted to be on stage than the field as I always thought there was a bit of an artist in me.” (Kunal Patil / HT Photo)
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Yadav was crowned national champion at the age of seventeen. This achievement gave him the boost to pursue the sport seriously and since then he has worked his way up into being counted among the top freestyle footballers in the country. (Kunal Patil / HT Photo)
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Initially, his parents told him to opt for a more mainstream career but a bit of convincing later their support has only grown for his choice. Today, they take pride in showing videos of their son lining up tricks. (Kunal Patil / HT Photo)
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Updated on Aug 24, 2018 10:12 am IST