MANGALURU: A beautiful morning and tempting waves welcomed surfers on the second day of the third edition of Indian Open Surfing here at the tranquil Panambur beach in Mangaluru. The three-day premier surfing competition is the official national championship of the Surfing Federation of India.
Sixteen-year-old Sugar Banarse from Goa impressed all the judges with her surfing, gathering the highest points amongst the women who made it to the finals scheduled for tomorrow. Karnataka’s Ishita Malviya (6.17) and Sinchana Gowda (7.30) along with Goa’s Sugar Banarse (11.27) and Tamil Nadu’s Srishthi Selvam (10.37) advanced to the finals of the women’s open surf category. Sugar will also compete in the finals of the groms (16 & under) girls surf category tomorrow.
Speaking after booking her slot in the finals, Sugar said, “I am happy to make it to the finals, but I am competing against experienced surfers and the defending champion Srishti Selvam. I know the challenge from my fellow finalists will be tough, but I am looking forward to it and I hope to surf my best tomorrow. I would also like to thank the Surfing Federation of India for organising this tournament as this helps us get more competition time under our belt, that will be of immense help for future training and international competitions.”
In the Groms Boys (U16) surf category semifinals on Saturday, it was a clean sweep by Tamil Nadu surfers, with Kishore Kumar leading the race by a huge margin. Kishore seemed more comfortable today and emerged with the highest marks in the competition. His 15.50 points was a testimony to his impressive surfing and maneuvers that also included a reverse flip, thereby helping him comfortably secure a spot in the finals tomorrow.
The others who have made it to the finals tomorrow are Tayin Arun (11.10), Naveenkumar R (10.17) and Jeevan S (6.46).
Speaking after booking his finals slot, Kishore Kumar said, “I enjoyed my surf today and that’s what matters the most. I know the finals is a different ball game and the competition will be stiff, but I am looking forward to it and will try to do my best.”
The day began with the quarterfinal encounters in the men’s open surf category which was dominated by Tamil Nadu surfers while Karnataka’s Ramesh Budihal impressed everyone with his maneuvers and surfing, booking a spot for himself in semifinals with 14.33 points, the highest amongst the ones in the semifinals for the men’s open surf category.
Tamil Nadu surfers Srikanth D (9.93), Surya P (9.7), Satish Sarvanan (12), Ruban V (8.7), Ajeesh Ali (9.3), Manikandan M (8.34) and Sanjai Kumar S (9.17) also advanced to the semifinals in the men’s open surf category.
Due to bad weather and non-surfable conditions, the semifinals for the category that was earlier scheduled to be held today, has been shifted to the final day (tomorrow) of the Indian Open of Surfing 2022.
The final day of the 3rd edition of the Indian Open of Surfing will witness the semi-finals & finals of the men’s open surf category along with the finals of the Groms Boys and Girls (16 & under) finals and female open surf categories. The scores for the tournament can be followed real-time on the live scoring website LIVE HEATS. (ANI)