A wave of joy swept around the surfing fraternity across the world last year after the sport was officially included in the 2020 Olympic Games to be held in Tokyo. Surfing is extremely popular in various countries and its addition to the Olympic program marks a new chapter in the sport’s history.
In the light of this decision, earlier in March this year, it was also included as one of the 42 sports that will be contested in the Asian Games scheduled for next year in Indonesia. These are exciting times for the sport and it is growing at a rapid pace, even in India, where there has been a considerable increase in interest as well as participation.
Currently, the Indian Open of Surfing, which is India’s premier surfing competition, is being held over the weekend in Mangaluru, Karnataka. It will feature over 120 national and international surfers vie against one another and is recognised by the International Surfing Association (ISA) and Surfing Federation of India (SFI) as well.
The tournament will feature men and women compete in nine different categories. It will see top surfers from the states of Goa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Lakshadweep along with international participants from Australia, the United States of America and France.
Ishita Malviya, who is India’s first ever female surfer, will be seen riding the waves, along with other top women surfers from the country such as Sinchana Gowda, Dharini Selvakumar and Aneesha Nayak. Over on the men’s side, Manikandan and Sekar Pitchai will be the one’s to watch out for.
Competing in the stand-up paddling category will be Tanvi Jagadish, who is the number one Indian in her event and a five-time national champion. She started surfing at the age of 10 and in a short span of time, she has represented India in various international events.
Recently, she finished third in the SUP event at the West Marine Carolina Cup in the United States and her next target is the World Championships in Denmark, scheduled to begin in September later this year.
Athletes like Tanvi have given a huge boost to surfing in India and the growth has been there for all to see. She said, “Earlier in competitions here, 80% of the participants were foreigners. Now the situation has reversed! Most of the participants are Indian and we are getting more exposure and media coverage.”
However, Rammanohar Paranjpe, the Vice President of the SFI, states that while progress has been made, the sport is still in a nascent stage in the country.
“The last ten years have been very pivotal for our growth. Things have picked up as we now have more events and more participants,” said Paranjpe. There are 15 surf schools in India and after popularising the sport domestically, the next step is to be able to compete in international competitions.
He added, “Now, we are looking towards expansion. Our focus is now on taking surfers to tournaments abroad and also, bringing international events to India.”
When asked about the Olympic Games and the prospects of seeing Indian surfers participate at the biggest stage of them all, Paranjpe said that there is a need to exercise caution. “Whatever we do right now is a new experience for us and something to gain exposure from.
"There are a lot of challenges we face and we are trying to do our best. Our target is to do well at the Asian Games next year and then we'll see how to take things forward," he said.
Competitions such as the Indian Open of Surfing are a step in the right direction and one hopes that our surfers will be able to reap the benefits of such initiatives and progress steadily.
