The second edition of the 'Indian Open of Surfing’ got underway amidst much fanfare at the Sasihithlu beach in Mangaluru today. The three-day surfing extravaganza (May 26 – 28, 2017) is a part of the Karnataka Surfing Festival promoted by Karnataka tourism, recognised by Surfing Federation of India and organised by Mantra Surf Club and Kanara Water Sports Promotion Council.
Shri B Ramanath Rai, Honourable Minister for Forest, Ecology and Environment, Government of Karnataka and District in-charge Minister, Dakshin Kannada District and Shri K. Abhay Chandra Jain, MLA, Mulky graced the opening ceremony of the Second edition of the Indian Open of Surfing with their presence. The second edition of the Indian Open of Surfing was flagged off by Shri Naveen Raj Singh, IAS, Secretary, Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka.
The opening day of the premier surfing championship saw surfers fighting difficult conditions due to a no-moon day, resulting in extreme tide. Surfers across U14, U16, Seniors (23 – 30 years), Masters (30 years and above) and Open category participated in the preliminary elimination rounds today stretched over multiple heats.
The top two from each heat moved forward to round two which will be followed by the semi-finals tomorrow (27th May 2017) and the finals scheduled on 28th May 2017. The opening day also witnessed the Stand Up Paddling Championship for women.
Surfers across all the categories were given 15 minutes each to compete under testing conditions in the sea. Within these 15 minutes, the surfers were allowed to catch 10 waves to showcase their skills, and the best two waves for each were accounted towards their competition scores by the judges. Winners were adjudged on the basis of the manoeuvres performed by each surfer in the water and their ability to catch the wave.
The day started with the Masters category. Over nine surfers participated in this category in the first round while six of them moved to the semi-finals. Moorthy Megavan, Sandeep Samuel, Mukesh Panjanathan, Venkatesan A, Velmurugan, Vengat Kwere the winners of the category and secured a direct semi-final spot scheduled for tomorrow.
The seniors category (23-30 Years) witnessed participation from 26 surfers, while 15 of them made it to the second round. In the open category, 13 surfers from across France, Maldives, Madagascar and India participated in the first round. French surfer Perceval Fayon along with Maldivian surfers Ismail Miglal and Ammaday booked themselves a semi-final spot. Indian surfers Dharani Selvakumar, Manikandan Appu, Rahul Govind, Sekar Patchai also made it to the semi-final round.
The under-14 category, also called the ‘novice’ category, witnessed the most enthusiastic bunch of surfers. This category saw 24 participants fight for a spot in the next round but only 11 qualified for it. The novice surfers who made it to the second round are Taying Arun, Chand, Subramani Muniyan, Selva Muniyan, Manju, Surbhi Krishnan, Akhilan, Omkar Bhat, Srikanth, Abdul Rajak Jamaldeen & Deekshith Bhaskar.
The Under-16 category saw participation from 24 surfers while only 11 of them qualified for round two. Sanjay Selvamani, Harish Muthu, Vishal Mendan, Subramani Munjan, Sunil Dhayalan, Karthik Munusamy, Nithishvarun Thiruvengadam, Ajeesh Ali, Santhosan Santhokumar, Sivaraj Tiabu, Mani Kandan M were the ones to make it to the second round in the category.
The Stand Up Paddling competition for women saw participation from six girls and India’s top Stand Up Paddler and local girl Tanvi Jagadish emerged as the champion, while Harshita Achar finished second and Vilasini Sunder finished third.
Sasihithulu beach today had an atmosphere of festivity engulfing it with locals enjoying the surfing competition along with performances from dance groups and other adventure sports like skateboarding and slacklining.
