Stand-Up Paddle Championship begins

National Stand-Up Paddle Championship 2024 kicks off in Rameswaram with record participation, eyeing international events in future.

The National Stand-Up Paddle Championship 2024 started on a powerful note at Pirappanvalasai shore in Rameswaram on Saturday.

The two-day event was inaugurated by Ramanathapuram Collector Simranjeet Singh Kahlon. The third edition of the championship has seen over 120 registrations, the highest ever participation till date. Athletes from nine States are competing in sprint (200 metres), technical (4 km) and distance (12 km) categories across five divisions, men, women, groms (under-16), defence and open.

International Surfing Association SUP coach Jehan Driver, who has been instrumental in bringing the sport to the Palk Bay, says, “it has been a decade of hard work and the response we are getting from participants is encouraging and we are gearing up to organise an international championship event from next year. Plans are also afoot to start a tri-nation series with Maldives and Sri Lanka”. He adds that the support by the Tamil Nadu Surfing Association which is affiliated to the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu has given a huge push to this water sport event.

The placid waters of the Palk Bay, is conducive to the sport and this is being utilised by not just the established Paddle Board players but also youngsters from Pirappanvalasai. During the last year championship participants from the village had bagged gold and bronze in the groms category. With a worldwide audience for this sport, the event ‘Palkbay SUP Challenge 2024’ is also being live-streamed on their official website.

The winners on the first day were technical race male (4km) Sekar Pachai, technical race female (4km) Tanvi Jagadish and technical race groms (2km) Akash Pujar.