Surfing begins amid challenging conditions

MANGALURU

Panambur Beach here was buzzing with action from early in the morning on Friday marking the beginning of the third edition of the Indian Open of Surfing.

The three-day premier surfing competition of India is the official national championship of the Surfing Federation of India, the governing body for the sport of surfing and stand-up paddling.

Chennai’s Groms surfer, Kishore Kumar, stunned everyone with his performance under testing conditions as he made his way into the semifinals with the highest score of 14.50.

The other surfers who obtained high scores from the judges were Manikandan D. (12.6), Ramesh Budhial (12.33), Surya P. (11.9), Sathish Saravanan (11.9) and Ajeesh Ali (11.66).

The first day’s rounds saw Tamil Nādu surfers dominate the proceedings in both the men’s open and Groms (U16) categories. A total of 16 surfers from the men’s open surf category will battle it out in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning to book a slot for the semi-finals that are scheduled to be held later in the day.

The quarter finalists in the men’s open category are Manikandan D., Raghul P., Surya P., Srikanth D., Harish M., Ruban V., Vignesh V., Sathish Saravanan, Ajeesh Ali, Sivaraj Babu, Manikandan M., Manivannan T., Nithishvarun T., Ramesh Budhial, Sanjaikumar S. and Santhosan S.

Manikandan D., who received the highest score of 12.6 on Friday from the judges in the men’s open surf category, said: “The conditions were challenging and competition was equally challenging. The field for Saturday’s quarterfinals is very strong and anyone can make their way into the semifinals. My only objective will be to surf in my natural style and make my way into the semifinals.”