Three-day India Open of Surfing at Sasihithlu beach starts today

Mangaluru: Leading surfers from India and abroad are in the city for the maiden three-day India Open of Surfing that gets underway at Sasihithlu beach near here on Friday. International Surfing Association and Surfing Federation of India has recognized the event, part of Karnataka Surfing Festival that Karnataka Tourism has supported. Mantra Surf Club in association with Kanara Surfing and Water Sports Promotion Council has organized this event.
Over 100 surfers from India and abroad will vie for top spot in the competition that offers a total purse of Rs 6 lakh as prize money across categories to winners and runners up. The event will see surfers from Goa, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Mumbai, Lakshwadeep along with international surfers from Australia, USA and France. The competition will see both men and women vie for the top spot in seven different categories including u-16 juniors, seniors, and masters.
The competition will also have participation from India's first woman surfer Ishita Malviya along with top seeded Indian women surfer Sinchana Gowda and Anisha Naik to name a few. They will be joined by Dharini Selvakumar, Dhruv and Appu Manikandan amongst the men. The open championship will see internationally renowned participants like Bazile Pinel, Dylan Imhoff and Dustin Ellison, noted Kishore Kumar, president, Surfing Federation of India.
"It has been our constant endeavour to promote Mangaluru and Karnataka's coastal line as an international surfing destination. We would like to thank Karnataka Tourism for their support to host the event and create such a novel property," he noted.
The inaugural edition is open to public and is an effort by Karnataka Tourism to promote the state as an international surfing/water sports destination. Competition will start at 7.30am on all days. Arrangement for various entertainment programmes and food festival alongside to keep viewers and tourists engaged/entertained has been arranged. Local artists, musicians and rock bands from the state will be seen enthusing the audience and surfers with some great performances.