JOIN USMaldivian surfer Ammaday surfed his way to glory clinching the winner’s cheque in the Open Category in the second edition of the ‘Indian Open of Surfing’ at Sasihithlu beach on Sunday.
Puducherry’s Suhasini Damian emerged as the Champion in the women’s category.
Chennai surfers Venkat K and Sekar Patchai claimed the top spots in the Masters (30 and above) and Seniors (23-30 years) categories respectively. Kovallam surfers Ramesh and Ajeesh Ali sealed the winners spot in the Juniors (17-22 years) and Groms Under-16 categories respectively.
The open category winner won a cheque worth Rs 50,000 while the runner up received Rs 25,000. The national category winners earned a total of Rs 25,000 while the second and third positions walked away with Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively. In the Novice Under-14 category, the winners earned Rs 10,000 while the second and third positions earned Rs 5,000 and Rs 3,000 respectively.
The final day of the event experienced testing conditions that ensured the surfers were at their best, to leave lasting impressions on the judges with their skills and manoeuvres.
Residents near Sasihithlu beach were up for a surprise Sunday morning. The beach, which is unknown to many in the city, suddenly saw dense traffic and spectators in huge numbers from as early as 7 am, all to witness the semi-finals and finals of Karnataka’s first-ever surfing competition – the ‘Indian Open of Surfing’.
What added to the celebration for the locals and many surfing enthusiasts was a special visit by star cricketer Jonty Rhodes, who himself is an avid surfer. Bollywood action superstar Suniel Shetty, who hails from Mangaluru, also paid a special visit, cheering the participants of the second edition of the ‘Indian Open of Surfing 2017’.
Maldivian surfer Ammaday walked away with the pole position in the Open Category, while French surfer Percival Fayon finished second. The women’s category saw stiff competition, but Puducherry’s Suhasini Damian braved the waves to emerge winner, while Russian Olga Kosenko finished second and Manipal’s Ishita Malviya finished third.
Chennai’s Sekar Pitchai walked away with the winners prize in the Men’s Stand Up Paddling (SUP) race. While Tamil Nadu’s Vignesh Vijay kumar finished second, Kishore Kumar from Mangalore finished third in the race.
Chennai surfers Venkat K and Murthy Mevagan stole the show in the Masters’ category (30 years and above) finishing first and second respectively while Goan surfer Sandeep Samuel finished third. The Seniors category (23-30 years) saw domination of Chennai Surfers with the first, second and third positions going to Sekar Patchai, Varghese Antony and Dharani Selvakumar respectively.
Kovallam surfer Ramesh emerged champion in the junior category (17-22 years), while Surya P and Rahul Govind finished second and third respectively. In the Groms Under-16 category, Kovallam’s Ajeesh Ali was crowned the national champion while Santosh Santha Kumar and SivarajBabu finished second and third respectively. In the Groms Under-14 category, Akhilan emerged as the champion with Subramani Muniyan finishing second and Abdul Rajak Jamaldeen finishing third.