Mangaluru: On penultimate day, TN surfers dominate Indian Open of Surfing

Mangaluru: The surfers from Tamil Nadu continued their dominance on the second day of the Indian Open of Surfing which is underway at the Sasihitlu beach near here.

The Tamil Nadu squad on Saturday secured all the top four final spots in the men’s open category and two spots in women’s open category.

The three-day surfing extravaganza is organised by the Surfing Swami Foundation and hosted by Mantra Surf Club, under the aegis of Surfing Federation of India.

With the highest score of the day (15.17), Sivaraj Babu signalled the beginning of Tamil Nadu’s domination. Sanjaikumar S (12.83), Sanjay Selvamani (11.63), Ajeesh Ali (11.43), Srikanth D (10.33), Manivanna T (9.40), Harish M (9.23), and Ruban V (7.93) were the other surfers in this category who joined Sivaraj in the semifinals.

The Surfing Groms 16 and Under Boys quarterfinals took place later in the day. Harish P, who is presently ranked fifth in India, received the highest score in the category (10.17).

The Pujar brothers were keeping Karnataka’s hopes alive in the fierce competition between East and West coast surfers. Tayin Arun (7.60), Prahlad Sriram (7.17), Raju Pujar (7.33), Pradeep Pujar (6.47), Akash Pujar (5.80), Yogesh A (4.40), and Som Sethi (4.40) were among the other top scorers who made it to the semifinals. Tomorrow is the day for this category’s semifinals and finals.

The women’s open surf category semifinals were held on the penultimate day of the national meet. Kamali Moorthi, the defending champion, demonstrated her improved manoeuvrability and surfing skills by scoring 11.23 points. Goa surfer Sugar Banarase scored 8.93 points, putting up a good fight. Neha Vaid (2.20) and Marielle Wunderink (1.87) are the other two surfers who made it to the finals to be held on Sunday.

Speaking after securing her spot in the championship round, Kamali said, “It took some time to paddle in because the waves were breaking back-to-back, making the conditions a little tricky.

“In the heats, there was some competition as well. I am not under any pressure, but if I keep thinking about tomorrow’s finals, I will be. I simply want to enjoy myself, and I am excited to defend my title on Sunday.”

Wrapping up the day was the men’s open category semifinal, amid fierce competition among the country’s top surfers, Sanjai Kumar S, Sanjay Selvamani, Srikanth D, and Ajeesh Ali earned their places in the final with scores of 11.17, 11.03, 9.90, and 9.70 respectively.

The highlight of the category was the surprising elimination of Sivaraj Babu, the top scorer, who did not make it to the finals on Sunday.