Pics: Joshwa D'souza

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JD)

Mangaluru, May 30: Auroville’s, Samai Reboul surfed his way to victory to become the first-ever winner of the ‘All Cargo Indian Open of Surfing’. Manikandan from Chennai finished as the runner up of the championship. Samai walked away with a cash prize of Rs 50,000, while Manikandan won Rs 25,000 along with their respective winner and runner up trophies.

Speaking on the occasion at the valedictory ceremony, Abhayachandra Jain, Karnataka's sports and youth affairs minister said that as the next championship will be held here, the infrastructure will be developed by the panchayath. "The district has been given Rs 1 crore to organize adventure sports including surfing. High mast lights will be installed on the beach along with widening of the road. Action will be taken to develop Sasihithlu as a model beach in the state."

The glamorous touch to the event was by none other than the Bollywood actress Ileana D'Cruz. In her short address she not only thanked the organizers but also expressed her wish to be here at the next year's event.

Addressing the gathering, cricketer Sanju Samson dressed as a surfer, appreciated the organizers for the splendid atmosphere. "I have seen some local raw talent in the competition. If trained in the right direction this region has the potential to make it big at an international level."

"I have been astonished by the show put up by the participants. Even though I am not good at this sport I will take it up as my second sport next to cricket and try to master it," he said.

The three-day surfing extravaganza was the first ever surfing championship hosted in Karnataka and was a part of the Karnataka Surfing Festival, promoted by Karnataka tourism. The championship was sanctioned by the International Surfing Association and was organized under the aegis of the Surfing Federation of India. The Mantra Surf Club in association with Kanara Surfing & Water Sports Promotion Council Surfers put together the inaugural edition of the All Cargo Indian Open of Surfing.

In the Groms Under 16 category, Pondicherry’s Perceval Fayon finished as the winner followed by Sanjay. Selvamani and Manikandan M from Tamil Nadu finished in the second and third position respectively. The Chennai trio of Raghul Govind, Surya P and Ajith Kumar walked away at first, second and third places in the juniors (17-22 years) category.

Dharani Selvakumar, Raghul Paneer and Manikandan D from Chennai finished first, second and third respectively in the seniors (23-28 years) category. Chennai’s Moorthy Megavan finished first in the masters (29 and above) category while Santosh Moorthy from Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry’s Velu finished third.

Local girls Sinchana D Gowda and Tanvi J finished first and third respectively in the women’s category while Chinamyee Mayya from Udupi finished second. In the men’s stand up paddling category, Chennai’s Sekar Pachai, Murthy Meghavan and Vicky V walked away at first, second and third places respectively. Local girls Tanvi J and Sinchana D Gowda finished first and third respectively in the women’s standup paddeling category, while Chennai’s Vilassini Sundar finished second.

The first, second and third place winners in all categories except Open category walked away with cash prizes of Rs 25,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.

‘It has been a great experience to be part of the first-ever All Cargo Indian Open of Surfing. To win this has been the icing on the cake. It is great to see that slowly such tournaments are being organized in India and this only strengthens our hope of a strong surfing future in India. I hope we get to see many more international tournaments organised along India’s coastline in the days to come,” said an elated Samai Reboul after winning the inaugural ‘All Cargo Indian Open of Surfing’.

Earlier in the day local residents at Sasihithlu beach, Mangaluru were up for a surprise on Sunday morning. The beach unknown to many in the port city suddenly saw huge traffic and spectators in huge numbers as early as 7 am in the morning to witness the semi- finals and finals of Karnataka’s first-ever surfing competition, the ‘All Cargo Indian Open of Surfing’.

The next edition of the event will be held at the same venue from May 26 to 28 next year.