Mangalore, May 28 (IANS): Grom (U16) surfers from Tamil Nadu and women from Karnataka dominated the second day of competitions at the 3rd edition of the Indian Open of Surfing, here on Saturday.
Tempting waves welcomed surfers on a beautiful morning at the tranquil Panambur beach here with 16-year-old Sugar Banarse from Goa making it to the finals in both the women's open and groms girls category. Sugar impressed all the judges with her surfing gathering the highest points among the women who made it to the finals scheduled for Sunday.
Karnataka's Ishita Malviya (6.17) and Sinchana Gowda (7.30) along with Goa's Sugar Banarse (11.27) and Tamil Nadu's Srishthi Selvam (10.37) advanced to the final of the women's open surf category. Sugar will also compete in the final of the Groms (16 & under) girls surf category on Sunday.
Speaking after booking her slot in the two finals, Sugar said, "I am happy to make it to the finals, but I am competing against experienced surfers and the defending champion Srishti Selvam. I know the challenge from my fellow finalists will be tough but I am looking forward to it and I hope to surf my best tomorrow. I would also like to thank the Surfing Federation of India for organising this tournament as this helps us get more competition time under our belt, which will be of immense help for future training and international competitions."
The three-day premiere 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.
In the Groms boys' (U16) surf category semifinals on Saturday, it was a clean sweep by Tamil Nadu surfers, with Kishore Kumar leading the race by a huge margin.
Kishore, seemed more comfortable on Saturday and emerged with the highest marks in the competition. His score of 15.50 points from the judges was a testimony to the fact of his impressive surfing and maneuvers that also included a reverse flip, thereby helping him comfortably secure a spot in Sunday's final. The others who have made it to the final are Tayin Arun (11.10), Naveenkumar R (10.17) and Jeevan S (6.46).
Speaking after booking his slot in the final, Kishore Kumar said, "I enjoyed my surf today and that's what matters the most. I know, the final is a different ball game and the competition will be stiff, but I am looking forward to it and will try to do my best."
The day began with the quarterfinal encounters in the men's open surf category which were dominated by Tamil Nadu surfers while Karnataka's Ramesh Budhial impressed everyone with his maneuvers and surfing, booking a spot in the semifinals with 14.33 points, the highest amongst all those that made the last-four stage in the men's open surf category.
Tamil Nadu's Srikanth D (9.93), Surya P (9.7), Satish Sarvanan (12), Ruban V (8.7), Ajeesh Ali (9.3), Manikandan M (8.34) & Sanjai Kumar S (9.17) also advanced to the semifinals in the men's open surf category.
Due to bad weather and non-surfable conditions, the semifinals for the category that was earlier scheduled to be held on Saturday have been shifted to the final day of the Indian Open of Surfing 2022, on Sunday.
The final day of the 3rd edition of the Indian Open of Surfing will witness the semifinals and final of the men's open surf category along with the finals of the Groms boys and girls (16 & under) finals and female open surf categories.