Tamil Nadu Surfers Dominate Day 1 at Indian Open of Surfing

Tamil Nadu surfers excelled on the first day of the fifth Indian Open of Surfing, securing nearly all quarterfinal spots in the Men’s Open category. Highlight performances came from Sivaraj Babu and Ajeesh Ali. The event was well-organized with favorable conditions and significant support from sponsors like the New Mangalore Port Authority.

Tamil Nadu surfers dominated events on Day 1 of the fifth Indian Open of Surfing (IOS) championships on Friday, outplaying surfers from other states and securing 15 out of 16 quarterfinal spots in the Men’s Open category.

Top scores came from the top-seeded surfers, with the current fourth-ranked Sivaraj Babu (15.50) emerging as the highest scorer of the day, followed by Ajeesh Ali (15.33) and Srikanth D (13.50).

The first day’s rounds saw Tamil Nadu surfers take charge in the Men’s Open category. A total of 14 surfers will battle it out in the quarterfinals, scheduled for Saturday morning, to book a slot in the semi-finals.

The quarterfinalists in this category are Sivaraj Babu, Ajeesh Ali, Srikanth D, Harish M, Tayin Arun, Manivannan T, Sanjay Selvamani, Surya P, Sanjaikumar S, Manikandan M, Ruban V, Subramani M, Akilan S, and Manikandan I.

Sivaraj Babu, who received the highest score of 15.50 on Friday from the judges in the men’s open category, said, “The conditions today were a little tricky, but I felt good surfing in them as I got eight waves in my heat and enjoyed all of them. I don't feel any pressure for the knockouts; I'll focus solely on my skills. I just want to keep rolling, catch as many waves as I can, play it safe, and have fun tomorrow and the day after.” Indian Open of Surfing Contest Director Nawaz Jabbar said, ''We got really lucky with the conditions today because, for the last couple of days, the wind had set in at odd times, but today the forecast was accurate. We started on time, ran all the heats we planned, organised well, and witnessed some great surfing.'' The fifth edition of the Indian Open of Surfing was declared open by Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada district Mullai Muhilan M P.

The other dignitaries present at the inaugural ceremony included Deputy Chairman of the New Mangalore Port Authority K G Nath, Secretary of the New Mangalore Port Authority Jijo Thomas, Dakshina Kannada District Tourism Department Deputy Director N Manikya, Surfing Federation of India Vice President Rammohan Paranjape and Surfing Swami Foundation Director Gaurav Hegde.

Muhilan on this occasion said,“Mulki is a premier surfing destination in the country, where the sport of surfing essentially began. Our vision is to make this place an international hub for surfing and stand-up paddling. ''Many renowned international surfing coaches have visited Mulki and acknowledged it as one of the best training grounds available. We aim to create an ecosystem for the locals where they can take up the sport from a very young age and excel at international levels, including the Olympics.'' Speaking during the inaugural ceremony, Nath said, “Since surfing is now an Olympic sport and quite popular globally, we were very keen to promote the sport in the country, especially in this region. NMPA is one of the major ports in India, and we have been witnessing ocean activities for a long time, so we wanted to be a part of it. ''We are happy to become the title sponsors of the prestigious Indian Open of Surfing, and we look forward to being part of many such events.'' The inaugural event featured a popular percussion performance of Karnataka and Kerala called Chende. The event has received major support from the New Mangalore Port Authority, which has been announced as the Title Sponsor for the first time. The Karnataka Government, another main sponsor, has extended its support to the event for the fifth consecutive year. Cycle Pure Agarbatti and Explurger (social media partner) are among the other sponsors for IOS.