Second edition of 'Indian Open of Surfing' renders picturesque finish

Mangalore (Karnataka) [India], May 29 (ANI): The second edition of the 'Indian Open of Surfing' came to a picturesque finish as the Sasihithlu Beach reveled with cheers for the participating surfers in the finals on Sunday. Maldivian surfer Ammaday surfed his way to glory clinching the winner's cheque in the Open Category while Pondicherry's Suhasini Damian emerged as the Champion in the Women's category. Chennai surfers Venkat K and SekarPatchai 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 wins a cheque worth Rs. 50,000 while the Runners Up earns a total of Rs. 25,000. What added to the celebrations 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 also hails from Mangalore, also paid a special visit cheering the participants of the second edition of the Indian Open of Surfing 2017. The three-day premier surfing event, which concluded today at the Sasihithlu Beach, Mangalore is a part of the Karnataka Beach Festival - A Karnataka Tourism Initiative, is recognized by the Surfing Federation of India and organized by the Mantra Surf Club in association with the Kanara Water Sports Promotion Council. 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 maneuvers. Maldivian Surfer Ammaday walked away with the pole position in the Open Category, while French surfer Perceval Fayon finished second. The women's category saw stiff competition but Pondicherry's Suhasini Damian braved the waves to emerge as the winner, while Russian Olga Kosenko finished second and Manipal's Ishita Malviya finished third. Chennai's Sekar Pitchai walked away with the winners cheque 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 Men's SUP 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 from Chennai Surfers with the first, second and third positions going to Sekar Patchai, Varghese Antony and Dharani Selvakumar respectively. Kovallam surfer Ramesh walked away 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. (ANI)