Top national surfers to participate in Indian Open Surfing from May 27 at Panambur beach

Over 70 top surfers from across the country have confirmed their participation at the third edition of the National Surfing Championship at Panambur beach from May 27 to 29, informed Deputy Commissioner Dr Rajendra K V.

The three-day competition is hosted by the Mantra Surf Club and is organised by the Surfing Federation of India -- the governing body for the sport of surfing and stand-up paddling in India.

Defending champions D Manikandan and Shrishti Selvam will also be seen in action in an effort to defend their titles over the weekend.

Surfers will compete in two disciplines viz; surfing and stand-up paddling, across different categories -- male open, female open, male and female groms (Under–16), said the DC. The tourism department has sanctioned Rs 15 lakh for the event. As a preparation, the Panambur beach beautification work has commenced with the installation of high-mask lights and a welcome arch is being designed keeping in mind the local architecture.

Gaurav Hegde, director, Surfing Swami Foundation said ever since Jack Hebner and Rick Perry established the Mantra Surf Club in Mulki in 2004, the region has become the home of Indian surfing. Since the Indian Open of Surfing in 2017, surf tourism in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi have grown by 20 times. Several new surf clubs have come up and engaged in training the kids and adults.

Vice-President of Surfing Federation of India Rammohan said that the surfers have already arrived and are practicing in Panambur beach. The condition in Panambur beach is excellent and waves are challenging for the competition. The surfing competitions will be held from 7 am to 12:30 pm.

In a separate press release, Arun Vasu, President of SFI said, “This edition of Indian Open will be more focused on having a structured contest based on the performances of the previous events.”

“I don’t feel the pressure of defending the national title. I will be doing my best and concentrating on my performance for the surf contest,” said D Manikandan, defending National Champion.

The defending National Women’s Champion Shrishti Selvam said, “It is going to be a very tough and challenging field of surfers this year and I am happy that more women are participating in the sport. It will be a fun contest and I will be doing my best to defend the title.”

D Manikandan and Shrishti Selvam of Tamil Nadu will be defending their titles in the men’s and women’s category respectively.

Shanti Banarse of Goa and Sinchana Gowda of Karnataka will be the other top surfers competing for the title in the women’s category while Nithishvarun T and Babu Sivaraj of Tamil Nadu are expected to give a tough competition to D Manikandan for the Men’s title. Kishore Kumar and Tayin Arun of Tamil Nadu are the favourites in the Groms (U16) category.