All Cargo Indian Open of Surfing to be held in City, Mishal D’Costa and Aneesha Nayak felicitated
Mangaluru: Department of Tourism Karnataka presents “All Cargo Indian Open of Surfing” to be held at Sasihithlu Beach said Deputy commissioner A B Ibrahim in a press meet held at the DC office here on May 13. He further said that preparations are in full swing for the first surfing festival being organised in Karnataka from May 27 to May 29 during the pre-monsoon swell.
The event will be a 3-day National Surfing and Stand Up Paddling championships attracting surfers from all over India to Mangaluru. The idea behind the event is to promote and showcase beaches of Karnataka as popular surfing and adventure destination.
All Cargo Indian Open of Surfing is presented by Karnataka Tourism, Government of Karnataka. Recognised by International Surfing Association and Surfing Federation of India. The event is being organised by Mantra Surf Club in association with Kanara Surfing and Water Sports Promotion Council.
Under National Surfing Championships, there will be a number of categories:
Groms – Under 16, Junior Boys 17-22, Seniors Men 22-28, Masters Men 28 & above and Women Category. There will be an Open Men’s category for international surfers. The event is going to be officiated by Steve Robertson – General Manager for World Surf League (Australasia), Tim Hain – General Manager, Asian Surfing Championships. A panel of international judges will be headed by Made Sachang from Bali, Indonesia. There is a total cash prize of Rs 6,00,000 for all the winning participants from across all categories.
About 50 surfers have registered online already and the number should reach over 100 before May 24th. Top surfers from around India are excited and are looking forward to competing in Karnataka for the first time ever. The forecast for the event is looking very promising with 5ft – 8ft waves hitting the coast which will be a challenge for surfers. Top-seeded girls in the country, Aneesha Nayak and Sinchana Gowda from Mangaluru are going to be the favourites in the women category. Deekshith Suvarna and Kiran Kumar from Mulki are top-seeded from Karnataka.
The district administration has fully extended their support and is striving hard to make this a huge successful event. A new road leading to the venue is in fast progress, beach clean ups and other facilities is all being taken care by the district administration.
Other highlights include various entertainment, live music, food festival and other activities during the surfing festival.
The main objectives of organising this surfing festival is to promote beach tourism, adventure sports and to create a sustainable revenue generating model for local communities, tourism department and other stakeholders.
Mishal D’Costa and Science Award Winner and surfer Aneesha Nayak were felicitated by the district administration for their tremedous achievement.
In her felicitation speech Mishal D’Costa who scored 274th rank in UPSC competitive examinations held in 2015, thanked the district administration for recognizing and honouring her for her achievements.
Police commissioner Chandra Sekhar, CEO ZP Sreevidya, ADC Kumar, Yathish Baikamapdy and others were also present.
Girl power!!