Surfing | India rides a new wave

Surfing may be just a decade old as a competitive sport in India, but athletes are already looking to make a splash at this year's Asian gamesKishore Kumar, part of the Asian Games squad, on Tannirbhavi Beach, Karnataka (Photographs courtesy: PRAVEEN JAYAKARAN (SURFING SWAMI FOUNDATION) A sunny, humid day late in May, Tannirbhavi Beach in Mangaluru, Karnataka, was a postcard-pretty picture, though with two competing moods. On one side of the beach was a gaggle of gleeful tourists, flapping about in the water and enjoying time away from work with family and friends; on the other, a string of steely-eyed youngsters, looking regal in wetsuits and atop surf boards, monitoring the waves for the perfect moment to show off their moves in front of the Surfing Federation of India (SFI) jury. This was the seventh edition of the Indian Open of Surfing, but this year, the stakes were higher—the results would determine who would be heading to Japan for the Asian Games in September. Of more than 50 hopefuls, two men and two women would be selected for the tournament where surfing, already an Olympic sport since the 2021 edition, finally makes its Asiad debut.