CHENNAI: The opening ceremony of the International Surfing Competition was held at the Surf Turf Kovalam beach with Minister of Youth Welfare and Sports Development Udhayanidhi Stalin declaring the meet open.
Tamil Nadu Government Youth Welfare and Sports Development Department, Tamil Nadu Surfing Association (TNSA), Surfing Federation of India (SFI) are jointly organising the International Surf Open in Tamil Nadu for the first time in India. The event will be held from August 14 to 20 at Mamallapuram.
“Developing a rich heritage in various fields, Tamil Nadu continues to be at the forefront of sports development. It has shown great talent in hockey, kabaddi, cricket, tennis, squash, volleyball, fencing, chess etc. Surfing is a sport that has seen significant growth in worldwide recognition. In recent times, Tamil Nadu has been leading the way in promoting the sport of surfing,’’ said Udhayanidhi Stalin.
Total of 74 surfers comprising of 56 male surfers and 18 female surfers from 12 countries including India will participate in the first-ever QS 3000 event in India. Ten male and five female surfers from Tamil Nadu will participate in the meet.
The WSL offers 10 wild cards for top national surfers. Apart from this, the total prize money of the event is $45,000, along with 3,000 Tour Points. The Tamil Nadu government had allocated Rs 2.67 crores to conduct the tournament in a successful manner and has made all the arrangements.
Erode bags Under-14 title K Ashwath Mithun (3/37) and R Ridam Kumar (3/ 40) picked up three wickets each to help Erode bag a lead of 18 runs over Chengalpattu in the drawn match of the TNCA inter-districts Under-14 final played at SPB grounds, Pallipalayam, Erode. By virtue of its first innings lead Erode were declared as the winners. Brief scores: Erode 223 in 89.4 ovs drew with Chengalpattu 205 in 83.1 ovs (B Prasanna Balaji 52, K Ashwath Mithun 3/37, R Ridam Kumar 3/ 40)
Mahalingam advances Mahalingam Kandhavel of Tamil Nadu defeated Vishal M Vasudev of Karnataka 7-5, 6-0 in straight sets in the boys singles final qualifying round of the TVS-MCC Junior National Under-18 tennis championship held at MCC courts here on Sunday.
