Mangaluru, June 20 (IANS) Tamil Nadu’s Srikanth D. clinched the men’s open title, while Kamali Moorthy defended both her titles in the Women’s Open and Groms Girls (U-16) categories at the Indian Open of Surfing, the second leg of the 2025 National Surfing Championship Series. Prahlad Sriram of Tamil Nadu secured the title in the Groms Boys (U-16) category.

After finishing second in last year’s final, Srikanth returned stronger and more focused, with a winning score of 14.63, edging out reigning national champion Ramesh Budilal, who finished second with 11.87. Sivaraj Babu (9.77) and Sanjay Selvamani (7.07) rounded off the top four.

Defending champion Kamali continued her reign as India’s leading female surfer, winning both the Women’s Open and Groms Girls (U-16) categories once again. Her score of 13.33 in the Women’s Open final saw her convincingly beat Sugar Shanti Banarse (10.50), while Shrishti Selvam scored 2.47 to finish third.

In the Groms Girls final, Kamali delivered a spectacular performance, posting the highest heat total of the event—a staggering 15.50—to seal her title defense. The young sensation finished well ahead of Aadya Singh (2.36) and Saanvi Hegde (2.20).

In the Groms Boys (U-16) final, Prahlad Sriram emerged victorious with a total of 11.06, narrowly beating Harish P. (9.67) and Som Sethi (9.30). The contest in this category was particularly close, highlighting the depth of young surfing talent in India.

Organised by the Surfing Swami Foundation and hosted by Mantra Surf Club under the aegis of the Surfing Federation of India, the opening day of the Indian Open was called off without any competition due to heavy rainfall and unsafe sea conditions resulting from the early onset of monsoons and the cyclonic activity in the Arabian Sea.

It was later held behind closed doors, with only participants and officials in attendance.

“While the event had to be rescheduled and scaled down, the quality of surfing remained exceptional. The Indian Open of Surfing, the second stop on the National Surfing Championship Series, faced some delays. Still, we were committed to ensuring that the competition took place, as cancelling it would have impacted the surfers’ national rankings. Though it was a low-key event held behind closed doors, the spirit of competition and the passion displayed by the athletes were truly inspiring,” said Rammohan Paranjape, vice president of the Surfing Federation of India and director of Mantra Surf Club.

–IANS

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