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Indian male surfers Harish Muthu and Ajeesh Ali progressed to the pre-quarterfinal round after impressive performances in Round 3 of the ASF Asian Surfing Championships 2024 in Thulusdhoo, Thailand. However, the third male surfer Srikanth, and the lone female surfer Kamali Prakash had to bow out of the competition after failing to create an impact in Round 3.
In the third round of the Open Men category, Harish Muthu scored 8.43 in his heat to secure the second spot while Indonesia's Dhany Widianton with 13.50 topped the heat. On the other hand, Ajeesh Ali occupied the second rank in his heat with a score of 9 while Maldives' surfer Ismail Miglal topped with 9.17 in the heat.
Meanwhile, Srikanth D settled for the third rank in his heat with a score of 8.83 to bow out of the Open Men's event. In the Open Women category, Kamali Prakash suffered elimination after ranking fourth in her heat with a score of 3.87.
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Furthermore, two Indian male surfers - Kishore Kumar and Harish Prakash - advanced to the third round of the U18 Boys’ category.
ASF Asian Surfing Championships are qualifiers for the Asian Games 2026
It’s worth mentioning that the Championships are the qualifiers for the Asian Games 2026 with the sport making its debut at the games. The sport achieved its success after the first Championships in 2019 in China.
Later, the organization committee of the Asian Games decided to include surfing as a sport in the Asian Games 2026. India is alongside Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in their pool in the ongoing ASF Asian Surfing Championships.
Notably, the Surfing Federation of India (SFI) fielded eight surfers for the ASF Asian Surfing Championships 2024. While three surfers are part of the men’s team, one surfer is in the women’s category. Four surfers are part of the U18 category.
The Championships will conclude on August 27. More than 100 athletes from 20 nations are competing in the competition.
The pre-quarterfinal round of the ASF Asian Surfing Championships is scheduled for Thursday, August 22.
