Kids of domestic workers impress with surfing performance

Mangaluru: One of the promising performers at the third edition of the Indian Open of Surfing-2022 that began at the Panambur Beach on Friday, was Kishore Kumar from Surf Turf, Kovalam, Chennai. The 13-year-old was the top performer, with 14.5 points, and is Surfing Federation of India’s (SFI) future talent programme scholar
A class IX student, he has been surfing for the past five years, and is the son of Anbarasau and Poonga, who engage in fishing and working as domestic helps.
Kishore was spotted by locals, when he was surfing with a bodyboard in Kovalam. “The locals saw my talent, and gave me a surf board, and senior surf instructor Dharani started training me. Surf Turf founder and SFI president Arun Vasu is supporting me, and I would like to represent India in the world championship and Olympics,” said Kishore, who draws inspiration from Brazilian Gabriel Medina, the reigning world surfing champion.
On the conditions at Panambur Beach, he said, “It is only three days since I have been here. The waves were dropping, and I hope to catch some good waves during the finals. The waves in Chennai are faster,” he said.
SFI vice-president Rammohan Paranjpe, said, “The SFI will select the best talents in the under-16 Grom category, and coach them under Manikandan of Appu Surf, and give them an opportunity to participate in international meets. Our aim is participation and winning in Olympics, he said
Meanwhile, locals pinned their hopes on Raju Pujar,14, and his brother Pradeep Pujar,13, whose parents are domestic workers. The siblings are supported and trained under the Surfing Swami Foundation. They hail from Badami, and have been surfing at Mantra Surf School, Mulki, for the past two years.
Challenging conditions marked the opening day
The other surfers who got high scores were Manikandan D (12.6), Ramesh Budhial (12.33), Surya P (11.9), Sathish Saravanan (11.9) and Ajeesh Ali (11.66). The first day’s rounds saw Tamil Nadu surfers dominate the proceedings, in both the men’s open and groms (under-16) categories. A total of 16 surfers from the men’s open surf category will battle it out in the quarterfinals on Saturday, to book a slot in the semi-finals, that are scheduled to be held later in the day.
The groms (under-16) category saw a clean sweep by Tamil Nadu surfers, as seven of the eight semifinalists came from the state. Local lad Likhit S is the only semifinalist in the category, to keep Karnataka’s hopes alive.
The day began with an energetic performance from students of Alva’s Education Foundation, who performed Dollu Kunitha. The official opening of the event was by AV Ramana, chairman, New Mangalore Port Authority. The three-day competition is hosted by the Mantra Surf Club, and is organised by the Surfing Federation of India (SFI), with Karnataka Tourism as the title partners, Chennai based TT Group as associate partners and action camera majors Go Pro as the action partners.