Thulusdhoo, Maldives (August 19): The Asian Surfing Championship kicked off yesterday in K. Thulusdhoo, with last year's high-profile surfers making a splash as they competed in the opening heats.
Last year's champion, Dhany Widianto from Indonesia, and second-place finisher Ikko Watanabe from Japan competed in Heat One. Widianto triumphed with an impressive score of 14.67 points from his top two waves out of six. Watanabe, who accumulated 12.00 points from his best two waves out of three, fell short by 2.67 points, as he needed 7.68 points to win the heat.
Maldives team captain Ahmed Agil (Ammadey) competed in Heat 4 and finished in third place with 8.83 points. He achieved this score after the five waves he competed and with his top two waves earning 4.33 and 4.50 points. The heat was won by John Mark Tokong from the Philippines, who scored 13.57 points, while Kanoa Heejae Palmiano from Korea took second place with 10.07 points.
Maldivian Team B (Thulusdhoo Team) surfer Ismail Rasheed (Smiley) competed in Heat Two and secured third place. Natthakron Sae-iew won the heat with a score of 12.13 points, while China’s Chengzheng Wang finished second with 10.47 points. Smiley placed third with 9.27 points.
Heat Six was won by Liu Ming-Jang from Chinese Taipei with a score of 11.43 points, narrowly surpassing Indian surfer Harish Muthu, who finished with 10.57 points, a difference of 0.86 points. In Heat Seven, Sri Lankan surfer Srikanth triumphed with 11.37 points, beating Chinese Taipei’s Johnjohn Chan, who scored 8.20 points, by a margin of 7.04 points.
Japan's Kaise Adachi won Heat Eight with a remarkable score of 15.60 points, featuring his best two waves at 7.33 and 8.27, the highest point tally of Day One. Indonesian surfer I Made Joi Satriawan followed in second place with 13.16 points, while Filipino Neil Sanchez took third with 12.57 points.
The top two surfers from each opening heat advance directly to the third round, while those finishing in third and fourth place in each heat will compete in the second round, which serves as a qualification round.
