Thulusdhoo, Maldives (August 19): Seven Maldivian surfers advance to Round Three of the ongoing Asian Surfing Championship in K. Thulusdhoo.
In the senior men's category, National Team surfer Hood Ahmed won his heat to advance to the next round, while Ahmed Hisham Shaheem from the Thulusdhoo team secured second place in his heat, earning a spot in the next round.
In the Junior U18 Boys category, National Junior Team surfers Sayyid Salahudheen, Kayan Zaki, and Yasin Ahmed Nashid won their heats to advance to the next phase of the competition. Meanwhile, Thulusdhoo team surfers Kayan Areef and Mohamed Inan finished second in their respective heats to secure spots in the next round.
Heat 03:
Sayyid Salahudheen (Maldives) - 6.43
Kayan Areef (Team Thulusdhoo "MDV") - 6.23
Tin Johnson (Thailand) - 5.43
Ryan Hakawati (Lebanon) - 4.80
Heat 04:
Kayan Zaki (Maldives) - 9.20
Mohamed Inan (Team Thulusdhoo "MDV") - 9.10
Natri Jariyawatanawajit (Thailand) - 8.57
Julien Marc (Singapore) - 7.27
Heat 05:
Yasin Ahmed Nashid (Maldives) - 9.17
Dohoon Yun (Korea) - 5.50
Aydin Nazir (Singapore) - 1.10
In the senior category, Hood competed in Heat 12 and won with 9.16 points, scoring his best two waves as 4.33 and 4.83 out of seven total waves. Korean surfer Jinhuk Yang came in second with 6.86 points, while Saudi Arabian Abdulla Alhazmi finished in third with 0.23 points.
"I'm thrilled to begin this year's competition with a solid win. I think the competition is tougher this year, as there are many new talented surfers joining in, and the competitors from last year have also improved," Hood told "Adhadhu Sports" in an interview.
Hisham, a local from the Thulusdhoo team, made a strong impression with his performance, advancing to the next round. He finished second to Sri Lanka's Kavisekara Malaweera Arachchige Kavindu Tharaka, who scored 11.60 points, while Hisham earned 8.66 points. Third place went to China’s Zeyuan Zhang with 8.10 points, and Singapore’s Aniq Kailani Bin Rahmat did not record any points.
Maldives team coach Hussain Areef (Iboo) expressed his delight with the progress of Maldivian surfers on the second day of the competition, particularly noting his admiration for the number of junior surfers who advanced to the next round.
More Maldivian surfers are poised to advance to the next round as they prepare for the re-qualification phase.
