CHENNAI: Indian women surfers had a difficult day at the coast in Mahabalipuram on Sunday, as none of them advanced to round three in the open women's category of the Asian Surfing Championships on Tuesday. Kamali P, Sugar Shanti Banarse and Shrishti Selvam did not fare well in their heats with tough conditions. They will now try to qualify from the repechage round.
In the U-18 category, Saanvi Hegde and Aadya Singh found themselves bottom in their heat rounds. Senior national champion Kamali was the best Indian performer with 7.60 points. However, that did not muster her qualification as Sumomo Sato of Japan dominated the round with 14.50 points.
Sugar Shanti Banarse was dealt a tough blow. She ended with 4.97 points. Shrishti Selvam closed with a 4.60 point surf. The trio will be keen to seize the opportunity to qualify in the repechage round. It was Anri Matsuno of Japan who hogged the limelight with the day's highest heat score. She maneuvered the waves with speed and flow and rounded off with 15.34 points. She finished well ahead of Lamar Mufti (1 point).
In the U18 category, Thailand's Isabel Higgs dominated the long right-hand walls, carving her way to the third round. She scored 17 points.
While Saanvi was resilient in the tough conditions, Aadya's performance was plagued by nerves.