India sends team for World Surfing games

India has created history by sending the first ever 4 member surfing team for the 2023 ISA world Surfing games in El Salvador from 30th May to June 7th. 3 out of the 4 Surfers are from Tamilnadu. Ajeesh Ali and Sanjay Selvamani are from the fishing hamlet of Kovalam and work as surf instructors at Surf Turf, while Sivaraj Babu is from the historic fishing hamlet of Mahabalipuram. Ramesh Budihal hails from Kovalam Kerala.Tamilnadu has been the leading force in developing and promoting Surfing in India and just a month ago announced the International Surf Open to be held in Mahabalipuram, Pondicherry and Covelong. The TT Group has been sponsoring and nurturing the surf talent in the country for the past 10 years. The covelong Classic surf event which is on its 9th edition this year is the biggest surf festival in Asia and is primarily sponsored by the TT Group.Speaking on the eve of departure Arun Vasu, the Chairman of the TT Group and also president of the Surfing federation of India, said “I am so proud and happy to announce that this is a historical moment where India is being represented in this World event. It will also put India on the world map of being a nation that will hopefully participate in the surfing event at the Olympics. The focus is on getting a team qualified for the 2028 Olympics. Our focus at SFI will be on increasing awareness among children and getting more women into the sport. There are around 54 countries who have will be taking part in the world surfing games. It’s going to be very interesting to see where India will finish, this being their first time. We also have plans to send a team for the Asian surfing championship to be held at Maldives in July.”