Mahabalipuram to host WSL QS 3000 surfing event

The World Surf League QS 3000 event, schedule to take place in Mahabalipuram from August 14-20, will feature around 80-100 foreign participants from 12-14 countries

Representative Image: A World Surfing event will be held for the first time in India in August 2023 in Mahabalipuram. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Mahabalipuram will host the International Surf Open - Tamil Nadu, World Surf League (WSL) QS 3000 event, from August 14 to 20, it was formally announced at a press conference in Chennai on Tuesday.

“On behalf of Tamil Nadu government, it is my immense pleasure to announce Mahabalipuram as the host city for the International Surf Open - Tamil Nadu. This is the first ever World surfing event to be held in India,” said Udhayanidhi Stalin, the Tamil Nadu (TN) Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development.

“WSL will finalise the participants based on the rankings,” he added.

The minister said that the State government has allotted two-crore sixty-seven lakh eighty-six thousand rupees for the conduct of the event, and proceeded to present the cheque to the Tamil Nadu Surfing Association (TNSA) and Surfing Federation of India (SFI) president Arun Vasu.

Arun said that the event will feature around 80-100 foreign participants from around 12-14 countries. He added that ten and five Indian men and women will feature in the event as wildcard entrants.

The Indian surfing team - Ajeesh Ali, Ramesh Budhihal, Sanjay Selvamani, and Sivaraj Babu - for the ISA World Surfing Games to be held from May 30 to June 7 in El Salvador was called up on the dais and introduced to the gathering.