Several national and international surfers in the open category took to the water at the Kovalam beach resort on the second day of Spice Coast Open national surfing and Stand Up Paddle (SUP) comeptitions.
Semifinals of the groms (under 16), local junior (under 21) categories were held in the morning. The finals of all events will take place tomorrow.
The second day of the event saw a good turnout of spectators for the preliminary rounds held across a number of categories.
Spice Coast Open is India's first national competitive event for the sport, which was inaugurated in Kovalam by former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes yesterday.
It is being organised by the Surfing Federation of India (SFI), a body recognized by the International Surfing Association (ISA), with the support of the state Department of Tourism.
"Today was a great day to surf. The weather was fantastic and waves were good. All of our participants had a great time out in the sea and the competition was tight," said Kishore Kumar, the President of the Mangalore based SFI.
Winners in all categories will be announced and presented trophies and cash awards on Sunday.
Deepti Jha, media & marketing head of the federation, said it was very encouraging to see such a big turnout of spectators, including foreign tourists, for the event.
