New Delhi, India, January 16, 2023: The Surfing Federation of India has announced the first-ever Indian surf team that will represent the country at the ISA World Surfing Games 2023 in El Salvador from May 30-June7.
This competition will act as an Olympic qualifier for Paris 2024 where surfing will make its second appearance after its debut as an Olympic sport at Tokyo 2020 with two medal events, men’s and women’s shortboard. The Paris 2024 surfing competition will be held in Tahiti.
The four-man Indian team comprises Ajeesh Ali, Sanjay Selvamani and Sivaraj Babu from Tamil Nadu, and Ramesh Budihal from Karnataka.
They are currently attending a 14-day training camp in Sri Lanka with head coach Patrick Renaud, a former South African professional surfer who had previously managed the English surf team to fourth place at the European Surfing Championships.
The team will be under his guidance for the next five months in the run-up to the World Surfing Games attending further training camps and possibly competing in international competitions in Maldives and Sri Lanka to gain experience and increase exposure.
A total of 48 athletes will compete at the Paris 2024 Olympics, 24 in the men’s category and 24 in the women’s. This is eight more than the number of competitors in Tokyo.
The top four ranked surfers from each continent for each gender will qualify for Paris.
