Asian Surfing Championships 2024: Harish Muthu makes history for India
Harish became the first Indian surfer to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Asian championships. He was eventually knocked out and could not make the semi-finals.
Surfing
Harish Muthu reached the quarter-finals of the Asian Surfing Championships 2024 in the men’s open event on Thursday, becoming the first Indian surfer to do so in the history of the continental meet.
The third edition of the Asian Surfing Championships, being held in Thulusdhoo, Maldives, is a qualifying event for the 2026 Asian Games in Japan.
Harish could not make it to the semi-finals after finishing third in his quarter-final heat behind Joi Satriawan of Indonesia and Kaisei Adachi of Japan. Only the top two made the semi-finals.
Harish scored 6.76 while eventual silver medallist Joi Satriawan and Kaisei Adachi managed 15.66 and 12.50, respectively. Harish earned 7.87 in the fourth round to qualify for the quarter-finals.
“I am proud of my performance in the championships even though I could not make it into the semis, Harish revealed after his loss in the quarter-finals. “This was a great experience for me to compete amongst the top-ranked Asian surfers and I have learned a lot from this competition.”
In the men’s under-18 category, India’s Kishore Kumar advanced to the semi-finals, continuing his strong run. A total of eight Indians competed across four categories in the event, with Kishore being the sole Indian surfer still in contention.
Surfing made its Olympic debut three years ago at Tokyo 2020 with two medal events - men's shortboard and women's shortboard. The same events were part of the Paris 2024 Olympics as well.