Hubz and Smiley advance to third round of Asian Surfing Championships

Maldivian surfers Ahmed Hood (Hubz) and Ismail Rasheed (Smiley) have advanced to the third round of the Asian Surfing Championships, currently taking place in Tamil Nadu, India.

This means all three Maldivian surfers competing in the Men’s Open category have progressed to the third round. Fellow teammate Ahmed Ageel (Ammadey) secured his spot earlier after winning his first-round heat.

Hubz and Smiley placed second in their opening heats, requiring them to compete again in round two. Hubz topped the fourth heat of round two with a score of 10.17 points, ahead of Bangladesh’s MD Hassan (9.67) and the UAE’s Hamad Alhashimi (3.97).

Smiley won the second heat of round two with a score of 9.70 points. His closest competitor, Bangladesh’s Yoonus Hussain, finished with 5.37, while Mohamed Almari of the UAE scored 3.03.

In round three, Smiley will compete in the second heat against India’s Ramesh Budihal, Indonesia’s Mega Artana, and John John Chan of Chinese Taipei, who is also contesting the Junior Open.

Hubz will surf in heat four, where he will face China’s Shidon Wu, Indonesia’s Dani Vidianto, and Lebanon’s Ryan Hakawati.

Ammadey will surf in the sixth heat, alongside Eduardo Alciso (Philippines), Liu Chen (China), and Julien Spaccarotella (Singapore).

In the third round, the top two surfers from each heat will advance to the quarter-finals, while the remaining two will be eliminated.

The Maldivian national surfing team is sponsored by BML Islamic, which provides substantial support for international competition and also backs the National Junior Surfing Championship, organized by Maldives Surfing Association (MSA) to promote emerging local talent.