Maldives secures two surfing spots at Asian Games

Maldives has secured a spot each in the Men's and Women's surfing events for next year's Asian Games that are set to be held at Japan.

Maldives earned their spot in the Asian Games due to the country ending up in the top 7 teams in the region. This was after the Asian Surfing Championship came to an end yesterday in Tamil Nadu. Both the Maldives Men's and Women's surfing teams got an Asian Games Golden Ticket.

Maldives ranked first in the South Asian region in last year's Asian Surfing Championship held in Thulusdhoo, securing a spot each in the Men's and Women's category.

This brings the total number of spots secured by Maldives for the surfing event in the Asian Games to four.

The last two Asian Surfing Championships were the qualifying rounds for the Asian Games. Across both championships, a total of 48 slots were counted, with 24 being for women and 24 being for men. This is split into two slots for each country that participated in the Men's and Women's Open categories.

The Maldives National Men's Surfing team ranked 7th out of a total of 17 national teams this year. Maldives and China tied in 7th place with 1,160 points.

Bangladesh came in 9th from the South Asian region. India ranked the highest from the South Asian category, with a total of 1,785. This put them third in this year's ranking. Philippines came in fourth, winning a copper medal. South Korea ranked second, with Indonesia ranking first.

South Korea's Kanoa Heejae claimed first in the Open category and Junior category of the Asian Surfing Championships. Indonesia's Pajar Ariyana came in second, with third being claimed by India's Ramesh Budihal. Fourth place was also claimed by an Indonesian, by the name of Mega Artana.

Maldivian surfers Ismail Rasheed (Smiley), Hood Ahmed (Hoobz) and Ahmed Agil (Ammadey) finished and exited the competition in Round 3.

The Maldives National Women's Surfing team placed second in South Asia. The team placed 10th out of 13 teams in the women's rankings, with Bangladesh ranking 11th. India ranked the highest from the South Asian category as well, ranking 8th. Chinese Taipei placed fourth in the women's rankings, with third being Thailand, second being Indonesia and first being Japan.

Maldivian surfers Mariyam Rahil Naseem (Aaya), Shaziya Saeed (Saazu) and Fathimath Rishtha Shujau competed in Round 2 of the Women's Open category. The final heat in the Women's Open category saw Japan's Anri Matsuno place first, with Japan's Sumomo Sato placing second, Thailand's Isabel Higgs placing third and China's Shuhan Jin placing fourth.

Maldives did not secure a slot in this year's team event, the Aloha Cup. Maldives faced off against Japan, Thailand and Indian team Mahabalipuram. Sadly, Ammadey, Smiley, Hoobz and Shaazu did not make it past Heat 4.

Japan was crowned the Aloha Cup champion. China placed second, with Philippines placed third and Thailand placed fourth.