Surfing festival begins on Friday

Chennai, Aug 24 : The fifth edition of the Covelong Point Surf, Music and Yoga Festival is all set to begin here on Friday.
The surfing festival will include top surfers from India, Sri Lanka, Australia, France and the United States. The top names in the competition include Sekar Pitchai, Dharani Selvakumar and Ajeesh Ali -- the flag bearers for Tamil Nadu in the seniors and Groms U-16 category.
Kovalam's Ramesh Roy would look forward to continue his winning ways in the junior's category post his win at the recently concluded Indian Open of Surfing 2017 at Mangalore, Karnataka.
The women's category is expected to witness a close contest between Auroville's Suhasini Damian and Mangaloreans Sinchana Gowda and Aneesha Nayak.
Commenting on the development of the sport, Rammohan Paranjpe, Vice President, Surfing Federation of India said: "Our objective has always been focused on developing the sport as much as possible considering that we have a very long coastline. Covelong Point for over four editions has always lived up to providing some of the best surfers in the country. We want people across the country to work together in taking this sport to a bigger stage."
The championship is expected to have more than 140 national and international participants and is presented by the Chennai based TT Group. The championship is also recognised by the Surfing Federation of India, the national governing body for surfing.