Tahara (Japan), Sep 25 Indian surfers Sugar Shanti Gayen and Kamali Prakash
finished at the bottom in their respective heats in women’s shortboard round 1 as surfing made its Asian Games debut here on Friday.
Gayen ended last among three athletes in heat three with a score of 3.84 while Kamali scored 3.74 in heat 5 which featured one more participant in Japan’s Mirai Ikeda.
Both Indian women will be back in action later in the day for second-round heats.
Gayen and Kamali competed in the opening round heats at Pacific Long Beach in Tahara.
Kishore Kumar Anbarashu and Sivaraj Babu will lead India’s challenge in the men’s shortboard, with their opening-round heats scheduled later in the day.
Surfing is being held at Pacific Long Beach from September 25 to 28, with September 29 kept as a reserve day.
India’s four-member surfing squad comprises Gayen and Kamali in the women’s event and Anbarashu and Babu in the men’s competition.
The sport is among the new additions to the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
(PTI News)
