Ali Thameem
Both the Maldivian surfers Yasin Ahmed Nashid and Kayan Abdulla Areef have qualified for Round 2 of the men’s shortboard event at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.
The surfing events at the Asian Games began this Friday morning at Long Beach in Tahara, a coastal city on the Pacific east of Aichi, Japan.
Yasin, the prodigious 15-year-old scoed a total of 8.50 points from his two highest-scoring waves (4.40, 4.10) in the opening round. Yasin’s total was just 1.4 points behind the heat winner, WU Shidong of China. But he qualified with a solid 1.87 points clear off third-placed Tinn Johnson of Thailand, who scored 6.63 points.
Kayan, meanwhile, scored 5.43 in heat 2 of Round 1, with his counting waves combining 2.83 and 2.60 for a total 5.53 points. Kayan qualified as one of the best-scoring thir-placed surfers in the opening round.
Both surfers now face man-on-man heats in Round 2: Yasin will face Afghanistan’s Amu Afirudin in Heat 4, while Kayan will take on Lebanon’s Dirany Christopher in Heat 7.
The men’s shortboard Round 2 is scheduled to begin on Saturday morning.
The Maldives surfing team comprises of Mariyam Raahil Naseem and Aminath Thaanees Shiran alongside Yasin and Kayan. The two female surfers also competed in their respective opening heats this morning.
This is the first time in Asian Games history which included surfing as a sport. A total of 48 surfers from 16 countries are competing across men’s and women’s events at the surfing event at Long Beach, Tahara.
