East Coast surfers cruise to comfortable win over South

Wednesday, 13 August 2014 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Malik Gunatilleke The East Coast surfing team notched an impressive win against the surfers of the South, in the second and final leg of the Red Bull Ride My Wave competition held in Arugam Bay. The surfers of the east coast also impressed in the first leg held in Mirissa earlier this year, racking up 164.8 points against the South Coast team’s 142.3. The eastern leg of the competition was held from 8 to 10 August at three of Arugam Bay’s best surfing points including Okanda, Elephant Point and Main Point.

Having been defeated in their own waters, the South Coast team came into eastern territory under the cosh but ready to mount a fight back. However, the East Coast team, led by Asanka Sanjeewa, got off to another impressive start, extending their lead from the southern leg. The dominant eastern surfers showcased their flare and trickery while controlling proceedings on the first two days. The second day provided the best of the action with the conditions improving slightly from the opening day of the eastern leg. The South Coast surfers struggled to close the gap in the scoreline while the gulf in class became just as evident as the competition moved into the final day. The eastern team racked up 201.7 points in the first two days of the second leg while the southern surfers could only amass 109.1 points. However, sporadic action and poor surfing conditions on the final day presented a slightly anticlimactic finish to the competition. The southern team suffered particularly with the lifeless conditions as the ocean swell offered little to work with. Several surfers on the southern team endured dry runs in their allotted time adding to their final-day woes. Even southern team captain Sandun was unable to stamp his authority on proceedings and cut a lonely figure on an uncharacteristically calm ocean surface as he lingered in vain for better waves.

The eastern contingent, naturally more familiar with the setting, capitalised on this to consolidate their supremacy. On a tough day for surfing, the east scored 87.25 points with the south adding just 34 points to their overall tally. Among the highlights of the competition were two eastern surfers, J. Dixon and S. Sajith, both under 16 years of age. Competing in the Under 16 category, these two held their own, quickly becoming crowd favourites. Internationally-renowned Costa Rican surfer Diego Naranjo, who judged both legs, praised the competition and the effect it would have on Sri Lanka’s future surfers. He was also impressed by the local talent on display during both legs of the competition. “Everyone was surfing really well. The level of the second leg was much higher than the first; the waves were of greater quality as well. I was happy with that because we had some impressive scores and performances over the last three days,” Naranjo stated. He also spoke positively of Sri Lanka’s potential in the sport, highlighting that the future looks bright for young talented surfers who’ve taken up their boards with genuine interest and ambition. “There is a lot of potential for surfing to develop in Sri Lanka. In Costa Rica, where I come from, surfing is very big now and 20 years ago things were just like they are here at the moment. So surfing here is definitely going to see a lot of growth and development in the years to come and will probably be very big in the future,” he added. After three days of sun and surf, the East Coast team was declared the winners of the competition with 288.95 points against the South Coast team’s 143.1 and will travel to Maldives to represent Sri Lanka in the Red Bull Both Ways surfing competition to be held later this year.