Asian Surfing Championship to be held in Thulusdhoo, aim is to qualify for Asian Games

Preparations are underway for the Asian Surfing Championship to be held in Thulusdhoo this Saturday, marking its debut as a qualifier for the 2026 Asian Games, where surfing will be featured for the first time.

This is the third Asian Surfing Championship to be organised and held by the Asian Surfing Federation (ASF), and the second time it is being held in Thulusdhoo's Randhaa (Cokes) surf point.

The tournament, which will go on until 27th August has over 100 athletes participating from 20 countries, and will feature a total of five events. These include the mens and women's open division, a junior category as well as a team event entitled ASF Maruhaba Cup.

The head judge of the competition is Australia's Perry Hatchet, who also serves as the head judge of the Maldives' surf league. Hatchet has previously also served as the chief judge on the Surfing World Tour.

During last year's competition, 15 local athletes participated in the competition, where Mariyam Raahil Naseem (Aya) competed in the women's division and became the first female surger from the Maldives to participate in an ASF competition.

Unlike last year's competition, this year's tournament is a qualifying event. Because of this, a lot of local athletes were unable to participate this year. However, discussions by Maldives Surfing Association (MSA) and ASF resulted in two local mens teams being able to participate. They're the men's A team and the men's B team, with only the A team athletes standing a chance to qualify for the Asian Games.

With 14 athletes representing Maldives, this year's head coach for the local teams is none other than Hussain Areef (Ibu) who led the Maldivian team to the bronze medal during the past two championships, and is known as the best local surfer.

The local teams are:

- Mens Open A team: Ahmed Aqil (captain), Hudhoo Ahmed, Ismail Miglal

- Mens Open B team: Hassan Nasih, Ismail Rasheed (Smiley), Ahmed Hisham Shaheem

- Women's Open: Aya Naseem, Shaziya Saeed

- Men's Junior A team: Sayyid Salaahuddeen (captain), Yasin Ahmed Nashid, Yoosuf Kayan Hamdhaan Zaki

- Men's Junior B team: Kayan Abdulla Areef, Ahmed Zayaan, Mohamed Inaan Abdul Hannaan

The first Asian Surfing Championship was held in China, in 2019. Following that in 2021, the organisation committee of the Asian Games decided to include surfing in the 2026 Asian Games.

This means the 2026 Asian Games will see a total of 48 athletes participating in the games. Those include the 24 female and the 24 male athletes who qualify from this year's championship as well as the championship held next year, accounting for not more than two athletes from each country in both the women's and men's open categories.

12 male and female surfers will qualify for the Asian Games from each of the two qualifying events.

This opportunity will be presented to the top country in each of the five regions of Asia, while an additional seven countries which rank the overall highest will also be given the opportunity to participate in the Asian Games. The top seven rankings will not include the top country from each of the five regions.

Maldives is in the same region as Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.