Rishtha, Aaya, Saazu proceed to second round in Asian Surfing Championship

Rishtha Shuja, Mariyam Rahil Naseem (Aaya) and Shaziya Saeed (Saazu) who have been competing in the Women's Open Category of the Asian Surfing Championships have secured their places in the second round.

The championship, which is taking place in Tamil Nadu, India, will see contestants reach the third round after placing first in the first round of heat events. Maldives' own Rishtha and Aaya placed second in the first heat events, with Saazu placing third in the same events, resulting in the three surfers competing in the second round.

Rishtha faced off against Taina Angel Izquierdo in Heat 9 of the first round of events, with Taina scoring 12.16 points and Ristha scoring 1.47 points.

Aaya competed in Heat 2, competing against two others. First was claimed by Indonesia's Dhea Natasya with 9.13 points, with Aaya coming in second with 1.30 points. Myanmar's Thwe Thwe Soe claimed third with 0.60 points.

Saazu competed in Heat 10, placing third with 2.46 points. Indonesia's Kailani Johnson placed first with 13.67 points, followed by Uzbekistan's Maya Karl placing second with 6.47 points.

Rishtha and Saazu will face off against each other in Heat 5 of the second round. Aaya will be competing in Heat 2.

Ahmed Agil (Ammadey) is currently competing in the Men's Open of the championship, placing first in Heat 11 of the first round, securing his place in the third round. Hood Ahmed (Hoobz) and Ismail Rasheed (Smiley) placed second in Heat 6 and Heat 6 respectively, advancing to the second round.

The Men's Junior category sees Maldivian surfers Yasin Ahmed Nasheed, Kayan Abdulla Areef and Yusuf Kayan Hamdan Zaki competing.

The Maldives coach is competitive surfer Hussain Areef (Iboo), who claimed bronze in the first two Asian Surfing Championships.

This is the first time a junior set of participants and a female set of participants, of which this is the first time a female team of more than one, is set to compete in a competition abroad.

The official sponsor for the Maldives national surfing team is BML Islamic, with the bank offering their services to the Maldives Surfing Association since 2022. This sponsorship has resulted in the bank extending a significant amount of help to the national surfing team. BML Islamic is also offering their services to MSA's National Junior Surfing Championship, a competition that aims to further nurture younger surfing talents in the country.