Winners of Men’s open (from left): 2nd runner-up Steeve Seilly, ‘King of the Wave’ Lakshitha ‘Lucky’ Madushan and 1st runner-up Sachin Tharaka
Winners of Women’s Open (from left): 2nd runner-up Krõõt Laesson, ‘Queen of the Wave’ Nikita Rob and 1st runner-up Cameroon Heinamann
- Overwhelming response from local, global surfers
Red Bull recently concluded the sixth edition of Red Bull Ride My Wave – with an overwhelming participation from professional and amateur surfers from all over the world. The event’s objective is to create a platform for this interesting sport along with positioning Sri Lanka as a destination for surfing. Red Bull Ride My Wave was held on 29-30 January in Hikkaduwa’s main surf point, a scenic beach situated in the Southern Province of the island nation.
The main objective of the event was to give wings for local talent to springboard into the global arena. Ride My Wave was participated by over 130 athletes competing for the popular titles of ‘King/Queen of the Wave’.
This year, Red Bull Ride My Wave hosted 96 heats for the Men’s Title with 81 locals and foreign male participants. Men’s qualifying round 2 had 12 heats with 45 participants. Round 3 consisted of 6 heats with 18 participants, and 12 participants qualified for quarter finals. Six surfers participated in the semi-finals and four competed for the title of ‘King of the Wave’ in the final heat.
Women’s first qualifier round had 8 heats with 23 participants. Quarter Finals comprised 4 heats with 16 participants and the Semifinal had 2 heats with 8 participants; 4 competed for the title of ‘Queen of the Wave’.
“It›s incredible to see over 30 women compete in the women›s surfing category, as well as Sri Lankan female surfers in the water for Red Bull Ride My Wave. We›re proud to support the Sri Lankan surfing community and compete in the genuine spirit of the sport. In the future years, we want to see more of our local girls in the ocean, ready to take on the wave,” said Red Bull Ride My Wave Contest Director Sandika Thushara aka Mambo. This year’s event was participated by surfers from over 25 countries including Austria, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Estonia, France, the UK, Israel, the Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, the USA and South Africa.
The event concluded with the distribution of trophies and cash prizes among winners. Men’s open: Steeve Seilly with 10.6 points was awarded second runner-up, Sachin Tharaka scoring 12.4 points became first runner-up and the title of ‘King of the Wave’ was clinched by Lakshitha “Lucky” Madushan who scored 13.8 points. The awards were distributed among the winners by Maldivian Team Manager Nahu, Red Bull Ride My Wave Head Judge Lahiru Withanage and Contest Director Sandika Thushara respectively.
Women’s Open: Krõõt Laesson scoring 4.9 points was awarded second runner-up while Cameroon Heinamann became first runner up with 5.6 points. Nikita Rob who scored a whopping 11.5 points won the title ‘Queen of the Wave’ for the third consecutive year making history. The awards were presented by tabulators Himashi Wathsala, Hiruni Wathsala and Oshi Herath respectively.
The overall event was a resounding success and Red Bull’s objective is to continue to create a space and give wings to the local surfing community which has tremendous potential to put Sri Lanka on the map. As with all sports Red Bull is involved in, Red Bull hopes to continue supporting the local communities by offering a global platform to showcase talents and to be discovered.
Sri Lanka Travel Feneteko