Surfing’s Asian Games debut ended at Pacific Long Beach on Tuesday with Japan winning both shortboard titles. Kanoa Igarashi took the men’s gold and Mirai Ikeda the women’s, according to Olympics.com. Both winners also earned provisional spots at LA28, pending selection by Japan’s Olympic committee.
Igarashi beat Indonesia’s I Made Pajar Ariyana 12.87 to 10.40 in the men’s final, according to Olympics.com. The win puts a third Olympic appearance within reach. Ikeda beat China’s Yang Siqi 11.64 to 7.57 in the women’s final, according to Olympics.com. If both winners are selected, they will compete at Lower Trestles, the LA28 surfing venue.
The rest of the podium came from across the region. In the men’s event, Indonesia’s I Made Pajar Ariyana took silver and Jayuard Alciso of the Philippines won bronze. In the women’s event, China’s Yang Siqi took silver and Japan’s Minami Nonaka won bronze.
India fielded four surfers, two men and two women, in the sport’s first appearance at the Games. Kishore Kumar Anbarasu was the last Indian standing. He topped his opening heat with 9.33 and beat China’s Ma Wensong 9.76 to 8.80 in round three. In the quarter-finals he lost 8.53 to 5.37 to the Philippines’ Toby Espejon, who scored 5.50 and 3.03 to his 3.00 and 2.37.
Sivaraj Babu, India’s other man in the field, beat Iran’s Davoud Khadir 8.96 to 3.60 in round two. He lost 11.50 to 7.83 in round three to Jayuard Alciso, who went on to win bronze. In the women’s event, Kamali Prakash and Sugar Shanti Gayen both went out in round three. Kamali beat Singapore’s Camille Marie Spaccarotella 7.57 to 4.50 in round two, then lost 11.64 to 5.93 to Indonesia’s Jasmine Michelle Studer. Sugar Shanti beat Chinese Taipei’s Wan-yu Chen 7.33 to 5.40 before losing 14.60 to 5.17 to Nonaka, the eventual bronze medallist.
India did not leave Tahara with a medal, but the campaign was still a first. The country earned its places at the 2024 and 2025 Asian Surfing Championships, and then sent its first Asian Games surfing contingent to Japan. Kishore Kumar Anbarasu’s run to the quarter-finals shows the level Indian surfers can reach at this stage. No Indian has surfed at the Olympics yet, and with the sport back at Trestles for LA 2028, the next chapter starts now.
