Madushan and Nikita rule the waves at Hikkaduwa
All smiles for the local lad, Madushan
The wonderboy of local surfing, Lakshitha Madushan, was crowned the ‘King of the Wave’ while Nikita Rob, a prominent name in surfing, defended her title for the third consecutive year as ‘Queen of the Wave’ at the Red Bull Ride My Wave 2022, which concluded at the main surfing point in Hikkaduwa.
Lakshitha Madushan, popularly known as ‘Lucky’ among the surfing fraternity, locally and internationally, scored 13.8 points to maintain his dominance and emerge the top surfer among 81 other contestants in the category. Sachin Tharaka, another emerging local surfer, stamped his authority by securing the second position with 12.4 points, while Steeve Seilly was placed third with 10.6 points in the Men’s Open.
Nikita Rob, who had earned a reputation in the local surfing circuit by winning many a titles competing at events held locally, clinched her hat-trick of ‘Queen of the Waves’ title, by securing the top position for the third year running. She scored 11.5 points, a clear lead from the rest while emerging the best among a total of 23 contestants. Cameroon Heinamann was placed second with 5.6 points while Kroot Laesson finished with 4.9 points to secure the third position of the Women’s Open.
Red Bull concluded the sixth edition of Red Bull Ride My Wave, with an overwhelming participation from pro and amateur surfers from all over the world. The event’s objective is to create a platform for this interesting sport along with position Sri Lanka as a destination for surfing. Red Bull Ride My Wave was held on January 29 and 30 at the Hikkaduwa main surf point, a scenic beach situated in the Southern Province of the island nation.
Nikita poses with her prize
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 and 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 six 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 eight heats with 23 participants. The quarter-finals comprised four heats with 16 participants and the semi-final had two heats with eight participants as the best four among them 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 Contest Director Sandika Thushara also known as 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 overall event was a resounding success and Red Bull’s objectives 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 it is involved in, Red Bull hopes to continue supporting the local communities by offering a global platform to showcase talents and to be discovered.
The awards presentation were conducted by Maldivian Team Manager Nahu, Red Bull Ride My Wave Head Judge Lahiru Withanage, Contest Director Sandika Thushara and tabulators Himashi Wathsala, Hiruni Wathsala and
Oshi Herath.