CHENNAI: Competition has continued on Wednesday at the Tamil Nadu International Surf Open World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) 3,000 with the men’s top seeds hitting the water at Mahabalipuram beach. Performance levels lifted as conditions improved with clean surf in the two-foot-plus range. The Round of 48 and 6 Heats of the Round of 32 were completed before competition went on hold due to onshore winds.

Fresh from a semifinal finish at the recent Bonsoy Chiba Ichinomiya Open in Japan, Joh Azuchi (JPN) carried his form into Heat 1 of the Round of 32, posting the highest two-wave total of the event so far. Azuchi’s 14.15 combination (out of a possible 20) came from his razor-sharp frontside snaps which were a perfect match for the slow right-handers of Mahabalipuram Beach. Azuchi was in last place with eight minutes left but he was able to find his two scores with only minutes remaining.

Japanese duo Raiha Onou (JPN) and Daiki Tanaka (JPN) also looked solid, posting mid-range scores to progress into the Round of 16. Swedish representative Kian Martin (SWE) showed flashes while it was Dhany Widianto (INA) who won his heat with the manoeuvre of the day.

Earlier in the day, Indian competitors Sivaraj Babu (IND), Ajeesh Ali (IND) and Kishore Kumar (IND) all progressed through their Round of 48 heats, each putting up solid performances.