Mahabalipuram, September 17 (Udaipur Kiran) : The Indian surfing team is gearing up for the 2026 Asian Games, with training sessions currently taking place in Mahabalipuram under the guidance of French coach Samai Rebeul. The competition is set to be held from September 25 at the Pacific Long Beach in Aichi, Japan.
Representing India in the shortboard events will be two male surfers, Kishore Kumar and Shivraj Babu, alongside two female surfers, Kamali Moorthy from Tamil Nadu and Shugar Shanti Banarse from Goa. This marks the first time surfing will be featured in the Asian Games, alongside five other sports.
Samai Rebeul, who was appointed head coach by the Indian Surfing Federation in 2024, has played a pivotal role in elevating India’s surfing ambitions. He previously helped the nation secure a historic bronze medal at the Asian Surfing Championship and has been instrumental in leading the national selection camp and high-performance training for the upcoming games.
Sanjay Selvamani, a professional surf instructor and a key figure in Indian competitive surfing, will assist Rebeul in preparing the athletes. Selvamani has represented India at the ISA World Surfing Games as part of the country’s inaugural national team and brings valuable international experience to the training.
Though Rebeul holds a French passport, he identifies as Indian, having spent more than half of his life in Auroville, Puducherry. He shared his journey, noting how his parents’ initial curiosity about Auroville led them to relocate to India.
Rebeul emphasized the importance of surfing in his life, stating that it helped him feel at home by the sea. He is now focused on giving back to the sport by establishing surfing in India. His appointment as head coach ahead of the Asian Surfing Championship in the Maldives in 2024 reflects his commitment to the sport.
He remarked, “Reaching this point has been a natural outcome of passion, experience, and chance. After more than ten years of coaching and managing a surf school, I strive to continue growing as a coach.” His successful coaching of the national team, culminating in a bronze medal at the ASC, has instilled confidence in the potential of Indian surfers.
Rebeul believes that the Asian Games will serve as a significant test for India’s surfing capabilities and could be a transformative moment for the sport in the country. He stated, “When a sport is included in events like the Asian Games, it gains a different level of recognition. For athletes, it means representing an emerging surfing nation on one of Asia’s biggest sports stages. For the youth observing this, it presents surfing as a serious career option.” He views the upcoming Games as a crucial opportunity for the athletes to showcase what Indian surfing can achieve.
Bhupendra Singh Chundawat is a seasoned technology journalist with over 22 years of experience in the media industry. He specializes in covering the global technology landscape, with a deep focus on manufacturing trends and the geopolitical impact on tech companies. Currently serving as the Editor at Udaipur Kiran, his insights are shaped by decades of hands-on reporting and editorial leadership in the fast-evolving world of technology.