Inaugural Maldives Open by Asian Surfing Championships set for September

The Asian Surfing Championships in cooperation with the Maldives Surfing Association and the Maldives Body Boarding Association has revealed the addition of the inaugural Maldives Open 2014 to the 2014 ASC tour schedule as an ASC Grade 3 event with a total prize purse of $15,000 over the three divisions of Men’s Open, Women’s, and Body Boarding.
The event is scheduled take place from 3-7 September at Lohis Point and will be hosted by the Adaaran Select Hudhuranfushi Resort.

Lohis Point at the Adaaran Select Hudhuranfushi Resort is known to behave like in a machine-like lefthand wave that remove away superbly down the coral reef for often hundreds of meters, and has been the site of ASP World Qualifying Series (the world’s top professional surfing organization) events in the past due to its consistency, accessibility and quality. Offering up barrel sections as well as steep wall sections for carves, lip hacks, and the occasional punt section, this wave is known to allow competitors to display their full skill set during their heats, and often all on the same wave.
Lohis Point is perfect location for the Inaugural Maldives Open with its world class wave in the warm turquoise waters, from wherever you are viewing the action.

Tipi Jabrik, ASC President is known to have exclaimed on his visit to the island “This place is simply amazing.”
He added “Looking out at this wave from this deck and seeing these perfect waves, and then realizing I’m on a tiny island in the middle of the Indian Ocean but with a complete resort with every kind of food and accommodation level, snorkeling, a soccer field and many other activities…even Indonesian masseuses in the spa! This is my first trip here to the Maldives and I can’t wait to come back for the event. In fact, I’ll even bring my family along when I come back for the event.”

The idea for the Maldives Open 2014 first pitched to the Maldives Minister of Tourism Mr. Ahmed Adeeb easly this year by Abdulla “Fuku” Areef, the president of the Maldives Body Boarding Association. The idea then was accepted by the Minister Adeeb with request that MBBA as the local event organizer and the ASC as the international sanctioning organization sign a 5-year MOU (Memorandum of Understanding), to ensure the goals of growing the sport of surfing and body boarding in the Maldives by having annual events are accomplished.
With the cooperation of the Maldives Surfing Association, co-organizer and the national governing body of surfing, the MOU was signed in Malé on Tuesday July 8th by Maldives Tourism Minister Adeeb, Tim Hain (ASC) and Abdulla Areef (MBBA), at the premise of the Ministry.

Before the signing, ASC General Manager Tim Hain, in his speech thanked Minister Adeeb for his vision, commitment and support of surfing in the Maldives, the entire Asian region, then thanked the MBBA and the MSA for their hard work in bringing this event to fruition after years of effort.
Minister Adeeb informed his goal for funding the event in support of surfing and body boarding in the Maldives, mainly is to provide more opportunities for the local youth in water sports, promote the Maldives as a surfing tourism destination, and to finally encourage the exploration and discovery of new surf spots in the islands for development.

The Maldives Open 2014 is a Ministry of Tourism of Maldives funded event with the Adaaran Select Hudhuranfushi Resort as the host and a primary sponsor, Maldives Body Boarding Association and the Maldives Surfing Association as co-organizers, and. The event will also be supported by Red Bull and other sponsors final confirmation is awaiting.