Sekar Patchai, Monica Pugazharasu win double to help Tamil Nadu clean sweep all titles

Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu) [India], September 16 : Sekar Patchai and Monica Pugazharasu completed thier double in the men’s and women’s category respectively making sure Tamil Nadu clean swept all the titles in the Stand-Up Paddle (SUP) Challenge 2023, held here at the Pirappanvalasi Beach. M Manikandan won the Sprint Men 200 M race, the final event of the competition.
Sekar added the Distance title along with the technical race title which he had won yesterday. Monica ousted defending champion Gayatri Juvekar of Maharashtra in the sprint race to complete her double.
“The feeling of winning both the titles is very hard to describe. I believe that this is the result of my hard work as the competition was very high and I am very happy that more female participants are taking up stand-up paddling which will only improve the level of competition”, said Monica Pugazharasu after winning both titles in the women’s category.
Manikandan wins Sprint Men’s category
M Manikandan of Tamil Nadu comfortably won the men’s 200M sprint category finishing ahead of his competition with a timing of 1:08.99 mins. Dinesh Selvamani (1:14.39 mins) and Santhosan S (1:18.55 mins) finished second and third. Manikandan also denied defending champion Sekar Patchai his third title in the championship as Sekar could only finish 9th.
“There was no pressure for me to defend all three titles this year as I was only focusing on my individual performance. I would like to take this form and perform well in international competitions for the country”, said Sekar Patchai, winner of double titles in the men’s category.
Monica dethrones Gayatri in Sprint Women
Monica Pughazarasu of Tamil Nadu won the 200 M sprint women's category defeating defending champion Maharashtra's Gayatri Juvekar with a timing of 1:27.92 mins, while Gayatri finished with a timing of 1:30.31. Karnataka’s Sinchana D Gowda finished third with a timing of 1:35.76.
Sekar wins Distance Men category
Continuing his winning momentum from Day 1, Sekar emerged victorious in the first final of the day in the Distance Men (12 km) category, his second of the championship. He finished the gruelling race with a timing of 83:0.45 minutes. Manikandan M was also spectacular on the water as he secured the second position with a timing of 83:33.30 minutes while Dinesh Selvamani with a timing of 87:13.93 minutes finished third.
Muthu Kutti wins Sprint Women (Open) category
Finishing with a timing of 2:02.52 mins, Muthu Kutti won the 200 M sprint women’s open category overcoming Muthumarimmal V who recorded 2:09.71 mins to come second while Ramalakshmi R (2:33.46 mins) finished third in the category.
Ajith Govind does the double
Ajith Govind continued his impressive run securing his second title in the Men’s Open category with his victory in the 200 M Sprint race. He completed the sprint race in 1:26.76 mins while his competitors, Selvarasan Nagamuthu took 1:32.13 mins and V Sakthi took 1:32.83 minutes to finish second and third respectively.
Raja Pandian wins Sprint Mixed Defence (Open)
In the category for defence personnel added for the first time in the Palkbay SUP Challenge, Raja Pandian of Marine Elite force, Tamil Nadu Forest(1:35.43 mins) ousted Aaqil Pathan of Indian Coast Guard Services (1:36.83) in a tight race to come away with the title. Navanithan S of Narine Elite force, Tamil Nadu Forest finished third behind the duo with a timing of 1:37.58 mins.
Over 80 stand-up paddlers from across the country participated in the two-day event which was hosted under the aegis of Surfing Federation of India – the governing body for the sport of surfing and Stand-Up Paddling in India. The event was also supported by the Tamil Nadu Surfing Association, while QTT Adventure Sports Academy (Quest Academy) was the organizing authority of the championship.