Sultan of the Groms Surfing Competition – The Sultanate’s first surfing competition, organised last weekend at Ras Al Hadd by Oman Surf School’s Nasser Al Ghadani, along with Mohamed Khamis Al Alawi of Sur Swimming and Diving Center, saw 12 young Omani surfers, in the ages of 7 to 16, battling it out for the crown of ‘Sultan of the Groms’ (Grom – Grommet – is a term used to describe young surfers).
The competition featured three rounds, with four surfers in each heat, before it whittled down to four finalists – top surfer from each heat, along with the best scoring runner up. Heat 1 saw Husain win easily to book is place in the final. Fahad won heat 2 to join Husain; the third heat was a close call with the judges split between Abdul Rahman and Khamis for the heat win. It was, however, of little concern as both would make the final – Abdul Rahman won, while Khamis joined the heat winners in the final with the highest runner up score from all three heats.
The final was a hotly contested 30 minute heat with all four surfers trading waves and posting excellent scores all the way through, leading to a very close finish. When the final whistle sounded, it was a clean sweep for Ras Al Hadd with Husain who took the honours, followed by Abdul Rahman in the second place and Khamis in third.
2018 Desert Invitational was attended by dignitaries, local and expatriate sports enthusiasts, who watched 12 of Oman’s youngest surfers, most of who came from Ras Al Hadd. A two member team was brought by Oman Sail, along with Sur residents and one Younis from Germany. The event was judged by a team comprising Oman Surfers, Conal from Ireland, Marco from Italy and Gee from the UK.
Ali Khamis Al Alawi, a Ministry of Tourism representative, was on hand to present the prizes donated by Oman Surf School, Ninja Fotos, Beyond the Beach and Oman Surfers, along with glass trophies from the Ministry of Tourism, to the happy finalists.
Prize list:
1st place – Husain Al Harbi – Ras Al Hadd
2nd place – Abdul Rahman Al Harbi – Ras Al Hadd
3rd place – Khamis Al Hakmani – Ras Al Hadd
Runner up – Fahhad Al Alawi – Sur
(P.N. – Folks interested to get involved in the local surf scene or organise a beach clean, please feel free to contact Nasser (Oman Surf School) 92232023, Gee (Ninja Fotos) 97155438 or Maynard (Oman Surfers) 93994060)