Malabar River Fest is Now a Major Global Water Sports Event: Minister Riyas

KOZHIKODE:
After three days of breathtaking display of skill and prowess by world’s leading kayakers on Iruvanjipuzha and Chalippuzha rivers braving heavy downpour, the 11the edition of the Malabar River Festival drew to a close this evening.

Presenting the prizes to the winners at the valedictory ceremony at Elanthukadavu, Minister for Tourism and Public Works P A Mohamed Riyas said with the roaring success of this edition the Malabar River Festival had become one of the five major international white water kayaking championships.

The event also reinforced Kerala’s standing as a prime water sporting and adventure tourism destination, he said.

The Malabar River Festival should be promoted as Kerala’s premium monsoon tourism event as it has the potential to attract tourists from around the world during the season.

This also demonstrated the success of Kerala Tourism in introducing new products and events to live up to the demands of the present day travellers, the minister said.

Ryan O’Conner and Rata Lovellsmith, both from New Zealand, were crowned with the prestigious Rapid Raja and Rapid Rani titles in men’s and women’s sections respectively, carrying a prize money of Rs 1,20,000 each.

Arjun Singh Rawat bagged the Indian Best Paddler’s award followed by Amar Singh Angit and Kuldip Singh as runner up and second runner up.

More than 20top kayakers from countries, including USA, Russia, France, Italy, Belgium, New Zealand, Chile, Thailand and Malysia, vied for honours in event, which offered attractive prize money for different categories. Also, more than 60 kayakers from various states competed , the Minister noted.

Linto Jospeh MLA , presided over the function. Tourism Director Sikha Surendran welcomed the gathering.

KATPS CEO Binu Kuriakose, presidents of different village panchayats and local bodies, representatives of kayaking and Canoeing associations and Tourism joint Director D Girish Kumar were present.

The function was followed by a performance of Marzi Music Band and other stage programmes.

Asia’s largest International White water Kayaking championship, world-renowned paddlers had pitched to displayed their skill and prowess at the event, organized by Kerala Tourism in collaboration with the Kerala Adventure Tourism Promotion Society (KATPS), District Tourism Promotion Council and Kozhikode District Panchayat, with technical support from the Indian Kayaking and Canoeing Association.
The festival, got off to an exciting start at Pulikkayam in Kodanchery Panchayat.

The details of winners and prize money in different categories:

In the Rapid Raja category (men’s), Ryan O’Connor of New Zealand won the first prize ( Rs 1,20,000) while Kilian Ivelic of Chile won the second prize (Rs 60,000) and Arjun Singh Rawat from India won the third prize (Rs 30,000).

In the Rapid Rani category (women’s), Rata Lovellsmith of New Zealand won the first prize o( Rs 1,20,000), Millie Chamberlain won the second prize (Rs 60,000) and Dayla Ward of New Zealand won the third prize (Rs 30,000).

In the Kayak Cross event, Kilian Ivelic and Dayla Ward won the first prize of Rs 60,000 in the men’s and women’s category respectively.

Ryan O’Connor, Joseph Todd, Arjun Singh Rawat won the second (Rs 30,000), third (Rs 20,000) and fourth prize (Rs 15,000) respectively in Kayak cross event men’s category while Daria Kuziahcheva, Rata Lovellsmith and Jill Joos won the second (Rs 30,000), third (Rs 20,000) and fourth prizes (Rs 15,000) in the women’s category.

In Indian best paddlers category, Arjun Singh Rawat won the first prize of Rs 80,000 while Amar Singh and Kuldeep Singh won the second (Rs 40,000) and third prizes (Rs 20,000) respectively. In the women’s category Karishma Diwan won the first prize of Rs 50,000 while Muskan and Sheetal Gurung won the second (Rs 25,000) and third (Rs 15,000) prize respectively.

In the Under 18 professional event, Aanak and Adam Mathew Sibi won the first (Rs 20000) and second prizes (Rs 10000) respectively in men’s category. In women’s category Karishma Diwan won the first prize of Rs 20000.

In the U-18 amateur category men’s, Garv Kokatey Akshay Ashok and Ayyappan won the first (10000 ), second (Rs 7500) and third (Rs 5000) prize respectively. In the women’s category, Oxana Cherevchenko ,Aayushi and Dona Marcella won the first (Rs 10000), second (Rs 7500) and third prize (Rs 5000) respectively.

In Kerala best paddlers category men’s, Akshay Ashok, Adam Mathew Sibi, Nikhil Das, Sudhakar Jena and Reyan Varghese came on top, each winning Rs 10,000. In the women’s category, Dona Marcella and E.Swaliha came on top, each winning Rs 10,000.