more-in It was almost instantly the 6th edition of the Malabar River Fest and the Malabar World Kayak Championship received unprecedented attention. With the World Kayak Championship that was planned in Austria getting cancelled, the Malabar World Kayak Championship to be held at Thusharagiri in Kozhikode became the next big thing in Kayaking circuit the world over. Champion Kayakers from more than 20 countries have been enlisted to test the waters, literally, in the four rivers of Kozhikode that have become more turbulent than ever with the heavy rain. “There is no international governing body to organise a World Kayak championship. The International Canoeing Federation [ICF] concentrates on Olympics and similar events. There is no one to take over,” said Manik Taneja of Madras Fun tools, one of the organisers of the event that begins on Wednesday. “We are not trying to have a replacement for the World Championship. This is just an attempt to showcase the best Kayakers in the World,” he added. ICF is associating itself with the event through a training session for intermediate kayakers in Raviz Kadavu on Tuesday. The session is being hosted by Nouria Newman from France. Mike Dawson from New Zealand, Martina Wegman from Germany, Dane Jackson from the US, and Nick Troutman from Canada are some names to look out for in the championship. Rishi Rana and Ashu Rawat from Uttarakhand are India’s best bet in the event, though the five-member Indian kayak team, preparing for the Asian Games, is also expected to join the competition. Most participants are from Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, and Kerala. There are seven participants from Kerala, four of whom are from Kozhikode. They have been trained at the Malabar Sports Academy in Kodenchery. “We have no advantage of competing in the home ground. International kayakers can adapt to any situation,” said Nidin Das, a mechanical engineering student from Balusseri, who has been training at the academy for the last three years. He had finished seventh in the Olympic qualifying event from India. The event is hosted by Thiruvambady, Chakkittapara and Kodencheri grama panchayats and the Kozhikode district panchayat. It is being organised by the Department of Tourism and the District Tourism Promotion Council in association with the Greater Malabar Initiative and Madras Fun Tools.

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