Surf: Ahmed ‘Ayaa’ Ayaz takes silver at the Indian Ocean Opens — and tells us why he almost missed it
Two hours before his semi-final heat at Hikkaduwa, Ayaz was on the phone to his mother about a missing passport. He surfed without it. The Sri Lankan federation gave him a notarised printout, and two rounds later he was on a podium beside two Australians and a Japanese world-tour qualifier. We spoke to him the next morning, jet-lagged and hungry, about Thulusdhoo, about the wave at Chickens, and about what it costs to train when the nearest pro coach is a flight away.