The men's shortboard competition at the 2026 Asian Games took place from 25 to 29 September 2026 at Long Beach in Tahara, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It was the first time that surfing was contested at the Asian Games, with the men's and women's shortboard events making their debuts.
Japan's Kanoa Igarashi, a two-time Olympian and the silver medallist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, won the gold medal, defeating Indonesia's I Made Pajar Ariyana 12.87 to 10.40 in the gold medal match to secure a provisional quota place for Japan at the 2028 Olympics . The Philippines' Jayuard Alciso claimed the bronze medal after beating compatriot Toby Espejon 11.64 to 8.90 in an all-Filipino bronze medal match.
Competition format The competition consisted of six rounds. Each surfer's two highest-scoring waves counted towards their heat total, with each wave scored from 0.1 to 10 on the basis of the difficulty, innovation and progression, variety, combination, speed, power and flow of the manoeuvres performed.
Round 1: 8 heats of three surfers each (one heat contained only two surfers). The winner of each heat (8 surfers) advanced directly to Round 3, while the remaining surfers (15) moved to Round 2, the first elimination round. Round 2: 8 heats of two surfers each, one of which was a bye. The winner of each heat advanced to Round 3, while the loser was eliminated. Round 3 (round of 16): 8 heats of two surfers each; the winner advanced to the quarter-finals. Quarter-finals: 4 heats of two surfers each; the winner advanced to the semi-finals. Semi-finals: 2 heats of two surfers each; the winners advanced to the gold medal match and the losers to the bronze medal match. Finals: the gold medal match and the bronze medal match.
Schedule All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00). Date Time Round Friday, 25 September 2026 13:54 Round 1 Sunday, 27 September 2026 09:20 Round 2 Monday, 28 September 2026 07:00 Round 3 Tuesday, 29 September 2026 07:00 Quarter-finals 10:44 Semi-finals 12:56 Finals
Results
Round 1 The first round was non-elimination. Surfers were drawn into eight heats of three surfers each, with the top surfer advancing straight to Round 3 and the bottom two surfers going to Round 2.
Heat 1 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1216.003.939.9324.404.108.5034.002.636.63
Heat 2 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1218.675.2313.9026.275.5011.7732.832.605.43
Heat 3 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1215.334.009.3324.033.407.4331.701.373.07
Heat 4 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1215.174.679.8423.873.677.54
Heat 5 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1214.174.008.1723.172.575.7431.271.172.44
Heat 6 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1216.334.0010.3322.372.234.6031.601.372.97
Heat 7 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1215.504.339.8324.934.008.9331.730.832.56
Heat 8 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1214.674.539.2023.533.507.0333.032.735.76
Round 2 In the second round surfers were drawn into eight heats of two surfers each, with the winner advancing to Round 3 (round of 16) and the loser being eliminated. Because only 15 surfers progressed from Round 1, Heat 5 was a bye, with Kanoa Igarashi advancing automatically.
Heat 1 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1214.834.138.9621.871.733.60
Heat 2 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1216.505.0011.5024.173.177.34
Heat 3 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1214.974.439.4024.504.008.50
Heat 4 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1214.134.008.1321.071.072.14
Heat 5 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes12————
Heat 6 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1216.504.7011.2023.172.505.67
Heat 7 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1217.777.3315.1022.732.234.96
Heat 8 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1213.873.477.3422.672.635.30
Bracket The bracket from the round of 16 onwards was determined by the results of rounds 1 and 2. The winner of each head-to-head heat qualified for the next round.
Round 3 In the third round (round of 16) surfers were drawn into eight heats of two surfers each, with the winner advancing to the quarter-finals and the loser being eliminated.
Heat 1 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1215.304.509.8024.474.278.74
Heat 2 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1216.005.5011.5024.433.407.83
Heat 3 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1216.004.9310.9324.473.978.44
Heat 4 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1216.335.1711.5024.374.138.50
Heat 5 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1215.334.8310.1623.503.306.80
Heat 6 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1218.677.0015.6727.937.3315.26
Heat 7 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1216.005.8311.8323.173.176.34
Heat 8 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1214.934.839.7624.634.178.80
Quarter-finals The men's quarter-finals took place on 29 September 2026.
Heat 1 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1215.834.9310.7626.171.077.24
Heat 2 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1217.675.0012.6726.335.3311.66
Heat 3 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1217.336.6714.0026.005.3311.33
Heat 4 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1215.503.038.5323.002.375.37
Semi-finals Heat 1 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1217.006.6013.6026.675.7012.37
Heat 2 RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes12110.008.3318.3324.831.005.83
Bronze medal match RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1216.674.9711.6424.834.078.90
Gold medal match RankAthleteWavesTotalscoreNotes1216.676.2012.8725.235.1710.40
References
External links Official reports