ALEX Ribeiro was crowned men’s champion at the Volkswagen SA Open of Surfing presented by Hurley in Durban on Sunday, leading a near clean sweep of the top eight positions by South American surfers on the final day of the World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) 3,000 rated event.
Ribeiro, (28), defeated fellow Brazilian and good friend Hizunome Bettero in the action-packed final held in one metre waves and onshore winds that provided the world’s best surfers with ideal conditions to boost multiple spectacular aerial manoeuvres
“It feels so good. Last night I didn’t get any sleep, because I was just thinking of this comp, I was so excited to compete. I’m stoked to win here and share the final with my friend Hizunome,” said Ribeiro, after being chaired from the water’s edge to the awards area by an ecstatic group of his Brazilian Storm peers.
Ribeiro, who spent 2016 on the WSL Championship Tour (CT), is determined to re-qualify for the elite tour that is contested by the world’s top 34 ranked surfers annually.
“The points are great here. Now I will be focusing on the super important Ballito and Japan events and hopefully get a win there also,” he commented.
The final saw both surfers remain extremely busy through-out the 25 minute encounter with Ribeiro’s top two scores of an excellent 8.67 and a 7.00 and heat tally of 15.67 proving to good for Bettero, who totalled 11.57 for his best two rides.
Five locals reached the last 32 and even though none advanced beyond that round, friendships were formed and the latest information exchanged on equipment, training techniques and competition strategies will elevate future levels of professionalism.
An outreach programme was conducted at the event by Surfing South Africa (SSA) with the initiative involving twenty four surfers from Trafalgar on the KZN South Coast who recently lost all their equipment when their storage hut was set alight by arsonists.
They were joined by surfers from the Sisonke Surf Club in a Tag Team contest. Eight teams competed in two semis and a final with the top four teams awarded gold, silver, bronze and copper medals.
Ribeiro will have his name engraved on the brand new John Whitmore Cup along with junior champions Mateus Herdy of Brazil and Zoe McDougall of Hawaii who were crowned on Friday. McDougall’s name will appear twice as she also won the QS1,000 women’s event on Saturday.
The trophy is named to honour the immense contribution to the development and growth of the sport in the 1950s, 60s and early 70s by the late surfing pioneer and administrator who was referred to as the ‘Doyen’ of South African surfing.
Whitmore’s association with Volkswagen saw him own the first Kombi made in South Africa and fittingly the trophy was presented to Ribeiro by his daughter Chele, alongside Nico Fourie from Volkswagen and Ockie Fourie from Hurley.
