MORE than a dozen of the world’s best surfers will head to the Ballito Pro at Willard Beach from 1 to 7 July.
No less than 16 of the elite World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) surfers have thrown their names into the bag for the first Qualifying Series (QS) 10,000 rated event of the year, including world No. 2, Kolohe Andino (USA).
The Ballito Pro defending event winner, Peterson Crisanto (Brazil), will join fellow Brazilian competitors including 2015 World Champion, Adriano de Souza and 2017 Ballito Pro runner-up Willian Cardoso..
De Souza has been out of the water for the past nine months due to injury.
Australia’s Wade Carmichael, the 2018 CT Rookie of the Year, let his powerful surfing do the talking in 2018, earning an equal 3rd place in Ballito after losing out to eventual runner-up Jack Freestone (Australia) and will be a credible threat in the heats this year.
ALSO READ: African surf adventure awaits at Ballito Pro
Other big international names include Hawaiians Ezekiel Lau and Seth Moniz, Matt Wilkinson (Australia), Griffin Colapinto (USA) and Frederico Morais (Portugal).
South African favourite and former two-time event winner, Jordy Smith, will come into the event with a string of great results behind his name and sitting at No. 5 on the CT leaderboard.
The South African contingent includes 2018 CT competitor Michael February (Kommetjie) and top QS surfers Matthew McGillivray (Jeffreys Bay), hometown hero Beyrick de Vries (uMhlanga), David van Zyl (Glenashley), Adin Masencamp (Strand), Dylan Lightfoot (Jeffreys Bay) and Slade Prestwich (Durban).
On Sunday, 30 June, the Ballito Trial will give 32 surfers one last opportunity to earn a slot in the QS 10,000.
Alongside the surfing, visitors will enjoy non-stop activities and entertainment throughout the Ballito festival site. South Africa’s hottest musical acts will performing live on Salt Rock Beach over the last weekend.
Do you want to receive news alerts on this and many other stories relevant to the Durban area via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 060 532 5535.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Berea Mail WhatsApp number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts
