Zedde claims U12 Rookie Rippers title, Ballito Pro Junior comp underway
Great surfing conditions bode well for next week's Pro action.
Ballito’s junior surfing superstar, Marcello Zedde, has added yet another piece of silverware to his glistening trophy cabinet.
The youngster claimed gold in the U12 boys category of the O’Neill SMTH Shapes Rookie Rippers competition, the first surfing event of this year’s Ballito Pro.
Open to U18 surfers from across the country, the Rookie Rippers field is typically among the strongest that junior surfing can produce in South Africa.
And this year’s event, surfed over Tuesday and Wednesday this week, proved that point by delivering some excellent surfing action at Ballito’s Willard Beach.
Few more so than Zedde, who arrived as the U12 grom to beat after a dominant 2023 season and strong start to 2024.
His quarter-final heat set off bright and early on Tuesday morning but Zedde showed he was up and ready for the challenge.
He cruised through at the top of his heat, creating more than 2 points of daylight ahead of second place.
The semi-final later that afternoon was even more comfortable as Zedde pressed the advantage at one of his hometown breaks.
His 6.0 fourth-wave score would have been enough to win the semi-final alone, but he coupled it with a 5.0 to win by a massive 5.3 points.
And he would save the best for last in Wednesday afternoon’s final, facing off against fellow Ballito campaigner Levi Vosloo.
Vosloo shot to an early lead, posting his 10.43 final score after just two waves.
That left Zedde trailing for most of the final and needing to deliver a massive final wave score to secure victory.
He would do just that, posting a mammoth 7.83 final wave to claim the gold over Vosloo, who finished second.
Tyler Balfour finished third to secure an iLembe top-3 clean sweep.
Elsewhere, iLembe groms delivered podium places in a few other categories.
Lila Prinsloo, Lily Jameson and Pippa Wang finished in 2nd, 3rd and 4th behind Durban’s Adriana Canning in the U12 girls final.
Nathan Tayler was agonisingly close to delivering another gold for iLembe in the U16 boys division, but lost by just 0.20 points to Rory Dace.
Final results:
U12 Girls
- Adriana Canning
- Lila Prinsloo
- Lily Jameson
- Pippa Wang
U12 Boys
- Marcello Zedde
- Levi Vosloo
- Tyler Balfour
- Lazaro de Bruyn
U14 Girls
- Maya Malherbe
- Leah Lepront
- Camilla Heuer
- Charlotte Copson
U14 Boys
- William Neill
- Sebastian Copson
- Owen Heny
- Zach Epenetos
U16 Girls
- Louise Lepront
- Emily Jenkinson
- Taylor Emslie
- Nina Bone
U16 Boys
- Rory Dace
- Nathan Tayler
- Ashton Sangster
- Kai Stubbs
U18 Girls
- Louise Lepront
- Sarah Scott
- Emily Jenkinson
- Anastasia Venter
U18 Boys
- Levi Epenetos
- Luc Lepront
- Matt Canning
- Rory Dace
Find the full list of contest results here.
The next event at this year’s surf festival – the O’Neill SMTH Shapes Ballito Pro Junior – got underway this morning and will finish tomorrow afternoon.
The Pro Junior is open to U20 surfers from across the globe and has drawn talent from as far afield as Brazil and Japan.
Follow the results here or go down to watch in person at Willard Beach.
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