Six South Africans ready to challenge for Ballito Pro silverware
Surfing is underway today with the men's round of 64 heats.
Six of the original 16 South African surfers remain in the hunt for Ballito Pro glory after the first day of action.
The main Ballito Pro Challenger Series event officially got underway yesterday after the first day of scheduled competition on Monday was called off owing to poor waves.
But the waves mostly delivered yesterday for surfers willing to adapt to the shifting conditions throughout the day, which saw the completion of the men’s round of 80 and women’s round of 48.
The men’s round of 64 was underway at the time of writing, with six of the 16 heats so far finished.
Cape Town’s Luke Slijpen made good use of his early morning heat to go through in second place behind Australian Reef Heazlewood.
In a heat that included fellow Capetonian Jordy Maree and Brazilian Alejo Muniz, Slijpen kept his cool to string scores of 5.43 and 5.63 together – enough to beat Muniz’s 10.26 combined score.
Slijpen will surf in the men’s round of 32 later this week and is the only qualified South African to date.
Cape Town’s Paul Sampson and Durban’s Luke Thompson have yet to surf in the round of 64 after getting a bye through the initial round of 80.
Photo: Nicolette Tostee/WSL.
The rest of the South African men, Luc Lepront, Tide-Lee Ireland, Daniel Emslie and Connor Slijpen unfortunately fell at the round of 80 stage.
On the women’s side, Capetonian Jessie van Niekerk and Scottburgh’s star charger Louise Lepront both qualified through the round of 48 yesterday.
Van Niekerk finished first in her heat with a combined score of 10.70, ahead of Hawaiian Eweleiula Wong who scored 10.40.
And Lepront, who is still just 15, continues to show why so many KwaZulu-Natal surfing fans have high hopes for the youngster.
She managed to keep a calm head in the high-pressure situation and qualified in second behind Costa Rican Leilani McGonagle.
The remaining five South African women, Zoë Steyn, Gabriella Herbst, Kira Hofmeyr, Sarah Scott and Anastasia Venter were knocked out at the round of 48.
Lepront and Van Niekerk will join Durban’s Olympic qualifier, Sarah Baum, who got a bye to the round of 32.
Baum’s first heat includes Ballito Open winner and former world number one, Sally Fitzgibbons, which promises to be a must-watch competition.
Photo: Pierre Tostee/WSL.
Elsewhere in the field, 2023 Ballito Pro women’s winner Bronte Macaulay (Australia) is back to defend her title, as is 2019 men’s winner, Brazilian Deivid Silva.
The four runners-up from the past two years, Vahine Fierro (France), Macy Callaghan (Australia), Frederico Morais (Portugal) and Gatien Delahaye (France) are all back to try and go one better in 2024 too.
And if anything, the reason why 2023 men’s winner Cole Houshmand (America), 2022 men’s winner Rio Waida (Indonesia) and 2022 women’s winner Molly Picklum (Australia) are not back, shows why the Ballito Pro draws such excellent fields year-on-year.
All three of those surfers have graduated to the Championship Tour, in no small part thanks to the points they won on North Coast shores.
The Ballito Pro continues to be a perfect place to identify CT regulars and those on the cusp of surfing superstardom.
Follow live results and free livestreaming of the event here.
Get down to Willard Beach between now and Sunday to see the world-class surfing first hand.
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