THE highly-anticipated, top secret list of international surf stars competing at The Ballito Pro presented by O’Neill next month has been revealed – and it is hot!
No less than 16 elite World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) surfers will be heading to Ballito in July for the first Qualifying Series (QS) 10,000 rated event of the year.
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Top of the list is world number two Kolohe Andino (United States), who put on a stellar performance at the recent Margaret River Pro in West Australia to finish runner-up to Hawaiian John John Florence.
The Ballito Pro defending winner, Peterson Crisanto (Brazil) , will be back for the world’s longest running professional surfing event. Joining him from Brazil will be 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, making the Ballito Pro particularly interesting as this will be his first event of the year. Australia’s Wade Carmichael – the 2018 CT Rookie of the Year – will be a credible threat in any heat at Willard Beach.
Carmichael let his powerful surfing do the talking in 2018, earning an equal third place in Ballito after losing out to eventual runner-up Jack Freestone (Australia).
Make sure to also look out for Hawaiians Ezekiel Lau and Seth Moniz, Matt Wilkinson (Australia), Griffin Colapinto (United States) 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 sitting at number five on the CT leader board.
The Durbanite enjoys competing in front of his hometown crowds who rock up in their numbers to support the local star.
Fellow Saffas include 2018 CT competitor Michael February (Kommetjie) and top QS surfers Matthew McGillivray (Jeffreys Bay), Adin Masencamp (Strand), Dylan Lightfoot (Jeffreys Bay) along with Durban boys Beyrick de Vries, David van Zyl and Slade Prestwich.
The nail-biting Ballito Trial presented by O’Neill will give 32 surfers one last opportunity to earn a slot in the QS 10,000 on June 30.
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