Ballito Blast Off
Conditions for Day 3 of the Ballito Pro, presented by O'Neill, were epic, and Travis Logie had no problem making the early morning call for a full day’s surfing for the men.
WIN A FEW, LOSE A FEW ...
The waves had settled after yesterday's blow, the swell was still up, and a little lump of sand had formed around the rocks at Surfers, making some lined-up right-handers spin down the beach. Some of the nuggets kept winding over the shallow inside section, making room for a few more corners, while others shut down over the bank, still allowing for a huge close-out crack and plenty of scoring potential.
TWO MEN ENTER, ONE MAN LEAVE
The round of 64 saw some of the big names filtering into the system, and there were big scores and do-or-die efforts from the first 7:35 siren. Heat three saw two South Africans Jordy Maree and Luke Slijpen, in the same heat, up against Reef Haezlewood (Aus) and Alejo Muniz (Brazil). They both gave it everything, with Maree executing his particular brand of powerful backhand cracks while Slijpen was going for the big airs on his forehand. At the end of the heat, Slijpen grasped a second place behind Haezlewood and advanced, with Muniz and Maree heading home. Then it was all eyes on Paul Sampson in a big heat against some bigger names.
THE LONELINESS OF THE CHALLENGER SERIES SURFER
With Jet Schilling (USA), Ian Gouveia (BRA) and Rafael Teixeira (BRA) in the water, there was always going to be an upset. Sampson was out the gates quickly with a small-score lead, but then everyone started hooking into some bombs, and the lead was all over the place. At the end of the heat, a surge of the Brazilian Storm climbed into first and second place, with the surprise elimination of Schilling and the disappointing elimination of Sampson from the event. Challenger Series contests are so gnarly. The heats were 30 minutes for this round, and for someone like Schilling, it's a long way, a big deal and has dire consequences with an early elimination.
Currently sitting at 40th on the Challenger Series rankings, a result in South Africa was crucial, and he will no doubt be lamenting for the next few days. Still, there are so many good things happening in the world of the WSL, and the Challenger Series is a great way for the younger surfers of our country to get a taste of professional surfing life and get a grip on what is really needed to succeed as a surfer. The bottom line is that it is incredibly tough, and talent is merely a single element of the mix needed to succeed. As we head into the round of 32, we have a single surfer confirmed in Slijpen.
At the time of publishing, however, young Luke Thompson still had to surf. Fresh off his win at the World Surf League (WSL) Ballito Open presented by Flojos Qualifying Series (QS) 1,000, Thompson is now confident. Details to follow
GIRLS, BIG SURF, THE FUTURE
Tomorrow, the women will likely be back in the water for their round of 32 heats. Three South Africans are still in, with Jessie Van Niekerk (currently 39th on the Challenger Series rankings), Sarah Baum (23rd), and Louise Lepront (50th) still in the game.
There is bigger surf on the way, and all three girls are in with a shout. Sarah and Louise have huge backhand cracks in their arsenal, holding them in good stead on the right-handers coming off the rocks.
By Craig Jarvis
