The 21st edition of the Billabong Junior Series Ballito presented by BOS kicked off the 10 day Ballito Pro Surf Festival when South Africa's best U18 surfers and a contingent internationals opened their accounts in Round One of the JQS 1,000 men's event today
The competitors were greeted with sunshine, warm water, small two-to-three foot waves and light winds at Ballito's Willard Beach, 45 mins drive north of Durban. The conditions were ideal for the sport's future stars to put on a show and they took full advantage by producing some hard-fought duels as the battled to advance to the next round of the prestigious event.
Tide-Lee Ireland dished up a dynamic peformance filled with high risk manoeuvres to win his Round One heat in the JQS 1,000 event at the Billabong Junior Series - WSL / Kelly Cestari
Round One consisted of four heats and South Africans Tide-Lee Ireland and Aya Gericke won their respective heats, as did Indonesia's Rio Waida (IND) and late entry Mateus Herdy from Brazil. They, along with their respective runner's up, Luke Thompson, Saxton Randall, Daniel Emslie and Daniel Orpen (all South Africans) will take on the seeded surfers in Round Two when competition resumes tomorrow.
There were some upsets on the day when Mexican-born local, Sebastian Williams was eliminated along with the likes of York Van Jaarsveldt, Mitch Du Preez and Brazilian Ryan Kainalo.
Aya Gericke held his nerve and rode the heat-winning wave just two minutes before the siren sounded to end the encounter - WSL / Kelly Cestari
Saturday sees the main protagonists take to the water as round two will get underway. Cape Town's Luke Slijpen will be looking to carry on where he left of at the JQS event in Port Elizabeth earlier this week. Others to look out for are the Jeffreys Bay duo of Angelo Faulkner and Dillon Hendricks, Capetonians Eli BeukesEli Beukes and Max Elkington, as well as Koby Oberholzer from Warner Beach.
In the women's draw, international surfers like Tiana-Breeze De Mooijfrom New Zealand and Advah Bar Sade from Israel will join top local junior surfers Sophie Bell, Zoë Steyn, Kayla Nogueira and Ceara Knight in a bid for glory in this competitive division.
Juniors set the tone for an epic 10-days of surfing in Ballito
Jazz Kushke
The 21st edition of the Billabong Junior Series Ballito presented by BOS kicked off the 10 day Ballito Pro Surf Festival when South Africa's best U18 surfers and a contingent internationals opened their accounts in Round One of the JQS 1,000 men's event today
The competitors were greeted with sunshine, warm water, small two-to-three foot waves and light winds at Ballito's Willard Beach, 45 mins drive north of Durban. The conditions were ideal for the sport's future stars to put on a show and they took full advantage by producing some hard-fought duels as the battled to advance to the next round of the prestigious event.
Round One consisted of four heats and South Africans Tide-Lee Ireland and Aya Gericke won their respective heats, as did Indonesia's Rio Waida (IND) and late entry Mateus Herdy from Brazil. They, along with their respective runner's up, Luke Thompson, Saxton Randall, Daniel Emslie and Daniel Orpen (all South Africans) will take on the seeded surfers in Round Two when competition resumes tomorrow.
There were some upsets on the day when Mexican-born local, Sebastian Williams was eliminated along with the likes of York Van Jaarsveldt, Mitch Du Preez and Brazilian Ryan Kainalo.
Saturday sees the main protagonists take to the water as round two will get underway. Cape Town's Luke Slijpen will be looking to carry on where he left of at the JQS event in Port Elizabeth earlier this week. Others to look out for are the Jeffreys Bay duo of Angelo Faulkner and Dillon Hendricks, Capetonians Eli BeukesEli Beukes and Max Elkington, as well as Koby Oberholzer from Warner Beach.
In the women's draw, international surfers like Tiana-Breeze De Mooijfrom New Zealand and Advah Bar Sade from Israel will join top local junior surfers Sophie Bell, Zoë Steyn, Kayla Nogueira and Ceara Knight in a bid for glory in this competitive division.
Mateus Herdy
Packed with the Family Legend heat, Erin Brooks qualifying for the '25 CT, Mateus Herdy's perfect 10, Marco Mignot qualifying for the '25
Featuring Mateus Herdy, Jackson Baker, Nora Liotta, Amuro Tsuzuki, Erin Brooks, Shion Crawford, Marco Mignot, Vahine Fierro, Cauã Costa,
Mateus Herdy takes down an in-form Morgan Cibilic in the Round of 16 through the air and marches toward the Quarterfinals with a big result
Brazil's next absolute superstar throws down one of the craziest airs of the year landing a backflip for a perfect 10. Even before
A heat with two World Junior Champs, Mateus Herdy proves superior, snagging two 8s and looking extremely dynamic. Acknowledging that the
Billabong Junior Series Ballito
Debut JQS event wins for both surfers
Semifinalists decided in variable conditions at Willard Beach in Ballito
An international contingent joins the best U18 surfers in South Africa in the Billabong Junior Series JQS events in Ballito.
With 10,000 points on the line, it's surfers' first serious shot at making the 2019 Tour -- and excitement is growing.