LONG BEACH, Kommetjie, Cape Town, South Africa (Friday, 28 March 2025) - The World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) season for 2024/2025 in Africa comes to a close this weekend with the Cape Town Surf Pro QS 1,000. The iconic break of Long Beach in Kommetjie, will host the season finale that forms part of the City Surf Series supported by Accelerate Sport. The sixth and final stop of the season will see the region's best surfers not only compete for the top spot on the WSL Africa QS rankings, but also give their all to qualify for the 2025 Challenger Series.
The top four men and top two women on the WSL Africa QS rankings will qualify for the Challenger Series. The Challenger Series is the ultimate battleground for surfers vying to qualify for the elite Championship Tour (CT) in 2026. It features 80 men and 48 women who will compete across five events in five countries. The season will launch at Newcastle, Australia before heading to South Africa, California, Portugal, and Brazil.
Current ranking leaders Louise Lepront and Luke Thompson have dominated the season with a run of consistent performances. Lepront won the eThekwini Surf Pro and the SA Open of Surfing, with a fifth place at the Pro Taghazout Bay QS 3,000 in Morocco, a fifth at the Vic Bay Surf Pro and a 25th at the Ballito Open. At just 16-years-old, Scottburgh's Lepront lets her surfing do the talking, proving that she's got what it takes to compete on the world stage.
Thompson enjoyed a stellar season, winning three events of the season including the eThekwini Surf Pro, the Ballito Open and last weekend's Vic Bay Surf Pro. Thompson's excellent third-place finish at the Pro Taghazout Bay QS 3,000 propelled the youngster to the top of the rankings. The former Durbanite, now living in Cape Town, has two full seasons of competing on the Challenger Series behind him, and is continuously learning, growing and improving to ultimately join the best in the world on the Championship Tour.
The remaining qualifying spots for the Challenger Series will be hotly contested. No. 2 ranked Adin Masencamp is in strong position after his runner-up finish at the Vic Bay Surf Pro. Masencamp's dedication to his craft and laser-focus has him eyeing requalification for the Challenger Series in 2025. A few hundred points separate the rest of the top ten on the men's rankings including SA Open of Surfing winner Connor Slijpen, Joshe Faulkner, Thomas Lindhorst, Luc Lepront and Luke Slijpen.
Muizenberg's Natasha van Greunen will be brimming with confidence coming into the Cape Town Surf Pro after her first-ever WSL QS win at the Vic Bay Surf Pro. Van Greunen jumped up to No.2 on the rankings after her win and runner-up finish at the SA Open of Surfing, bumping fellow Challenger Series surfer Jessie van Niekerk down to third. Right on Van Niekerk's heels is Anastasia Venter in fourth, and the Cape Town Surf Pro will ultimately decide who will scoop up the remaining Challenger Series qualifying spot.
The first call for the Cape Town Surf Pro will be on Saturday, 29 March 2025 at 7:30 a.m. GMT+2.
The Cape Town Surf Pro is proudly supported by City of Cape Town, Accelerate Sport, Surfing South Africa and Red Bull.