Tons of action, fun and excitement over two weeks of Ballito Pro [Watch]
Thousands of residents and tourists arrived to support the surfers, with more than a thousand on finals day alone.
Bragging rights at the Ballito Pro presented by O’Neill went to 22-year-old Indonesian Rio Waida and Australian Molly Picklum (19).
This year, the Pro was a full Challenger Series (CS) event for the first time since 2019, and the first full women’s CS event in the Pro’s history.
Photo: Wayne Johnstone.
Waida continued his incredible early form this year, winning the men’s competition on Sunday, making it two CS event victories in a row.
The diminutive surfer from Uluwatu in Bali never faltered, breezing through early heats, before knocking out Hawaiian Keanu Asing in the semi-final.
In front of a packed Willard Beach, Waida reserved some of the best surfing of the entire competition for the final, defeating Frenchman Gatien Delahaye.
Ninetieth ranked Delahaye had a fairy tale run, but Waida was simply too strong, grabbing both aerials and barrels for a massive 15.50 winning score.
“Thank you so much Ballito, I am so happy. See you next year,” he said after collecting his trophy.
That is unlikely to be the case if he continues his current form, looking set to join next year’s Championship Tour (CT).
Photo: Pierre Tostee/WSL.
Picklum was the first women’s CS winner in Ballito, after edging out countrywoman Macy Callaghan in the final.
The women’s draw was dominated by Australians after pre-tournament favourite, France’s Johanne Defay was knocked out early on.
Photo: Pierre Tostee/WSL.
In one of the most tense finals in recent memory, Callaghan led from the first wave until the second last.
Picklum bought her CT tour experience to the fore however, delivering a strong finish at the best possible time.
She grabbed a 6.57 wave score to take her just 0.23 points ahead of Callaghan, who had no time to take another wave.
“I really enjoyed my time here in South Africa. The crowd was awesome all the way through and, of course, it is great to come away with a win,” she said.
Luke Thompson was the best performing South African in the event, making it to the round of 16 before being knocked out by Waida.
He will be competing with Jordy Smith, Matthew McGillivray and Joshe Faulkner at the Corona Open J-Bay CT tour event later this week.
This capped off an exciting programme which saw participants jiving, doing sunrise yoga, playing beach games and partying the night away.
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