Australian Bronte Macaulay and American Cole Houshmand added their names to a list of prestigious past winners at the Ballito Pro pres. by O’Neill today.

It was another fantastic day of finals surfing on Ballito shores, with the conditions again proving why the North Coast has become such a popular stop on the Challenger Series (CS) circuit.

Kicking off with the women’s semi-finals at 9am, hundreds of excited spectators stayed glued to the surfing action on show over the next few hours, unable to tear their eyes away from the world class offering.

On the women’s side, it was clear from her first semi-final wave that Macaulay had come ready to lift a trophy, dominating countrywoman Isabella Nichols to win by almost six points.

France’s Vahine Fierro knocked out Australian Zahli Kelly on the other side of the draw to set up a tantalising matchup with Macaulay.

But it was not to be for Fierro as she come up against a surfer in white hot form.

Macaulay quickly scored a first wave of 6.33 and would never relinquish her lead on her way to an almost eight point victory – her first on the CS.

The win propelled her 20 places up the CS leaderboard into fifth, which is the last place that earns automatic qualification for next year’s Championship Tour (CT).

In the men’s event, Houshmand began the day with some of the best surfing seen over the last two weeks in Ballito.

Consecutive massive scores of 9.17 and 8.93 provided for a comfortable win in his semi-final against Frenchman Joan Duru.

Portugal’s Frederico Morais – a former CT rider – beat American Kade Matson in the other semi-final to set the stage for the last heat at this year’s Pro.

Houshmand trailed for the entirety of the final and was 3.70 points behind Morais as the final entered its last minute.

The man from San Clemente caught the last wave of the event knowing it was do or die and managed a 4.67 to claim victory from the jaws of defeat.

It was an aptly thrilling finish to what has been two weeks of wall-to-wall action in Ballito.

The win was Houshmand’s second in a row after he took the GWM Sydney Surf Pro in May and he improved his overall CS standings by two, to go to the top of the overall leaderboard.

He is in pole position to earn CT qualification for next year.

The full list of results from this year’s Ballito Pro can be found at worldsurfleague.com/events/2023/cs/144/ballito-pro/results.

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