Excellent Surf For Day 2 of the Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS

Excellent Surf For Day 2 of the Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS:

Zoe Steyn Photo: © Ian Thurtell

Event: Billabong Junior Series

Status: WSL JQS 1,000 rated events for U18 Boys & Girls, SAST events for U16 & U14 Boys & Girls, and U12 Boys & Girls.

Venue: Seal Point, Cape St Francis, Eastern Cape

Dates: September 28 – 30.

Seal Point, Cape St Francis – Excellent three-foot waves with offshore conditons greeted the surfers on day 2 of the Billabong Junior Series Finale pres. by BOS, and the Pro Junior divisions were sent straight out in the early morning light. It was high action from the get-go, and Bryce Du Preez and Calvin Goor were the Men’s standouts along with Ceara Knight and Zoe Steyn in the Women’s division. Steyn was awarded a 9,33 out of a possible 10 points for her best ride, in which she executed a series of radical turns along the inside, ending up on the rocks.

“I just saw such a good section on that wave and managed to hook it all the way past the rocks,” said Steyn. “There wasn’t priority at that stage so I had to hussle a bit to get that wave.”

In the U14 Boys James Ribbink dominated his heat and although it was a bit wave-starved he banked two good scores for the heat win. “There weren’t too many waves out there in that heat, so I got an insider just to quickly open up my score,” said Ribbink. “Then I saw another decent looking wave and paddled further out and got it. I managed a couple of carves on it and so had two decent scores quite early on in the heat.” Ribbink advanced along with Connor Slijpen. Other surfers who shone in this division were Christian Venter, an on-form Daniel Emslie, and Brad Scott. Ribbink went on to win his semifinal and will compete in the U14 Final tomorrow.

In the highly competitive U16 Boys division Mitch Du Preez and York Van Jaarsveldt advanced to the Final, leaving Aya Gericke and Josh Daniel in their wake. The second Semifinal in this division was a close affair, with Tide-Lee Ireland winning ahead of Reilly Mare. Sam Bennie and Nathan Perris were both eliminated in the process.

The U16 Girls division was a spirited affair, with Zoe Steyn showing her skills to advance along with Kayla Nogueira in the first Semifinal heat. The on-form Ceara Knight was the winner of the second Semifinal and marched on to the final with Caroline Brown.

The Pro Junior Divisions took much of the action today, surfing three rounds, all the way to the man-on-man Semifinals. Some excellent surfing by the best U18 surfers in the country resulted in massive turns, innovative and polished routines and some huge scores along the route to the finals. When the dust settled at the end of the day’s surfing it was Elkington and Luke Slijpen set to duel it out tomorrow in the Men’s Pro Junior final, while in the Women’s Pro Junior division final, Kai Woolf will come up against the dynamic Zoe Steyn.

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