Champions Crowned in Billabong Junior Series at Seal Point:
Ford Van Jaarsveld Photo: © Kody McGregor
Billabong Junior Series
The 20th annual champions in the Billabong Junior Series were crowned at Seal Point in Cape St Francis on Sunday 1 October after the fourth and final event in 2017 series was completed in highly contestable four-foot waves and glassy conditions.
Jake Elkington (Kommetjie) and Sophie Bell (Salt Rock) clinched the premier U18 boys’ and girls’ Billabong Junior Series titles which earned them each a coveted trip to the tropical surfing paradise of Bali thanks to All Aboard Travel. The same pair also topped the World Surf League (WSL) Africa Junior regional rankings lists and are the 2017 WSL Africa Junior champions.
The U16 boys’ and girls’ series titles were won by Angelo Faulkner (Jeffreys Bay) and Tayla de Coning (East London) respectively despite neither of them winning any of the four events. Ceara Knight (Cape Town) and Daniel Emslie (East London) each secured two event victories on their way to the U14 girls’ and boys’ series titles while Kyra Bennie (Vredehoek), the U12 boys’ series champion, won three of the four events in 2017
The seven finals run at Seal Point on Sunday produced phenomenal surfing with Ford van Jaarsveldt (Kommetjie) capturing his first WSL Junior Qualifying Series (JQS) men’s event victory after defeating Calvin Goor (Salt Rock). The lanky 18-year-old Capetonian posted a near perfect score of 9.0 out of ten plus three rides in the seven point range, the best of which was a 7.87, and his heat total of 16.87 left Goor still needing a 9.76 when time ran out.
Former Jeffreys Bay local Kai Woolf, now competing under the New Zealand flag, won both the JQS (U18) women’s event and the U16 girls’ division, delivering heat totals in the mid-teens in both finals. Woolf finished ahead of Taghiti Gericke (Wilderness) in the one-on-one JQS final while Olivia Izzard (La Lucia), Summer Sutton (Kommetjie) and Tayla de Coning (East London) challenged her throughout the U16 final.
Visiting French teenager George Pittar won the U16 boys’ title, relegating last year’s U14 boys’ winner Tide Lee Ireland (Durban) to the runner-up spot while Luke Thompson (Durban) and Zoe Steyn (East London) dominated today’s U14 boys and girls finals respectively.
Brazilian Ryan Kanailo was outstanding in the U12 boys’ final, earning a near perfect heat total of 18.70 out of 20 that left all three of his opponents needing to replace both their highest scoring rides in order to overtake him.
The highly anticipated VonZipper Air Show was staged after the finals and provided Calvin Goor (Salt Rock) with the chance to shine as he clinched the R2,000 winner-takes-all prize purse for landing the best aerial manoeuvre.
Full results for all divisions can be found at http://www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za and the heat scores, images and more JQS U18 men’s and women’s events can be found at www.worldsurfleague.com
The Billabong Junior Series pres. by All Aboard Travel is supported by BOS, VonZipper, Zigzag, Surfing South Africa and the World Surf League
2017 Final Series Rankings
U18 Boys
1st Jake Elkington (Kommetjie)
2nd Ford van Jaarsveldt (Kommetjie)
3rd Max Elkington (Kommetjie)
U18 Girls
1st Sophie Bell (Salt Rock)
2nd Summer Sutton (Kommetjie)
3rd Kayla Nogueira (uMhlanga)
U16 Boys
1st Angelo Faulkner (Jeffreys Bay)
2nd Saxton Randall (Durban)
3rd York van Jaarsveldt (Kommetjie)
U16 Girls
1st Tayla de Coning (East London)
2nd Kayla Nogueira (uMhlanga)
3rd Summer Sutton (Kommetjie)
U14 Boys
1st Daniel Emslie (East London)
2nd Mitch du Preez (East London)
3rd Luke Thompson (Durban)
U14 Girls
1st Ceara Knight (Cape Town)
2nd Zoe Steyn (East London)
3rd Caroline Brown (Cape Town)
U12 Boys
1st Kyra Bennie (Vredehoek)
2nd C-Jay Posthumus (Port Elizabeth)
3rd Kai Hall (Durban)
Billabong Junior Series pres. by All Aboard Travel
Event #4 of 4 – Seal Point – Final Results
U/18 Boys
1 Ford Van Jaarsveld (Kommetjie) R8 000
2 Calvin Goor (Salt Rock) R4 000
=3 Luke Malherbe (East London) R2 500
=3 Mitch du Preez (East London) R2 500
U/18 Girls
1 Kai Woolf (Jeffreys Bay) R4 000
2 Taghiti Gericke (Wilderness) R2 000
=3 Summer Sutton (Kommetjie) R1 000
=3 Tayla de Coning (East London) R1 000
U/16 Boys
1 George Pittar (France) R2 000
2 Tide Lee Ireland (Durban) R900
3 Ryan Lightfoot (Jeffreys Bay) R600
4 Angelo Faulkner (Jeffreys Bay) R500
U/16 Girls
1 Kai Woolf (Jeffreys Bay) R2 000
2 Olivia Izzard (La Lucia) R900
3 Summer Sutton (Kommetjie) R600
4 Tayla de Coning (East London) R500
U/14 Boys
1 Luke Thompson (Durban) R2 000
2 Mitch du Preez (East London) R900
3 Daniel Emslie (East London) R600
4 Nate Spalding (Durban) R500
U/14 Girls
1 Zoe Steyn (East London) R2 000
2 Lhea Johnston (East London) R900
3 Caroline Brown (Cape Town) R600
4 Jesse Powell (Scottburgh) R500
U/12 Boys
1 Ryan Kainalo (Brazil) R1 000
2 Kai Hall (Durban) R450
3 Kyra Bennie (Vredehoek) R300
4 Nathan Plomaritis (Port Elizabeth) R250
VonZipper Airshow – R2 000 – Calvin Goor (Salt Rock)
Cape Town surfer Summer Sutton Photo: © Kody McGregor
Calvin Goor Photo: © Ian Thurtell
St Francis Bay’s Nathan Plomaritis Photo: © Kody McGregor
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More Info on Champions Crowned in Billabong Junior Series at Seal Point here: http://www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za/
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Source: Port Elizabeth – MyPR.
Port Elizabethan
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