Conditions settled down quite a bit after an epic opening day in pumping surf yesterday, and surfers took on leftover three foot peaks at the Ballito Pro pres by O'Neill.
Round of 96 action at the Ballito Pro pres. by O'Neill
You'd have to be looking from far, far away not to notice a little trend in the early rounds. Green, yellow, more green, more yellow. In other words, Brazil's domination continues with 8 of 11 athletes advancing through the 10 heats ran today.
Conditions definitely favored the dynamic, powerful and progressive style of surfing Brazilians have made their trademark and today's results honestly shouldn't be a surprise to most.
Case and point: Marcos Correa - WSL / Ryan Janssens
Out of those 8 Brazilian athletes, one name is worth giving it a little more attention. The 2015 World Champion Adriano De Souza injured his right leg last October in Portugal and is just coming back to competition.
De Souza joined the world's best surfers back in Rio a couple of weeks ago but was quickly eliminated by eventual winner Filipe Toledo in the Round of 32. Months out of the lineup, the powerful regular foot has put in the work and has a great opportunity to gauge his current form against an extremely talented field in Ballito this week.
Adriano De Souza's two counted waves in Round 6 heat 6 of the Ballito Pro pres. by O'Neill.
"I've been waiting for this for so long, it was a long eight months trying to get back," he said. "I put everything I can in those months to get ready and fit. I'm so hungry to make heats and come back strong next year. This is a great event for me to make some points because I'm fighting in two divisions this year, on the QS and CT."
In other news, Ricardo Christie and Soli Bailey, current World No. 28 and 33 respectively, dropped out of the draw. The CT roster continued to bleed while younger faces secured the top spots.
Reef Heazlewood is one of the upcoming forces to consider on the QS. - WSL / Ryan Janssens
World No. 4 Jordy Smith controlled his first heat and made it out in pole position in front of very enthusiastic crowds around lunch time. The big South African made small work of the little sections on offer and showed why he's one of the best in the world, scoring turns in and above the lip for a solid 14.50 winning total.
Take a look at Jordy Smith's two best waves from Round 6 heat 13 at the Ballito Pro pres. by O'Neill.
Tune in from July 1-7, 2019 and check out all the photos, videos, LIVE webcast and updates right here on worldsurfleague.com!
Notes from a Short Second Day at Ballito Pro pres. by O'Neill
Nicolas Leroy
Conditions settled down quite a bit after an epic opening day in pumping surf yesterday, and surfers took on leftover three foot peaks at the Ballito Pro pres by O'Neill.
You'd have to be looking from far, far away not to notice a little trend in the early rounds. Green, yellow, more green, more yellow. In other words, Brazil's domination continues with 8 of 11 athletes advancing through the 10 heats ran today.
Conditions definitely favored the dynamic, powerful and progressive style of surfing Brazilians have made their trademark and today's results honestly shouldn't be a surprise to most.
Out of those 8 Brazilian athletes, one name is worth giving it a little more attention. The 2015 World Champion Adriano De Souza injured his right leg last October in Portugal and is just coming back to competition.
De Souza joined the world's best surfers back in Rio a couple of weeks ago but was quickly eliminated by eventual winner Filipe Toledo in the Round of 32. Months out of the lineup, the powerful regular foot has put in the work and has a great opportunity to gauge his current form against an extremely talented field in Ballito this week.
"I've been waiting for this for so long, it was a long eight months trying to get back," he said. "I put everything I can in those months to get ready and fit. I'm so hungry to make heats and come back strong next year. This is a great event for me to make some points because I'm fighting in two divisions this year, on the QS and CT."
In other news, Ricardo Christie and Soli Bailey, current World No. 28 and 33 respectively, dropped out of the draw. The CT roster continued to bleed while younger faces secured the top spots.
World No. 4 Jordy Smith controlled his first heat and made it out in pole position in front of very enthusiastic crowds around lunch time. The big South African made small work of the little sections on offer and showed why he's one of the best in the world, scoring turns in and above the lip for a solid 14.50 winning total.
Tune in from July 1-7, 2019 and check out all the photos, videos, LIVE webcast and updates right here on worldsurfleague.com!
Adriano de Souza
The 2015 World Champion is one of only two athletes still on Tour who competed in the historic 2006 Search event at the famous point.
After three tough days of competition under the California sun, Johanne Defay and Filipe Toledo have finally got their wins in Lemoore.
Adriano de Souza was chasing his first World Title in 2015 - but to get it he had to do something no Brazilian had ever done before: Win at
Sometimes even the world's best surfers need a Hawaii Yoda.
Referência no esporte há mais de quinze anos, Mineirinho encerra sua participação no Tour após temporada de 2021
Ballito Pro
Featuring Ethan Ewing, Tatiana Weston-Webb, Italo Ferreira, Jordy Smith, Samuel Pupo, Jack Robinson. Yago Dora, Gabriel Medina, Carissa
A quick recap from Finals Day at Ballito.
We can all do something to help protect our oceans.
Powerful surfing from the Brazilian goofy-footer to take out the title.
Deivid Silva with 2 Top Excellent Scored Waves vs. Jack Freestone in the Final of the Ballito Pro.