DELICATE BALANCE:
Shino Matsuda of Japan in action during the VW SA open surfing event at Pipe, Pollok beach, yesterday.
Llundadno’s Luke Slijpen and Hawaii’s Zoe McDougall were crowned Volkswagen SA Open junior champions on day one of the World Surf League Qualifying Series (QS) rated event at Pollok Beach yesterday.
Both juniors beat off some serious competition to clinch their respective titles.
Hot favourite with five City Surf Series (CSS) titles under her belt, Kai Woolf (Jeffreys Bay), had an unfortunate early exit in the round of eight, being sent home by the on-fire Japanese duo of Minami Nonaka and Shino Matsuda.
McDougall drew first blood in the 25-minute final against Matsuda with a small score of 2.17, which was swiftly countered with a good 6.83 by the Japanese rider. McDougall quickly answered with a 6.17, which was good but not good enough to reclaim the lead.
Both surfers had a solid exchange of waves and Matsuda impressed with well-executed vertical backhand turns.
With 12 minutes on the clock, McDougall was in a commanding position, having banked scores of 7.27 and 6.17 which left Matsuda requiring 6.62 to take the lead.
McDougall was up next, netting a 6.63 and Matsuda now required 7.08 to take the lead with only four minutes left. In the end, the task proved impossible for Matsuda, and McDougall claimed the title.
“It was all about wave selection and staying on my feet because I was so jetlagged today.
“It was super fun; the waves were fun and I got some good practice for the main event,” McDougall said as she got out of the water.
The pro junior men’s contest also delivered an early upset when Skull Candy ratings leader Max Elkington was knocked out by Reunion’s Jolan Bonelli – who won at stop five of the CSS – and eventual finalist Edwardo Motta from Brazil.
In the junior men’s final, Motta got the first ride, putting a 4.0 on the scoreboard, followed by a strategic spin-towin to post his second score (4.83) while Slijpen was yet to catch a scoring wave.
Slijpen eventually got onto the board with a 4.50 followed by a 5.50 to give him a sliver of a lead. The tight final continued with both surfers on equal 10.00 and only eight minutes to go.
A 6.17 banked by Slijpen changed the situation to 11.70 versus 10.00 in the South African’s favour with only six minutes to go.
With 90 seconds on the clock and priority with Slijpen, blocking tactics came into play and he used his priority, preventing the Brazilian from getting another wave.
“I’m just so stoked! I tried to do the same for every heat; take the inside. I just tried to stay focused and it worked,” an elated Slijpen said.