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Hawaii’s Bettylou Sakura Johnson and Brazils’ Ryan Kainalo won the Ballito Pro Junior over the weekend in two-to-three foot surf at Willard Beach.
As one of the lead-up events ahead of the Ballito Pro presented by O’Neill Challenger Series, this JQS1,000 competition featured a fantastic international field for the first time since 2019.
The Women’s Final saw Bettylou Sakura Johnson and Sophia Medina making their presence known in Ballito, despite it being their first time in South Africa. Using this event as a warm-up ahead of the Ballito Pro, they got to experience all the different moods of the Ballito beach break.
Bettylou Sakura Johnson
Medina stayed busy in the tricky onshore conditions, moving across the line-up to hunt down waves and build her score to keep the pressure on Sakura Johnson. Relying on her experience as a Championship Tour rookie, Sakura Johnson stayed patient until she found the best wave of the heat, using her powerful backhand for a two-turn combination to get a 7.50 (out of a possible 10). She jumped into the lead and shut down the heat with an excellent 8.50 in the last minute to defeat Medina with a total of 16.00.
Sophia Medina
In the Men’s Final wedging peaks and a slight onshore wind gave Tide-Lee Ireland and Ryan Kainalo plenty of opportunities to go to the air. Kainalo upped the ante in the last five minutes of the heat with a powerful carve to start, racing down the line for a blow tail air and finishing off the wave for an excellent 8.00 ride to put the defending event winner in a combination situation with a total of 14.83.
Ryan Kainalo
Tide-Lee Ireland
Ballito Pro Junior Women’s Semifinal Results:
HEAT 1: Sophia Medina 12.00 defeated Zoë Steyn 7.17
HEAT 2: Bettylou Sakura Johnson 14.50 defeated Laura Raupp 8.36
Ballito Pro Junior Women’s Final Results:
HEAT 1: Bettylou Sakura Johnson 16.00 defeated Sophia Medina 8.93
Ballito Pro Junior Men’s Semifinal Results:
HEAT 1: Ryan Kainalo 14.87 defeated Luke Thompson 13.17
HEAT 2: Tide-Lee Ireland 11.84 defeated Joaquim Chaves 6.43
Ballito Pro Junior Men’s Final Results:
HEAT 1: Ryan Kainalo 14.83 defeated Tide-Lee Ireland 8.34
Photos by Pierre Tostee/World Surf League.
