J-Bay star wins place in Open

JEFFREYS Bay surfer Dylan Lightfoot yesterday snatched the coveted wild-card entry into the World Championship Tour-sanctioned JBay Open of Surfing event, to be staged at the legendary Supertubes surf break in Jeffreys Bay early next month.

Lightfoot, 19, who has earned a lengthy list of junior surfing titles over the past few years, snatched the wild card from the Western Cape's Michael February during a hotly contested final of the JBU Supertrial, which was hosted at the same surf break yesterday.

The trial, which featured 16 of the country's top surfers, was held purely to select the wild card for the country's premier international event, which will see the world's top 36 professional surfers contesting the JBay Open between July 10 and 21. - Shaun Gillham