“It’s been a while since I won a competition in my home country,” Baum, who lives in Australia, said after her heat.
“The waves were fun, I’m super stoked.”
Baum provisionally qualified for Paris 2024 and will represent SA in surfing.
The challenging conditions made for a tight men’s final.
Ireland (SA) took the lead with a decent 6.50 at the start, but while he bided his time waiting for better waves, Slijpen kept busy, working hard to produce something worthwhile.
Ireland, Aboubakar Bouaouda (Morocco) and Luc Lepront (SA) only managed low-scoring waves for the rest of the heat, while Slijpen punched in his two best waves in the business end of the final.
Slijpen scored an excellent 8.83 and a 6.27 in short succession to take the win over Ireland.
“The conditions were pretty tricky, it was quite hard at the back,” Slijpen said.
“It was hard to find a wave but grateful I managed to get one and take out the win so I’m stoked.”
Nelson Mandela Bay sports, recreation, arts and culture political head Bassie Kamana said it was the metro’s objective to make Gqeberha the mecca of watersport.
“We are very happy to host this event,” Kamana said.
“It projects us into a better position, we’d like to have more competitions.
“Congratulations to the winners today, and to those surfers who will compete in the Challenger Series and the Olympics, we wish you all the best.”
Surfing SA vice-president Johnny Bakker thanked the international contingent who participated in the two WSL Africa QS events in SA.
“Thank you to our African competitors from Morocco, Madagascar and Mozambique who went through the trouble to get to SA and compete in these events and well done, specifically to Aboubakar who surfed his way into the finals,” Bakker said. — WorldSurfLeague.com
HeraldLIVE
Baum, Slijpen crowned SA Open of Surfing champions
Image: MCGREGOR/WSL
SA’s Sarah Baum and Luke Slijpen won the World Surf League (WSL) SA Open of Surfing Qualifying Series (QS) 1,000 on Sunday with Jessie van Niekerk and Tide-lee Ireland finishing runners-up.
Pollok Beach offered some unruly conditions in the morning, making for tricky surf and a tiring paddle out that prompted the organisers to call for 40-minute heats for the final.
The women’s final had a delayed start due to the morning light causing a strong glare that prevented the judges from spotting the competitors.
When the heat finally got under way, it was Van Niekerk (SA) who locked in the first good score with a 6.50 (out of a possible 10).
Baum started building her score, staying busy to look for better scoring opportunities in the shifty line-up.
She found what she was looking for to go to work, and the judges rewarded her with an excellent 8.50.
She got her best backup score near the end, a 5.93 for a total of 14.43 (out of a possible 20) to take the win over Van Niekerk while Anastasia Venter and Sarah Scott (both SA) seemed out of rhythm and could not back up their scores with a better ride, finishing third and fourth respectively.
Image: EUGENE COETZEE
“It’s been a while since I won a competition in my home country,” Baum, who lives in Australia, said after her heat.
“The waves were fun, I’m super stoked.”
Baum provisionally qualified for Paris 2024 and will represent SA in surfing.
The challenging conditions made for a tight men’s final.
Ireland (SA) took the lead with a decent 6.50 at the start, but while he bided his time waiting for better waves, Slijpen kept busy, working hard to produce something worthwhile.
Ireland, Aboubakar Bouaouda (Morocco) and Luc Lepront (SA) only managed low-scoring waves for the rest of the heat, while Slijpen punched in his two best waves in the business end of the final.
Slijpen scored an excellent 8.83 and a 6.27 in short succession to take the win over Ireland.
“The conditions were pretty tricky, it was quite hard at the back,” Slijpen said.
“It was hard to find a wave but grateful I managed to get one and take out the win so I’m stoked.”
Nelson Mandela Bay sports, recreation, arts and culture political head Bassie Kamana said it was the metro’s objective to make Gqeberha the mecca of watersport.
“We are very happy to host this event,” Kamana said.
“It projects us into a better position, we’d like to have more competitions.
“Congratulations to the winners today, and to those surfers who will compete in the Challenger Series and the Olympics, we wish you all the best.”
Surfing SA vice-president Johnny Bakker thanked the international contingent who participated in the two WSL Africa QS events in SA.
“Thank you to our African competitors from Morocco, Madagascar and Mozambique who went through the trouble to get to SA and compete in these events and well done, specifically to Aboubakar who surfed his way into the finals,” Bakker said. — WorldSurfLeague.com
HeraldLIVE
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