BOS Cape Crown presented by BILLABONG: Elkington and Nogueira Head Rankings

MyPR: BOS Cape Crown presented by BILLABONG: Elkington and Nogueira Head Rankings:

Local Cape Town surfer Jake Elkington warming up the day before the BOS Cape Crown presented by BILLABONG. Photo: Ian Thurtell

Surfing: BOS Cape Crown presented by Billabong – Elkington and Nogueira Head Rankings

Kommetjie the Venue for Fourth Stop in 2017 WSL Africa Junior Series

Kommetjie local Jake Elkington and Kayla Nogueira of uMhlanga head the rankings for the second annual BOS Cape Crown pres. by Billabong that will be run at Long Beach in Kommetjie this weekend (20 & 21 May).

The fourth World Surf League (WLS) Junior Qualifying Series (JQS) event of 2017, the BOS Cape Crown comprises JQS1,000 rated events for Men and Women and has attracted the cream of the country’s 18-and-under competitors who will competing for the prestigious titles and a total of R30,000 in prize money.

The rankings points earned at the event will count towards the crowning of the 2017 WSL Africa Junior champions and also the selection of the top four men and top two women to represent the region at the WSL World Junior Championships in Australia in January 2018.

Elkington, who has reached the final of all three junior men’s events this year (winning in Port Elizabeth and finishing third in East London and Durban), holds a slender 70 point rankings lead over reigning WSL Africa junior men’s champion Adin Masencamp of the Stand, who clinched the event title in Durban last month.

They will be hard pressed to maintain their current standings on the leaderboard by East London event champ, Koby Oberholzer of Warner Beach and Elkington’s younger brother Max, who has contested two finals this year.

Joshe Faulkner (Jeffreys Bay), Luke Slijpen (Hout Bay), Calvin Goor (Salt Rock) and Luke Malherbe (East London) fill the balance of the spots in the top eight and will be going all-out to move up the rankings with a good result on the weekend.

Nogueira has been the form surfer in this year’s junior women’s events, clinching two event victories and building up a solid rankings lead over Sophie Bell (Salt Rock), Kirsty McGillivray (Jeffreys Bay) and Tayla de Coning (East London).

But Bell showed why she is the 2016 WSL Africa junior women’s champ by completing the rare feat of winning both the junior and open women’s events in East London in April. The pair are both from KwaZulu-Natal but Bell, 17, has significantly more experience of competing in the frigid Cape Town surf than her 13 year-old rival.

The BOS Cape Crown also features 3A rated SAST events for U16, U14 and U12 boys and girls run by Surfing South Africa (SSA), the national controlling body for the sport

Organisers will meet at Kommetjie early on Saturday morning to decide when the contest will get underway. The champions in all events will be crowned at Long Beach shortly after the finals on Sunday afternoon.

Although there will be no live coverage for the event, results, images, news and more for the JQS events will be available at WorldSurfLeague.com and on the WSL App, with highlights on the WSL QS Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

The SAST event results will be posted on www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za

The BOS Cape Crown is supported by Billabong, Sea Harvest, Surf Ears, Lifestyle Surf Shop, Greeff Properties / Village Homes, National Lotteries Commission, World Surf League and Surfing South Africa

Eli Buekes is another surfer who will no doubt impress at his home town for the BOS Cape Crown presented by Billabong Photo: Kody McGregor

Summer Sutton is another surfer who will enjoy local knowledge at Long Beach in Kommetjie for the BOS Cape Crown presented by BILLABONG Photo: Ian Thurtell