South Africa’s Louise Lepront has won equal third place at the 2024 Rip Curl GromSearch International in Bali, while America’s Eden Walla emerged victorious in the 16 & Under Girls, overcoming Australia’s in-form Ziggy Mackenzie in the Indonesian final on Saturday, 16 November, 2024.
The premiere grom discovery event wrapped up at Pererenan Beach in Bali with incredible waves and high performances, solidifying its reputation as the premier event for young surfing talent around the globe.
Mackenzie narrowly defeated Lepront in the semis earlier in the day to gain the final berth, edging the heat 12.30 to 11.56 after the in-form Scottburgh surfer surfed the most amount of waves chasing the win in her heat, just earning enough judges’ points to clinch the one-vs-one contest.
Lepront started positively in Wednesday’s Seeding Round, chasing Jasmine Studer all the way to finish second in the four-way contest, before taking and holding an early advantage to score a Round 1 win over Catalina Zariquiey Vegas in her opening heat on Friday.
Having earned her Quarter-Final competition on Saturday, Lepront made no mistake, amassing a judges’ score of 11.93 to comfortably beat Carla Morera and Vegas in the six waves she rode to earn the semi-final berth, which she went on to lose to Australian McKenzie in Saturday’s penultimate knock-out round.
A competition highlight included surf legends Steph Gilmore, Molly Picklum and South Africa’s Rosy Hodge taking over commentary on the live webcast for the day, and the trio had plenty to discuss, including Spain’s Carla Morera placing equal third in the girl’s division at 13 years old.
The Rip Curl GromSearch International is more than just a competition; it is a launching pad for future professional surfing stars. Two-thirds of current Championship Tour (CT) surfers are former competitors, underscoring the event’s significance in shaping the careers of some of the most successful surfers of all time.
The Rip Curl GromSearch Global Finals was covered by Zigzag Magazine, and the South African team was supported by Zigzag, Sea Harvest, the Royal St Andrews Hotel, and Surfing South Africa.
2024 International Finalists
Rosie Richardson (Australia)
Eden Walla (United Sates)
Carla Morera de la Vall (Europe)
Louise Lepront (South Africa)
Ziggy Mackenzie (Australia)
Victoria Muñoz Larreta (Argentina)
Jasmine Studer (Indonesia)
Catalina Zariquiey Vegas (Peru)
Original Copy: , with editing by gsport
Main Photo Caption: Louise Lepront took on the world’s best at the 2024 Rip Curl GromSearch International in Bali and clinched a podium finish at the global competition renown for launching future professional surf stars, in Indonesia, on Saturday, 16 November, 2024. Photo: Supplied
Photo 2 Caption: The in-form Scottburgh surfer narrowly lost to Australia’s Ziggy Mackenzie in their one-on-one competition semi-final duel. Photo: Supplied
Photo 3 Caption: The South African was on fire in early stages the emerging talent competition, earning good scores to qualify for the knock-out rounds. Photo: Supplied
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