Ballito Pro Crowns Bonvalot, Houshmand as Challenger Series Opens
NXTbets Pro | Published On: July 19, 2026
Ballito Pro champions
Teresa Bonvalot and Cole Houshmand won the Ballito Pro and set the tone for the Challenger Series opener in Ballito, South Africa. The event drew seven Championship Tour men and seven Championship Tour women, and both finals delivered clean results. Bonvalot beat her compatriot Francisca Veselko in the women’s final. Houshmand took the men’s title over Brazil’s Weslley Dantas and posted an 8.90 winning ride score. The two winners left South Africa with the yellow leader’s jersey and the first major points surge of the new series. The Ballito Pro has long carried weight on the surfing calendar, and this edition again brought together proven Championship Tour talent with surfers chasing a stronger place on the Challenger path. The results gave both champions their second Challenger Series win, a marker that separates one-off success from a sustained run at the level.
Bonvalot makes history
Bonvalot’s victory carried the sharpest historical edge. She became the first Portuguese woman to win the Ballito Pro in the event’s 57-year history, a milestone that gives her name a permanent place in the event record. The win also fit the broader shape of her career. She represented Portugal at the Olympics and has also appeared in Championship Tour events as a wildcard. Those pieces give her profile more range than a single result. She arrived in Ballito as a surfer with top-tier experience but without Championship Tour qualification, and she still handled one of the deepest women’s draws in the Challenger Series field. The final against Veselko stayed within the family for Portugal, but Bonvalot finished it with the sharper result and the trophy. The yellow jersey that came with the win now places her in clear early control of the series race. It also gives Portugal a headline result in an event that has tested some of the world’s best women across a long run of editions.
Houshmand repeats at Ballito
Houshmand’s win matched Bonvalot’s in importance and added its own layer of continuity. The San Clemente surfer defeated Dantas in the men’s final to claim his second Ballito Pro title and extend his record at the event. He had won at Ballito before, and this latest result confirmed that his first title was no isolated run. The winning ride score of 8.90 showed enough control to close out a final under pressure, and it gave him the men’s trophy in a field that included several Championship Tour names. Like Bonvalot, he left Ballito wearing the yellow leader’s jersey, a useful position in the opening stretch of the Challenger Series. That puts him in the best possible spot to build on the result quickly, and it gives the men’s side an early front-runner with proven comfort at the venue. The win also counted as his second Challenger Series victory, which puts him in a stronger position than a single breakout showing would have. Ballito has already become a familiar place for Houshmand, and he turned that familiarity into another title.
