Aussie Challenger Series Surfers Set
With the Australian Qualifying Series now complete, the surfers promoted to the Challenger Series have been decided.
Seven men plus one wildcard from the Australia/Oceania region get to advance, while four women and one wildcard also get the green light.
The top seven men surfers are:
- Reef Heazlewood
- Jarvis Earle (though he placed second he's double qualified via the World Junior Championships)
- Alister Reginato
- Joel Vaughan
- George Pittar
- Billy Stairmand
- Mikey McDonagh
- Te Kehukehu Butler
While the top four women are:
- Kobie Enright
- Paige Hareb
- Ellie Harrison
- Nyxie Ryan
Kobie at left, and Reef at right
However, they're not the only non-CT Aussies in the draw as surfers that placed in the back 10 - i.e 11th to 20th - in last year's CS also get another chance.
That tranche of male surfers include:
- Dylan Moffatt
- Jacob Willcox
And in the women:
- Bronte Macaulay
- Nikki van Dijk
Yet they're still not the only non-CT Aussies as the rules stipulate "three men and two women who were CT surfers in the prior season that did not requalify for either the CT or the Challenger Series" are also thrown into the CS draw. That includes:
- Morgan Cibilic
Take all these lower qualifiers with a grain of salt as the rules are murky and liable to shift. Also, as there are three tours and surfers compete on at least two of them it can be hard to track the means of their qualification.
If you're still with me, here are the rules for CS qualification straight from Woz HQ:
- 12 men and 7 women from the CT who did not make the Mid-season Cut,
- 10 men and 5 women from the previous year's Challenger Series rankings,
- 3 men and 2 women who were CT surfers in the prior season that did not requalify for either the CT or the Challenger Series,
- 49 men and 30 women as allocated by the seven WSL regions (Australia/Oceania, Asia, Africa, Europe, Hawaii/Tahiti Nui, North America, and Latin America), and
- The men's 2022 World Junior Champion,
- The women's 2022 World Junior Champion, and
- 5 men's and 3 women's wildcards per event.
Enter all correspondence - i.e pointing out where I've fucked up - in the comments below.
Comments
Is it not 4 Australian women who get a shot from the QS?
Think its 4 + 1 for the women..
From another thread:
After all said and done Aussie contestants for the ‘challenging’ series are:
Men (7): Reef Heazelwood, Jarvis Earle, Alister Reginato, Joel Vaughan, George Pittar, Billy Staitmand, Mikey McDonagh
* Te Kehukehu Butler
Women(4): Kobie Enright, Paige Hareb, Ellie Harrison, Nyxie Ryan,
* Jarvis Earle earned his spot being Junior World Champion so I imagine this would make way for Te Kehukehu
Yep, all correct. Not sure where I got two from.
It sure aint a simple affair with surfers from numerous regions and tours, plus a bit of ad hockery, making the CS.
Must be one of the most confusing qualifying processes in world sport?
Certainly difficult to understand.
Any reason why none of the guys from Oceania went to Barbados to the current 5000? I get it’s a long way to go but I assume those points could’ve counted and changed the qualifiers?
They can't do it. The QS is no longer global but regional with surfers largely confined to competing in their region, which for us is 'Australia/Oceania'.
So how did Jesse Mendes win the Kuri 5000 and why were a bunch of Japanese and Indo’s at Mereweather? Seems like there is some kinda cross pollination…
Hence I said "largely confined" to regions. There are ways for surfers to compete in other regions, however I think they're very limited in what they can do (one or maybe two comps a year) and how they do it (provisions on why they can/can't enter).
It's complicated as hell to figure out and I frankly can't be arsed.
"Q: How are rankings affected when competing in events outside one's region?
A: All rankings are regionally based. For example, if you are a WSL European member, you receive priority in WSL European sanctioned QS, Junior and Longboard events. You receive points and a ranking that qualifies you for the appropriate tour events and championships.
You may register for events outside your region but may not get in due to a limited format size. If you do get in, you are eligible to win prize money, but you will not receive points that count toward your ranking." https://www.worldsurfleague.com/pages/member-services-faqs
Yet Billy Stairmaids best result of 3900 from Kuri and Reef’s 2nd best result from Taiwan counted towards their best 5 results.
Yep, just to make it more complicated it seems some of the events are 'co-sanctioned' across the WSL Asia region and the WSL Oceania region. As well as the Krui and Taiwan, the Nias event counted too.
And in Oz the Central Coast ProQS3000 and the City of Newcastle Pro QS5000 are co-sanctioned across the Asia region.
Gotcha - cheers.
If the judges multiplied the WSL / ASA chosen wave quality (1-10) by the wave height x number of the difficult manoeuvrers per wave made by each surfer, it could be just as bamboozling ....
however.... there are so many talented surfers out here, the cream rises to the top (eventually .....or fades into obscurity, still rippping at their local breaks)
for those that tried hard
or
if you make it to the WSLtop...
your girlfriend may sing this song.....
If ever a keyboardist wished he had a electric guitar.
pretty sure he only surfed the comp as he was already in Krui, he wasn't able to accrue any points from his win.
Well done Stu, that must have been painful.
You'd have to have some skin in the game I reckon to be bothered spending the time to understand it.
Can imagine Roy & HG calling Elo .. the murderer mach II
It's a mess!
Great to sea Georgie Pittar getting through!
Good stuff from all.
Enjoyed watching/following the QS OZ.
Dont give up Soli.
Got to shout out to Nyxie Ryan, one of the shredders around here, who gets a shot.
Mikey McDonagh is back for another crack at it- he'll do better this time.
I really hope Bronte Macauley can get a wildcard after what she's been through and she will have a crack in bigger waves like Pipe and Chopes if she re-qualifies for the CT tour again.
She woulda killed it in some of the events she missed.
Bronte shreds and is respectful in the lineup.
Great Job #1 Surf Journo Stu...
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^
Kanoa / Owen Wavegarden Ambassadors win Olympic Silver / Bronze + Sally WG Fourth
^
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+
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Leonardo : Alaia Bay Wavegarden Flight Commander > 2022 CS Champ
Ryan : Urbnsurf model > CS R/U
+
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Note WSL LB Tour Trialled day/nite Ranch Leg > CS has no Prized Pool > CT Launch Pad only!
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Ellie : 2021 Ripcurl Urbnsurf Gromz Champ
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Pointy end of the Changaz and aside from Jacob Wilcox, looking a bit quiet for the Aussie males.
With that being said a pretty staunch group of rookies in the top 10 currently.
3/5 women are Aussies.