Ladies and gents we are approaching the last WQS of the year long grind. The end game where the winners achieve that coveted dream tour berth and will be bathed in golden light and kisses from fair maidens whilst the losers stand out in the cold rain, in a depressing communist country, little hands pressed against the grimy window of what could have been. If they'd only got through one more heat...
The two futures are so different- Dream Tour and man on man heats vs the slog in poo beachbreaks and 4-man hasslefests (that said the WQS has arguably scored better waves most of this year). Anyhoose. Joel Centino just won the Haleiwa event and now it's just the O'Neill World Cup at Sunset to go. With up to 3500 points on offer anyone in the chasing pack could secure themselves a spot on the World Tour next year with a finals berth at Sunset- which means Euro hopefuls like Joan Duru, Gony and Irishstralian Glenn Hall are all in with a good chance should they hit the final. It does mean getting passed the likes of Parko, Mick and the Hobgoods but it's doable and I'll be there for every last bloody blow (as long as it finishes after the the 30th of Nov) to give you all the gory details. In the meantime here's the ASP's Al Hunt with the breakdown-
The Top 15 cutoff has moved slightly upward from 12,125 to 12,200 and is looking like being around that 12,500 mark. On the ratings, there are lots of minor placing changes, as usual, but what has happened is that the group of surfers between 11th and 24th are now only less than 900 points apart.
The Top 9 are now all over 13,000 with Matt Wilkinson slightly behind on 12,850. From Matt in 10th to 11th however is a big batch of over 500 points so a great result in the O’Neill World Cup is required.
Most surfers are carrying a low score of more than 1,100 so will need a 17th or better.
On the points’ possibilities all the way down to 39th could possibly make 12,500 points and come from nowhere with a last event win.
In reality though, down to about 25th have a reasonable chance.
Current Top 25 on the ratings are:
1 Ross,Daniel AUS 14975 1375
2 Gudauskas,Patrick USA 14876 1625
3 Andre,Jadson BRA 14813 1375
4 Wright,Owen AUS 14338 1225
5 Melling,Adam AUS 14288 1225
6 Thompson,Jay AUS 13638 1125
7 Yeomans,Nathan USA 13419 1225
8 Munro,Luke AUS 13263 1125
9 Simpson,Brett USA 13150 1375
10 Wilkinson,Matt AUS 12850 1300
11 Logie,Travis ZAF 12344 1181
12 Polo,Marco BRA 12331 1156
13 Thornton,Blake AUS 12325 1225
14 Dornelles,Rodrigo BRA 12206 1181
15 Courtney,Drew AUS 12200 1125
16 Gudauskas,Tanner USA 12175 1225
17 Duru,Joan FRA 12125 1375
18 Payne,Dusty HAW 11925 1225
19 Ware,Austin USA 11725 1225
19 Zubizarreta,Gony ESP 11725 1375
21 Atkinson,Dion AUS 11669 1225
22 Miranda,Bernardo BRA 11601 875
23 Hall,Glenn IRL 11600 1500
24 Jackson,Brandon ZAF 11431 1100
25 Cardoso,Willian BRA 11151 1125
Regards,
Al Hunt
ASP WQS Tour Manager
