WSL Announces All 7 Wildcards/Injury Replacements For Sunset Beach - Stab Mag

Season finale of How Surfers Get Paid drops Thursday, 5pm PT

2042 Views

WSL Announces All 7 Wildcards/Injury Replacements For Sunset Beach

And yes, Kai Lenny is one of them.

elsewhere // Feb 10, 2023
Words by Holden Trnka
Reading Time: 2 minutes

With the perilously forecasted Billabong Pro Pipeline behind us, we look now slightly up the beach — towards the first right-hander of many on the 2023 CT.

Sunset Beach.

Kelly Slater’s kryptonite, touted by many as one of the worlds most absurdly difficult waves to surf well. It’s warbly, unforgiving, and generally large.

With Ramzi Boukhiam, Jadson Andre, Johanne Defay, and Sophie McCulloch still out due to injury, the WSL has announced their replacements, plus two men’s and one women’s wildcard.

For the men’s IR, season-long injury replacement Carlos Muñoz will replace Ramzi, while Eli Hanneman will replace Jadson — by virtue of being the highest ranked Hawaiian regional QS surfer.

For the women, season-long injury replacement Teresa Bonvalot fills Johanne’s spot, and Luana Silva fills Sophie’s.

As for wildcards, the WSL invited Zoe McDougall and Keanu Asing — respectively the highest and second highest ranked Hawaiian Challenger Series surfers.

Finally, the biggest name of the bunch, Kai Lenny was invited presumably because he’s Kai Lenny. The multi-talented madman received a wildcard to last year’s Sunset event, but withdrew due to injury. Undoubtedly, this is a clout grab from the WSL, in hopes of garnering a degree of exposure from Kai’s 1.1 mil insta followers — many of which are likely outside of the WSL’s usual reach.

It’s a fair play, especially considering Kai can actually shortboard (though we rarely get to see it).

Oh and Kai is one of the few professional surfers who still rocks a Hurley sticker.

Is there a rule against 14 foot SUPs in a CT event?

Full Sunset preview soon come.

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Take Stab’s 2023 Audience Survey, Win A 3-Board Quiver

Stab towels and Premium subscriptions also up or grabs.

Mar 21, 2023

Jessi Miley Dyer On The New Challenger Series Schedule And More

Did you know that you could miss the mid-year cut and still theoretically win the…

Mar 20, 2023

5:05

“I’m A West Oz Bogan For Sure, I Just Don’t Have The Mullet”

The first SEOTY entry of 2023 is ‘Into Dust’ ft. Jacob Willcox.

Mar 20, 2023

Warren Smith on New Welcome Rivers Range and Buying Jaguars on Facebook Marketplace  

Now available in the Antipodes...

Mar 20, 2023

5:13

Wavegarden Spills How The Sausage Is Made

BTS of their global air wave rollout ft. Yago Dora, Dion Agius, Reef Heazlewood and…

Mar 18, 2023

Minds, Machines, And The Magic Of Hands

How modern shapers split their time between designing files and hand-finishing boards.

Mar 18, 2023

3:31

Are Hectic Lefts The Final Finless Frontier?

William Aliotti is on the right-foot-forward fringes.

Mar 17, 2023

Watch: Luke + Eddie

A mostly unknown, on-duty lifeguard won the most prestigious big-wave event in history. How Luke…

Mar 17, 2023

7:10

A Pipe Master, Ryan Burch, And Some Pickle Forks On The Eastern Seaboard

This one ticks a lot of boxes

Mar 16, 2023

Brazil Has A Talent Problem

And three other things we learned from the Rip Curl Pro Portugal.

Mar 16, 2023

2:05

Mick Fanning On A Unicorn, Bags Of Dicks, And A Shocking Script Read By Surfing’s Biggest Stars

Vaughan Blakey and Nick Pollet on their outrageous film, 'The Greatest Surf Movie In The…

Mar 15, 2023

Italo Ferreira Caught 63 Waves In An Hour

And other stats from our Stab in the Dark production.

Mar 15, 2023

3:41

Can A Freesurfer Go The Other Way? A Dakoda Walters Case Study

The 57-kilo Aussie has taken a Stab High approach to trad contest surfing.

Mar 15, 2023

Caity Simmers And João Chianca Fulfill Respective Prophecies Under Gaze Of Portuguese President

A very good day of competitive surfing.

Mar 14, 2023

Kelly And Steph Are In Trouble

What's a GOAT gotta do to make the cut around here?

Mar 14, 2023

15:28

“I Used To Only Surf Here With One Guy…His Name’s Henry, And He’s A Seal”

A contemplation on the frigid desolation of Iceland.

Mar 14, 2023

World #1 Carissa Moore Vanquished By Front Pad Toting Wildcard, Lucky Few Get Supertubed

‘Go hard or go home, innit’ 

Mar 13, 2023

Hungover Hold-Downs, Patent Feuds, And One-In-A-Million Malfunctions Involving 11x World Champs: The Story Of Surfing’s Inflatable Vests

These things changed the game.

Mar 13, 2023
Advertisement