Soli Bailey squeaked right in. Photo: WSL
Here's The Official 2018 QS Qualifiers List
Many things old, somethings new, something borrowed, Jadson too!
With the Vans World Cup coming to a close, the 2018 QS season is officially complete.
Sixty-four events across 12 months and 21 countries determined which 10 surfers are most worthy of competing on the 2019 Championship Tour.
We present them to you:
Neglecting Kanoa for reasons of double-qualification, here’s who we’re left with.
You’ll notice that this list includes a significant number of past-CT surfers, meaning they’re not “true” rookies.
That group includes Australia’s Ryan Callinan, USA’s Griffin Colapinto, New Zealand’s Ricardo Christie, Italy’s Leonardo Fioravanti, and Brazil’s Jadson Andre and Jesse Mendes. This group of past CT surfers makes up the majority of the 2018 qualifiers.
“True” rookies from this year’s qualification group include Hawaii’s Seth Moniz, Brazil’s Deivid Silva and Peterson Crisanto, and Australia’s Soli Bailey.
Rapid-fire bios!
Seth Moniz is of Hawaiian blood and equally famous for his aerial and tube abilities. Deivid Silva is a minimally-known Brazilian who once defeated (a yellow-jersey wearing) Matt Wilkinson in the Oi Rio Pro with a techy frontside alleyoop. In the mid-2000s, Peterson Crisanto was Billabong’s Brazilian supergrom (big contract, parts in major movies, etc.) who fell off the scene for a few years only to return with a vengeance, earning himself a win at one of this year’s 10,000-rated events. Soli Bailey is a mid-20s Australian whose abilities prevail in waves of significant height and girth, as proven by his 2017 Volcom Pipe Pro win.
With these guaranteed Qualifiers covered, there’s one QS surfer whose fate still hangs in the balance.
Daddy Jack is gonna have a nervous couple weeks. Go Griff! Photo: WSL
Should Griffin Colapinto double-qualify through the CT (he’s currently ranked 20; top 22 requalify), Jack Freestone (the 13th ranked QS surfer (because Zeke Lau, QS number 12, is already qualified through the CT)) will earn a spot on the 2019 CT. If Griffin falls out of the top-22 post-Pipe, Jack will be relegated to another year on the Q with the potential for a few wildcard CT entries in 2019.
