The current QS situation, explained

Words by Elliot Struck

It’s a headache, really. Who’s in? Who isn’t? Fortheloveofgod, clarity, please! But the thing about the WSL World Qualifying Series is this: Very little is certain until the Triple Crown is entirely wrapped. At this point, the surest qualifications for next year’s World Tour are Jack Freestone, the guy with (in no particular order) the really hot girlfriend and standout part in Cluster, and Caio Ibelli, the guy with (in no particular order) the really hot girlfriend and the 2012 World Junior Champ trophy.

The Triple Crown’s first event, The Hawaiian Pro, wrapped two days ago, and the outcome changed things, obviously. It upped the amount of points Q hopefuls will need to make the CT. Since next stop, the Vans World Cup (at unpredictable Sunset!) is a Q10k, results here are a big deal. It’s the last chance.

Real quick, here’s the WSL’s structural blueprint: “Only the top 10 surfers on the QS rankings who aren’t already qualified with CT points qualify to make the leap up to the higher-tier Tour. That means the Vans World Cup comes with a lot of pressure for surfers who are close to qualifying.”

Heard of Connor O’Leary? You have now.

And, the WSL’s state-of-play in the wake of Haleiwa: “The point total for the Championship Tour qualification cutoff increased by 1000 points following the contest at Haleiwa. Filipe Toledo and Jeremy Flores made big moves up the QS rankings, but neither needed the QS points. Currently ranked No. 2 and No. 8 on the Championship Tour respectively, both are guaranteed to keep their elite CT spots without their QS rankings. That opened up two more spots on the QS rankings, leaving the current QS cutoff at No. 11, Australian Connor O’Leary and his 19,300 point total.”

Haleiwa finalists made big jumps, too. Winner Wade Carmichael jumped 40 spots (!) to 13th, Dusty Payne stepped up to 17th, and Zeke Lau rose to 19th.

But what does all this mean? Well, not a whole lot, because mathematically, every surfer down to Charly Martin, Q number 56, has a shot at moving past the 19,300 point cutoff. But, obviously, some have a better chance than others: Wade Carmichael only needs to make one heat at Sunset to increase his total by 250 points. Conner Coffin and Dusty Payne need to make it to the Quarters. Michael Rodrigues, Stuart Kennedy, Ezekiel Lau and Nate Yeomans must make the Semifinals.

If Conner Coffin makes the quarters at Sunset, he could make the World Tour.

Current QS Top 10 (excluding Toledo and Flores):

Caio Ibelli (BRA)
Jack Freestone (AUS)
Kolohe Andino (USA)
Miguel Pupo (BRA)
Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Kanoa Igarashi (USA)
Alex Ribeiro (BRA)
Davey Cathels (AUS)
Ryan Callinan (AUS)
Connor O’Leary (AUS)

And according to the WSL, the most commonly-asked question here is this: How is a tie in the rankings broken? Well… “Results for tied surfers are counted backwards. First their best 4, then 3 and so on. For example – Right now Caio Ibelli has a better four event total than Jack Freestone. He is technically the No. 1 ranked surfer on the QS.”

RN, Ryan Callinan is in a rather good spot. All he needs now is a good swing at Sunset.