The new 34, for 2013!
With the final event of the year, the Billabong Pipe Masters, having wrapped last week, end of year points have been locked in. Obviously, the top three men were Joel Parkinson, Kelly Slater and Mick Fanning. But 34 men maketh a dream tour. That 34 is made up of the top 22 WCT rankings and […]
With the final event of the year, the Billabong Pipe Masters, having wrapped last week, end of year points have been locked in. Obviously, the top three men were Joel Parkinson, Kelly Slater and Mick Fanning. But 34 men maketh a dream tour. That 34 is made up of the top 22 WCT rankings and the top 10 World Rankings (calculated by removing those who’ve already made the WCT top 22). There’s also two ASP injury Wildcards, and four WCT replacements (in case someone pulls outta a contest).
New faces on tour? There’s four of ’em. Sebastien Zietz, Glen Hall, Filipe Toledo and Nat Young. The two injury wildcards are Dusty Payne, who suffered from ankle recovery for the year’s first half, and Raoni Monteiro, who endeared himself forever to the surfing world with two acts this year: His Cloudbreak performance, and his Kelly Slater defeat in Portugal. Replacements are Patty Gudauskas, Yadin Nicol, Willian Cardoso and Heitor Alves. But, here’s a little more about those new guys…
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Sebastien Zietz
Seabass is another man from Kauai to qualify for the World Tour. He has an extra thumb (seriously). He gives honest and likeable post-heat interviews. And, his run at this year’s Vans Triple Crown was one of the most amazing ever seen in the series. He won Haleiwa, then made the final at Sunset, then made the quarters at Pipeline, taking down John Florence, Dane Reynolds and others in the process. Everybody digs Seabass. And by the end of next year, you will too (if you don’t already).
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Glen Hall
Micro could’ve been a jockey. But, he chose to apply his solid, low centre of gravity to surfing. And it’s worked out just fine. Born and raised on Australia’s Central Coast, Micro’s grandfather was Irish, qualifying him for an Irish passport, should he want it. And he did want it. Micro decided that rather than be a small fish in the ocean of Australian surfers, he’d do better as a big fish in the pond of Irish surfers. And look where he is now. After placing second in the Nike Lowers Pro and winning the Mr Price Pro, Ballito, Micro is now a world tour surfer.
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Filipe Toledo
Filipe is the newest Brazilian to make tour. Victory at the Soöruz Lacanau Pro and a runner-up place at Newcastle’s Surfest (which would’ve been another win, were it not for an interference). We’re also gonna come right out and say this: Kid has the best backside full-rotation in the biz. See the above video for proof. Which couldn’t have been more timely, as it were. Imagine a Gabs/Filipe heat on a left beachie with a wind blowing into it. A spin-off!
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Nat Young
Nat Young is the king of Santa Cruz. He owns The Lane. In fact, he won the O’Neill Cold Water Classic at age 17. He’s now 21. Goofy, a basketball fan, one of the brat pack (of the same school as Kolohe Andino, Ev Geiselman, Con Coffin, etc). He beat Kelly in a heat at Santa Cruz. After clocking solid results in numerous qualifying events for the duration of 2012, He was sitting at 29th coming into Hawaii, right on the bubble. Once it popped, he’d stayed on the good side.
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Oh, and here’s the full list…
Top 22 from 2012 ASP WCT Rankings:
– Joel Parkinson (AUS)
– Kelly Slater (USA)
– Mick Fanning (AUS)
– John John Florence (HAW)
– Adriano de Souza (BRA)
– Taj Burrow (AUS)
– Gabriel Medina (BRA)
– Josh Kerr (AUS)
– Julian Wilson (AUS)
– Owen Wright (AUS)
– Jeremy Flores (FRA)
– Jordy Smith (ZAF)
– C.J. Hobgood (USA)
– Adrian Buchan (AUS)
– Michel Bourez (PYF)
– Damien Hobgood (USA)
– Miguel Pupo (BRA)
– Alejo Muniz (BRA)
– Kieren Perrow (AUS)
– Bede Durbidge (AUS)
– Travis Logie (ZAF)
– Kai Otton (AUS)
Top 10 from 2012 ASP World Rankings (barring double qualifiers):
– Sebastien Zietz (HAW)
– Kolohe Andino (USA)
– Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
– Glenn Hall (IRL)
– Brett Simpson (USA)
– Filipe Toledo (BRA)
– Adam Melling (AUS)
– Nat Young (USA)
– Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
– Tiago Pires (PRT)
Two ASP Wildcards:
– Dusty Payne (HAW)
– Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
ASP WCT Replacements (in the event of athlete withdrawal):
1 – Patrick Gudauskas (USA) – next on ASP World Ranking
2 – Yadin Nicol (AUS) – next on ASP WCT
3 – Willian Cardoso (BRA) – second on ASP World Ranking
4 – Heitor Alves (BRA) – second on ASP WCT
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