The Q Situation

There’s been a shakeup on the World Qualifying Series. With the tour entering the all-important final leg in Hawaii, a runner-up for Davey Cathels at the Maresias Q10k has seen him rocket up the ratings from 20th to eighth place. It puts him just above the qualifying bubble of 10th, currently held down by Newcastle rail-and-punt freak Ryan Callinan (on 18,200). Given his strong power surfing credentials, Cathels will expect results at Haleiwa and Sunset to lock in his spot.  The win for Miguel Pupo at the Maresias 10k, meanwhile, consolidates his position at the top end of the QS at fourth. The rest, according the WSL website, are as follows: “Just outside the Top 10 are Michael Rodrigues, who needs a 13th-place finish at the Hawaiian Pro to break 18,200, and Conner Coffin, who needs a 25th place finish. Since surfers only count their top five results over the Qualifying Series season, anyone between Coffin and No. 25 Cooper Chapman will need at least a Semifinal finish (8,000 rankings points) to break into the 18,200 point total. Below Cooper as far down as Tomas Hermes in 56th, a Final is needed (10,000 rankings points). Surfers ranked lower than Hermes will need more than just a great result at Haleiwa to qualify for next year’s CT. Most of these surfers have low scores of 1,000 to 2,200 to improve on. I am now looking at 18,500 being a bit low for qualification, but usually not much happens with the Hawaii QS 10,000 events.” No. 1: Jack Freestone (AUS) 28,400 No. 1: Caio Ibelli (BRA) 28,400 No. 3: Kolohe Andino (USA) 27,660 No. 4: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 26,100 No. 5: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 23,450 No. 6: Kanoa Igarashi (USA) 23,350 No. 7: Alex Ribeiro (BRA) 21,550 No. 8: Davey Cathels (AUS) 21,300 No. 9: Connor O’Leary (AUS) 19,300 No. 10: Ryan Callinan (AUS) 18,200