AUSTRALIA, the US and Brazil will fill an extraordinary 26 of 32 spots on the next men’s World Surf League tour which will form part of the selection for the Tokyo Olympics.
Australia had the most surfers requalify on via their ranking with seven in the world’s top 22 at the end of the 2017 season.
Julian Wilson was the best-placed surfer in third place followed by Matt Wilkinson and Owen Wright in fifth and sixth, Joel Parkinson in ninth, Mick Fanning in 12th, Conor O’Leary in 13th and Adrian Buchan in 16th.
Both Brazil and the US had five surfers each in the top 22 with Brazil adding another five via the qualification system and the US three.
Wade Carmichael is the only Australia to earn a spot on the world tour via the qualification series with the likes of 2017 rookie and word junior champion Ethan Ewing falling off the main event.
It is expected many of the men and women on the world tour in 2018 will use a new event in Sydney as a major launching pad for the season.
Full details of the Sydney Surf Pro will be revealed at Manly on Friday as a replacement event for the Australian Open of surfing.
It is understood the new event, which carries qualification points, will be surfed from late February and will be one of the last big tournaments prior to the start of the world tour season on the Gold Coast.
An agreement between the International Surfing Association and the WSL will see
up to 18 of the 40 places at the Olympic Games reserved for WSL Championship Tour surfers (10 men and eight women).
The remaining 22 places determined at the 2019 and 2020 ISA World Surfing Games, the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, and a single slot for the host nation.