Matthew McGillivray from Jeffreys Bay, South Africa secured his best ever result on the World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series to date, after finishing in equal 5th place at the QS10,000 ABANCA Galicia Classic Surf Pro at Playa de Pantin.
Stop No. 9 on the 2019 WSL European QS tour, the ABANCA Galicia Classic Surf Pro, has juggled with a tricky forecast and witnessed impressive performances from some of the world’s best surfers.
“I’m really happy with the event, it’s my best result so far. The first two QS 10,000 events this year weren’t great for me so these points are a huge help,” said McGillivray.
With this result, McGillivray banked 5,200 points which saw him move up to 23rd on the QS rankings.
“I was happy with my performance. A lot of the time it was predominantly lefts with a strong wind into them, conditions that are difficult for me, so I was happy to make those heats.”
McGillivray was ousted in the Quarterfinals by the young Australian Morgan Cibilic, who also posted his own best-ever result with an equal 3rd place finish at this level of competition and jumped 56 spots on the QS to integrate the Top 20 for the first time.
Next, McGillivray will head to the Azores Airlines Pro QS 6,000, which will kick off on 17 September. He will be back in Portugal from 24 September for the EDP Billabong Pro Ericeira QS 10,000, an event where he secured a 17th place and 2,200 points in 2018.
