It’s not even Friday, yet some are already opening their presents. Jordy Smith received his golden ticket onto next year’s Dream Tour a few days early, after hearing that he’d been awarded an injury wildcard for the 2016 season.
The injury wildcard was Jordy’s last hope of competing on the Dream Tour in 2016, after he finished outside the automatic qualifying spots at 28th in the ratings this year, having missed five events due to injury. So it comes with great relief during the festive season. Not only for Jordy, but for all of us who missed seeing him surf like this while he was out of action:
Give it horns in 2016, Jordy!
Read the press release below for more details.
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WORLD SURF LEAGUE CLASS OF 2016 DETERMINED
Brazil’s Caio Ibelli, a former WSL Junior Champion, will join the world’s elite in 2016, leading the rookie class onto the Samsung Galaxy WSL Championship Tour.
LOS ANGELES, California/USA (Monday, December 21, 2015) – The 2015 Samsung Galaxy WSL Championship Tour season has come to a close, with Brazilian battler Adriano de Souza clinching his inaugural men’s title and Hawaiian phenom Carissa Moore claiming a third women’s title.
The 2016 elite men’s Championship Tour (CT) will be contested by the WSL Top 34, made up of the top 22 finishers on the 2015 CT season, the top 10 finishers on the 2015 Qualifying Series (QS) and two WSL wildcards.
2015 Top 22 CT:
1 Adriano de Souza (BRA)
2 Mick Fanning (AUS)
3 Gabriel Medina (BRA)
4 Filipe Toledo (BRA)
5 Owen Wright (AUS)
6 Julian Wilson (AUS)
7 Italo Ferreira (BRA)
8 Jeremy Flores (FRA)
9 Kelly Slater (USA)
10 Nat Young (USA)
11 Josh Kerr (AUS)
12 Bede Durbidge (AUS)
13 Joel Parkinson (AUS)
14 John John Florence (HAW)
15 Wiggolly Dantas (BRA)
16 Taj Burrow (AUS)
17 Kai Otton (AUS)
18 Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
19 Adrian Buchan (AUS)
20 Keanu Asing (HAW)
21 Michel Bourez (PYF)
22 Jadson Andre (BRA)
2015 Top 10 QS (minus double qualifiers from CT):
• Caio Ibelli (BRA)
• Kolohe Andino (USA)
• Jack Freestone (AUS)
• Miguel Pupo (BRA)
• Alejo Muniz (BRA)
• Kanoa Igarashi (USA)
• Alex Ribeiro (BRA)
• Conner Coffin (USA)
• Davey Cathels (AUS)
• Ryan Callinan (AUS)
WSL Wildcards: Jordy Smith (ZAF) and Matt Banting (AUS)
The 2016 elite women’s Championship Tour (CT) will be contested by the WSL Top 17, comprised of the top 10 finishers on the 2015 CT, the top six finishers on the 2015 QS and the WSL wildcard.
2015 Top 10 CT:
1 Carissa Moore (HAW)
2 Courtney Conlogue (USA)
3 Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)
4 Bianca Buitendag (ZAF)
5 Tyler Wright (AUS)
6 Lakey Peterson (USA)
7 Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW)
8 Johanne Defay (FRA)
9 Nikki Van Dijk (AUS)
10 Malia Manuel (HAW)
2015 Top 6 QS (minus double qualifiers from the CT:
• Sage Erickson (USA)
• Chelsea Tuach (BRB)
• Keely Andrew (AUS)
• Alessa Quizon (HAW)
• Coco Ho (HAW)
• Laura Enever (AUS)
WSL Wildcard: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)
The 2016 Samsung Galaxy WSL Championship Tour season will commence with the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Gold Coast from March 10 – 21, 2016.
For more information, check out WorldSurfLeague.com
