Cronulla’s representative on the World Surf League Championship Tour, Connor O’Leary, is still within striking distance of keeping his tour card with a 13th place in the Quiksilver Pro France, Stop No. 9 of the World Tour.
Connor is currently sitting in 23rd position just one place out of the top 22 cut off for 2019.
With two ninth places and four 13th results, two of his 25th last place finishes will be wiped leaving the final two contests as critical to his career longevity, the best 9 of 11 results count towards the men's ranking.
The Top 10 from the 2018 QS rankings also qualify.
O’Leary sits on the cusp with only one good result away from qualifying again – he has two contests to make this move.
The next stop on the men’s CT, the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal, holds a competitive window from October 16 - October 27. As the penultimate stop for the men’s CT, the Rip Curl Pro Portugal will be critical to the 2018 World Title race.
The 2018 Title race heated up in France as Gabriel Medina and Julian Wilson fought it out for a place in the Final. The heat was an unbelievable exchange of aerial mastery between two of the most progressive surfers on the planet until Wilson launched and landed a crazy inverted backhand rotation to post the event’s first Perfect 10 point ride.
This week Cronulla has been assaulted by the large and powerful surf conditions coming from the north-it was slated to peak yesterday at 8ft but it didn't make it here and wasn't too bad at South facing Bate Bay with the beaches still surfable around 5-6ft.
The forecast is for this north east swell to hang around all week with some size although it will slowly reduce in size everyday dropping to 2-3ft by Monday.
The winds are also predicted to come from the Nor east until Friday where there will be a mix of offshores due to help us out but there may be some respite if you know where to look.
In Europe the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal, Stop No. 10 of 11 on the Men’s World Surf League Championship Tour , actually kicked off last night and holds a competitive window through October 27, 2018. With a promising forecast on the horizon, the world’s top 36 male surfers are preparing for a start on the event’s opening day.
Connor O’Leary surfed in heat 4 against fellow Aussie Julian Wilson and local Vasco Ribeiro and when Wilson posted the highest score of the day everyone thought it was over but O’Leary pulled 2 good barrells out of the closeouts and really pushed the result-he now surfs in round two and has to progress to keep his career alive.
For the 10th edition of the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal, the world-renowned beach break of Supertubos will be the battleground for the men’s World Title race. Gabriel Medina (BRA), current Jeep Leader and defending event winner, is the only surfer who can clinch the title early in Portugal. World No. 2 Filipe Toledo (BRA) and No. 3 Julian Wilson (AUS) closely trail Medina but need critical finishes to push the race to the Billabong Pipe Masters in Hawaii.
The Men’s World Title scenarios are as follows:
- Only Medina can claim the title in Portugal by winning the event.
- If Medina wins the event, Toledo will need a 9th or better and Wilson a 3rd or better to take the World Title decision to Hawaii;
- If Medina finishes 2nd or worse in Portugal, the WSL Title will be decided in Hawaii.
Portugal will play an interesting role in the World Title showdown as all three contenders have won this event before. Defending event winner Medina defeated Wilson in the Final of last year’s event. Toledo took his win in 2015, and Wilson won in 2012.
