The event window for the WSL Finals opens tomorrow night, with four Aussies vying for the coveted crown.
After 10 events on the Championship Tour, the World Title will be decided in a one-day, winner-take-all event. It’s being held at Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California and will run on the one best day of waves determined by the WSL Tours and Competition team between September 8-16.
Rip Curl WSL Finals’ Format Explained
The World No. 1 ranked male and female surfer will both receive a bid directly into the Title Match, a best two-of-three-heat showdown to determine the World Champion. The remaining surfers will enter the Rip Curl WSL Finals bracket based on their year-end rankings:
Each Match will be a traditional heat format where two competitors will have 35 minutes to lock in their two highest-scoring waves, each wave out of a possible 10 points for a possible 20-point heat total.
Match 1 for the women will see two new faces to the Rip Curl WSL Finals in rookie Caitlin Simmers (USA) and Molly Picklum (AUS). For the men, Match 1 will see Jack Robinson (AUS) up against CT sophomore Joao Chianca(BRA). The No. 4 seed will have predetermined priority over the No. 5 seed to start Match 1. This was an update made before the start of the 2023 CT season in the off-season. Match 1 will be the only heats that will have the predetermined priority.
Whoever wins Match 1 will then advance to face World No. 3 in Match 2: Caroline Marks (USA) for the women and Ethan Ewing (AUS) for the men.
The winner of Match 2 will then face off against the No. 2 ranked surfer: Tyler Wright (AUS) for the women and Griffin Colapinto (USA) for the men. The winner of Match 3 will then move on to the best-of-three Title Match, where they will face World No. 1, Carissa Moore (HAW) and Filipe Toledo (BRA). The first surfer to win two out of three Title Matches becomes the 2023 World Champion.
The crowning of the 2023 World Champions will immediately follow the final Title Match of the day.
The event will be broadcast live on WorldSurfLeague.com, the WSL’s YouTube channel and the free WSL app.
Participation
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