MARGARET RIVER, Western Australia, (Tuesday, May 3, 2022) – The Margaret River Pro, the fifth and final stop before the Mid-season Cut on the World Surf League (WSL) 2022 Championship Tour (CT), has seen a massive day in 10-to-12 foot surf to set up for tomorrow’s Finals day. The competition of the men’s Round of 32 saw eight more surfers confirmed above the Mid-season Cut line, with 10 falling below, and two still on the bubble. The stage is now set for an exciting Finals Day with more solid surf and favorable offshore winds expected. Competition will start tomorrow at 7:05 a.m. AWST.  

After the first five events of the 2022 CT season, the new Mid-season Cut reduces the CT fields to the Top 22 men and Top 10 women. All surfers who make the cut continue on the CT in an effort to make the WSL Final 5 and compete in the Rip Curl WSL Finals, as well as automatically requalify for the 2023 CT. Those who do not make the cut will need to compete on the 2022 Challenger Series in order to qualify for the 2023 CT. 

Following today’s results at the Margaret River Pro, the men’s field has confirmed eight more surfers, with one men’s spot to still be determined when competition resumes.

With their heat wins today Kolohe Andino (USA), Samuel Pupo (BRA), Jordy Smith (ZAF), and  Nat Young (USA) have guaranteed their spots on tour beyond the Mid-season Cut along with Connor O’Leary (AUS) who hangs on despite being eliminated in the Round of 32. 

Men’s CT: Made the Cut 
Kolohe Andino (USA)
Samuel Pupo (BRA) 
Jordy Smith (ZAF)
Nat Young (USA)
Connor O’Leary (AUS) 
Jake Marshall (USA)
Jackson Baker (AUS)
Jadson Andre (BRA)

After today, the below surfers found themselves under the cut and will now shift their focus to the Challenger Series for the remainder of 2022. 

Men’s CT: Missed the Cut
Morgan Cibilic (AUS)
Imaikalani deVault (HAW) 
Conner Coffin (USA)
Joao Chianca (BRA)
Ezekiel Lau (HAW) 
Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA)
Frederico Morais (PRT)
Ryan Callinan (AUS)
Lucca Mesinas (PER)
Deivid Silva (BRA)

Men’s CT: On the Bubble
Owen Wright (AUS)
Matthew McGillivray (ZAF) – If McGillivray wins his next heat, he will make the cut. If he loses, Wright makes the cut.

Surfers Above the Cut Dominate Round of 32 Proceedings 

For a number of competitors, the Mid-season Cut line wasn’t something to worry about in the Round of 32 given their position on the 2022 rankings, and today that was reflected in their performances. Nat Young (USA), Jack Robinson (AUS), Jordy Smith (ZAF) and Ethan Ewing (AUS) all reveled in the chunky conditions, each posting at least one excellent score in their matchups with Ewing posting two, for the highest heat total of the entire event. Ewing’s 17.93 (out of a possible 20) two-wave total came from his incredibly smooth and powerful frontside-rail gauges which was too much for Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA).

“That felt really good,” Ewing said. “I was watching the waves for a while and it’s definitely not easy out there. There is a lot of wind up the face and a lot of wash through sets, so I felt lucky to get those two that were clean and smooth. It felt good. My shaper made me an amazing batch of boards for Hawaii and they were too good to leave over there so I have them here with me as it can get a lot like Hawaii here and they’ve worked amazingly. I feel so sorry for the guys and girls on the cut line coming into this event. There is so much pressure on them all and watching them full short is pretty hard. I’m so glad I got some hard work done early in the year and now I can focus more on the Top 5 and not making the cut. Everyone is saying tomorrow is the best day in the waiting period, so I can’t wait to get back out there for Finals Day.”

Heat 4 was a must-win situation for Conner Coffin who needed a result against American Griffin Colapinto to stay on the CT for 2022. However, Colapinto’s excellent wave selection was able to secure him a spot in the Round of 16, and ended Coffin’s bid for the 2022 Championship.

“That was the most brutal matchup I could have ever imagined,” said Colapinto. “Conner is probably the last person I wanted to draw, just because we’re such good friends and he’s been on tour three years before I got on and everywhere I would go I would hit him up for questions about where to go and he would always give me advice on what to do. I was just super bummed that I had to match up with him there because I know he’s on the cut line but we both have our own goals and I’ve got to put that to the side once we’re in the water and I think he might have got cut on that heat so hopefully he can go to Snapper and win that.” 

Nat Young (USA) was set to defend his position on the CT tour in Heat 10 against rookie Jake Marshall (USA) in the large choppy conditions at Margaret RIver. Leading the rankings for the whole heat, Young was a standout surfer of the day, competing with confidence and drive to earn him a combination score of 16.10 (out of a possible 20).

“I just kind of winged it out there,” said Young. “I mean, it’s really fun, I enjoy kind of challenging myself in these unruly conditions when it’s just kind of you verse the ocean and I lucked into that wave, not right at the start but early on and kind of just carried that momentum through so it was a fun heat, I was stoked. [Margeret River] is similar waves to at home for sure, there’s a wave that we kind of surf when it’s similar to this so it has similarities so I enjoy coming to watch in Australia it’s definitely one of the most beautiful places we get to come, so I’m lucky I’ve done well here and I’m hoping to do good this time around too.” 

Heat 5 was filled with drama and tense moments for former World No. 1 Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) and Matthew McGillivray (ZAF). Igarashi took control at the start of the heat, leading most of the way until McGillivray charged home with his last wave scoring 6.83 (out of a possible 10) from one massive upwards snap. This performance boosted McGillivray’s ranking from 32 to 25, a much-needed lift ahead of the Mid-season Cut.