Australian surfing’s ‘generation next’ completely shredded the home leg of the WSL Tour. A number of them proved they now can’t be considered future stars. They already are.
WA surfer Jack Robinson and Queenslander Isabella Nichols have put an exclamation mark on the Australian leg of the WSL tour.
They claimed the men’s and women’s titles at the Margaret River Pro, as the tour now heads to Indonesia, having also just made some brutal – and somewhat controversial – cuts.
It comes after several Aussies enjoyed big breakouts at Bells Beach in the Rip Curl Pro recently.
Robinson produced a stunning upset in the final as he defeated surfing great John John Florence to become the first Western Australian to win the event since 1989.
The victory saw Robinson jump an incredible 10 spots on the championship standings to now be sitting third, right in the mix for the world title.
Embed from Getty ImagesNichols defeated Hawaiian Gabriela Bryan to claim her maiden Championship Tour title. She stunningly did so needing outright victory to avoid the brutal mid-season cut. The 24-year-old was 13th heading into Australia’s final stop on the tour.
Following her win, Nichols moved up to fourth spot on the championship ladder as she secured her spot, both avoiding the cut and giving herself a shot at the world title, all in one.
“I don’t feel like this moment is real right now,” an emotional Nichols told the media after her victory.
“I’ve dreamt about this my whole life. I feel like I’m still in bed at home asleep, it will take me a while to digest.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThis season, the controversial World Surf League mid-season cut rule has created plenty of debate amongst the surfing community.
The aim of the cut, which is set at 22 males and 10 females, is for the best surfers to go head-to-head against one another for the back-half of the season.
At the Margaret River Pro, numerous big-name Aussies fell victim to the mid-season cut, meaning they will now compete on the second-tier Challenger Series.
Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Owen Wright, fellow Olympian Sally Fitzgibbon and Morgan Cibilic, who finished fifth in the world last year, all failed to make the cut.
Robinson, Ethan Ewing, Callum Robson, Connor O’Leary and Jackson Baker will all continue on the men’s tour, while Tyler Wright, Nichols and Steph Gilmore made the women’s cut.
The next event on the WSL tour is the Quiksilver Pro for the men and the Roxy Pro for the women with both events in Indonesia.
