Merewether's Morgan Cibilic has slipped outside the qualification line by the barest of margins and will need to go further than the round of 16 at the Challenger Series finale in Hawaii to have a chance of returning to the Championship Tour next year.
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Cibilic exited in the round of 16 at the Saquarema Pro, which wrapped up on Tuesday (AEDT) with Brazilian three-time world champion Gabriel Medina winning at home.
Ramzi Boukhiam, who eliminated Cibilic, made the final and Joao Chianca the semi-finals to rise into the series top 10, helping to push Cibilic from 10th to 11th. The top 10 at season's end make the 2023 elite tour.
Cibilic, the 2021 CT rookie of the year, missed the mid-season cut and has been battling to requalify in the second-tier. He has made the round of 16 three times but gone one better just once, giving him 14,705 points from his four best results, which make up each surfers' total on the seven-stop series.
The 23-year-old is just five points behind 10th-placed countryman Dylan Moffat with only the November 26 Haleiwa Challenger remaining. Cibilic, though, has a much higher throwaway score, a 3320, than Moffat (1900). Cibilic will need to go further than the round of 16 in Hawaii to improve his overall total and have a shot at the top 10.
Clubmate Ryan Callinan is third and guaranteed a return to the CT, where Merewether's Jackson Baker is locked in.
Newcastle-based South African Sarah Baum, also out in the round of 16, moved up one spot in the women's rankings to 12th. She likely needs to win in Hawaii to have any hope of making the top five qualifiers.
Craig Kerry
Craig Kerry is a sports reporter for the Newcastle Herald.
Craig Kerry is a sports reporter for the Newcastle Herald.
