Jackson Baker vows to hit back after narrowly missing tour return

The 26-year-old's hopes of a CT return ended with a round of 16 loss to American Shion Crawford at the Challenger Series finale, the Saquarema Pro in Brazil, on Friday night (AEDT).

Baker, who sat 12^th on live rankings, needed to make the quarter-finals to have any chance of securing a top 10 finish on the CS and with it a spot on the top tier, but he lost 11.83 to 10.5 to the 18-year-old in churning, unpredictable surf.

Crawford rode just two waves but made them count, recording a 5.0 and a 6.83. Baker had scores of 5.67 and 4.83, leaving him chasing a 6.17 in the final minutes. He looked to have given himself a chance inside the last two minutes but he fell on his second, finishing turn in the messy conditions.

The result dropped Baker two places on the CS to 13^th. He fell off the CT when missing the mid-season cut in his second campaign.

"Losing sucks, especially when you win that heat, your back on tour where you belong," Baker posted on social media. "Not going to lie, I'm devastated, but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be, today wasn't my day.

"One of the hardest years of my life besides 2016 when we lost mum. Going from falling off at the cut by one spot and then coming to now not requalifying by one heat win. I've said it before and I'll say it again, everything happens for a reason. See ya at Snapper next year and back on tour in 2025."

Merewether clubmate Morgan Cibilic also fell short of qualifying when he lost in the round of 64. He finished 16^th on rankings.

In the women's, Newcastle's Sarah Baum, who exited in the round of 16, dropped out of the top 10 to miss automatic requalification on the CS.

On Sunday, Oceanna Rogers (women's) and Dom Thomas (men's) won the King of The Box open events at Port Stephens.