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The Australian surfers are the great winners in a renewed calendar of the 2026 World League that has eliminated the divisive day from the end to decide the world champions.
The WSL has announced a new calendar that sees that the championship tour was delayed from a January start to start at the Rip Curl Pro in Bells Beach in April.
This is followed by events in Margaret River and Snapper Rocks, giving Australian surfers a flight start in their breaks at home.
“I think starting the tour in Australia is an excellent way to start,” said WSL Ryan Crosby Chief AP.
“There are so many incredible and iconic waves in Australia, it was a very good opportunity for us to start the season here and we are excited to do so.
“This change actually does many things for us, since it puts us in many really good waves periods for all our places.
“It also allows us to take the European leg to October, which is very helpful for us because it is a very good window for them, so it will be a great improvement.
“Portugal will now be at a time of the year when the wave will really be better.”
There are still 12 events, with Pipe Masters in Hawaii that are held in December the end of the Tour, with a victory in that event that is worth 15,000 points instead of the usual 10,000.
The controversial half -season cut has softened, arriving after the ninth stop of the tour in the low times in California, and that will be determined by the best seven results of a surfer.
The fields of 36 men and 24 women will be reduced to 24 men and 16 women for stops 10 and 11 before all surfers return to the iconic North Shore event, with the eight best planted.
Crosby said surfers were also surveyed by a new advisory council in discussions about changes.
“We were talking about what is the optimal form for the league and how we want it to be seen and the answer that continued to appear was to end in the most emblematic wave in the world,” said Crosby.
“We were listening to comments from surfers, for fans’ comments: we spent a lot of time talking to surfers.”
Crosby did not believe that the current final format, where the five best surfers compete in a decisive one -day winner, was unanimously unpopular and said that the sowing of surfers in the pipe meant that they retained an element of it.
“There are different opinions about the format in all areas … I will say that there were more than the favorite that the world champion was decided by aggregate points,” said the American.
“This new system, in the way it is designed, really gives us what we believe is the best of both worlds.”
The West Australian Jack Robinson, who won in Bells Beach last month and has competed in the finals of a day during the three years that have been carried out, backed by the world champion in Pipeline.
“The pipe is what it is about: there is a reason why many people dedicate their lives to dominate it,” he said in a statement.
“Starting my 2023 season with a victory in Pipe was huge, but I can only imagine how incredible the season would be ending both the event and the world title there.
“It is exciting to see that the CT continues to evolve, and I am excited that WSL is listening to comments and working hard to improve the tour for all.”
The CT 2026 calendar:
CT1: Bells Beach, Australia
CT2: Margaret River, Australia
CT3: Snapper Rocks, Australia
CT4: Punta Roca, El Salvador
CT5: Saquarema, Brazil
CT6: Jeffreys Bay, South Africa
CT7: Chemistry, Tahiti
CT8: Cloudbreak, Fiji
CT9: Lower Tresteles, USA.*
CT10: Surf Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
CT11: Peniche, Portugal
CT12: PIPE MASSERS, HAWAI’I, USA. **
* End of the regular season, start of the postseason
** The full CT fields join the postseason surfers to compete for Pipe Masters titles
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