Kennedy out of top tour

STUART Kennedy’s push for a return to the World Surf League’s championship tour next year is over after he crashed out of the World Cup in the quarter-finals in Hawaii.

Kennedy needed to at least make the final – and likely win the event – to push himself far enough up the qualifying series rankings to be able to return.

Instead, he faces a full year on the QS tour in a bid to return to the top tier in 2019.

News was not good for Coffs Coast surfer Harley Ingley either, whose world longboard title hopes faded after he was knocked out in the semifinals of the Taiwan Open.

Ingleby needed to win the event to force a surf-off for the world title with Taylor Jensen but he fell to Edouard Delpero.