Christie improves after Hawaii event
Ricardo Christie’s power surfing prowess was on full display this week as he narrowed the gap between himself and a qualification sport to the World Surf League Championship Tour (CT).
The 29-year-old took out a fifthplace finish at the QS3000 HIC Pro at Sunset Beach in Oahu, Hawaii as he gets to crunch time in his season.
Heading into the event sitting in 20th on the qualification series (QS) ladder, the Kiwi regularfooter looked cool, calm and collected as he negotiated the Sunset Bowl well on his way to the semifinals.
With barrells on offer as well as faces to string some turns together on, Christie announced his intentions with a strong 14.70 third-round heat total.
Ricardo Christie riding momentum from maiden win into Barbados event
He put on a similar showing later in the event, first winning his round four heat with a 14.17 total, before progressing through to the semifinals with a 13.23 in his quarterfinal.
Despite is early production, the Kiwi ran into some trouble in the semifinal. Against three Hawaiians, Christie struggled to get on many waves, posting just three scores as he bowed out of the contest.
His fifth-placed finish saw him improve his points total by 560 to 11510.. Hawaiian Ezekiel Lau won the event.
The result in the smaller event sets him up well for his final two events of the year - two QS10,000s in Hawaii.
To guarantee qualification for the men’s CT, surfers have to finish in the top 10 on the QS. However if a surfer requalifies with a top-22 finish on the CT, the next best finisher on the QS is promoted.
Christie’s next event is the Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa on November 13 (NZ time).