The Banzai Pipeline will serve as the final proving grounds for the world’s best surfers this coming week.
BANZAI PIPELINE, Hawaii/USA (Wednesday, December 5, 2012) – The final ASP Prime event of the 2012 season, the Vans World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach, has been completed but qualifiers for the 2013 ASP Top 34 have yet to be finalized.
The 2013 ASP Top 34 will be comprised of:
- Top 22 ranked surfers on the year-end ASP World Championship Tour (WCT) rankings.
- Top 10 surfers ranked on the year-end ASP World Rankings (not including surfers qualifying in the Top 22 on the ASP WCT rankings).
- Two ASP wildcards.
The ASP WCT rankings are based off of the surfers’ best eight out of 10 results from ASP WCT events.
The current cutoff point on the ASP WCT rankings is 15,250 points, presently held by Matt Wilkinson (AUS), 24.
For ASP Top 34 surfers, their ASP World Ranking is based off their top eight results for the 2012 season from ASP WCT, ASP Prime and ASP Star events. They are only permitted to count their best three results from ASP WCT events.
For non-ASP Top 34 surfers, their ASP World Ranking is based off their top eight results for the 2012 season from ASP Prime and ASP Star events.
The current cutoff point on the ASP World Rankings is 15,820 points, presently held by Tiago Pires (PRT), 32. However, Patrick Gudauskas (USA), 27, Heitor Alves (BRA), 30, Raoni Monteiro (BRA), 30, and Willian Cardoso (BRA), 36, only need 9ths or better at Pipeline to overtake this position.
Important to note, depending on how the ASP WCT rankings finish up, the qualification scenarios for the ASP World Rankings could vary significantly. The current ASP WCT ranking possibilities for the Billabong Pipeline Masters can be accessed HERE
With a potential 10,000 points available for the winner of the Billabong Pipe Masters, all current ASP Top 34 surfers are capable of qualifying for next year’s elite tour.
Surfline, official forecasters for the Billabong Pipe Masters, are calling for:
A good size WNW shifting NW swell is lining up for the beginning of the Pipe waiting period: building through the day on Saturday, strongest Sunday, and fading Monday. Looking further out, another WNW swell is possible around the 14th-15th.
The Billabong Pipe Masters will run from December 8 – 20, 2012.
