Slater on cusp as WSL cut-off looms at Margaret River

Murray Wenzel | April 19, 2023

Kelly Slater’s self-confessed slump might cost him a full-time spot on the World Surf League’s (WSL) top tour but that doesn’t mean he can’t still win a 12th title.

Western Australia’s Margaret River Pro is the fifth and final stop on the WSL’s Championship Tour (CT) before the controversial mid-season cut that will reduce the field to 10 women and 22 men for the last five events.

Slater won the 2022 Pipeline title days before his 50th birthday, a staggering 30 years after his first victory at the Hawaiian break.

But he has battled injury and struggled to find form since and, after finishing 15th last season, sits in 26th spot entering the Margaret River Pro.

He will need to do what he hasn’t managed all year and reach at least the quarter-finals to have any chance of climbing the rankings ladder. Action is scheduled to get underway on Thursday. 

The 51-year-old said the prospect of missing the cut “sucks”. 

“I’ve been in a slump for like a year,” Slater said. “You’re not going to stay on tour if you keep doing that.”

But thanks to a recent rule change, even if he is one of the 12 men left behind once the tour leaves Australia the Floridian great could still be there when the top five fight for the title on finals day.

With two wildcards on offer for each event, the 11-time champion has a window to compete and, unlike last year, accumulate points for those results.

If he is handed regular wildcards he could still amass enough points to surge into the top five and vie for another world title.

Australian favourite Sally Fitzgibbons was one of those surfers in tears when she missed the cut last year and, after benefiting from a wildcard to return directly to the CT this season, she is riding a similar wave to Slater.

Sitting 13th, Fitzgibbons would likely need to make the final eight at Margaret River to leapfrog a congested leaderboard.

Seven spots remain up for grabs in a field that includes defending world champion Stephanie Gilmore (ninth) and reigning event title-holder Isabella Nichols (10th).

Nichols had to win at Margaret River to make the cut last year.

“I’m coming in on the verge of the cull but I’m feeling comfortable and confident,” she said. 

“Maybe some anxiety as well; being defending champion is a lot of pressure.

“But I found myself at Bells again (with a semi-final appearance) … and being back in one of my favourite places, I’m excited.”

Australia’s defending Margaret River men’s champion and current world No.2 Jack Robinson (knee) has withdrawn and is replaced by compatriot Jack Thomas.

Adding further weight to the cut-off is the CT’s dual role as an Olympic qualifier, with 10 men and eight women earning tickets to Paris 2024 as the highest-ranked from their country.

Tatiana Weston-Webb (Brazil), Johanne Defay (France), Brisa Hennessy (Costa Rica), and Teresa Bonvalot (Portugal) have already qualified for the Games, which will be surfed at Teahupo’o in Tahiti.