Latest news with #WorldSurfLeague
ABC News
a day ago
- Sport
- ABC News
World Surf League 2026 schedule announced with three Australian venues
The 50th year of professional surfing will launch with three events in Australia, beginning with Victoria's Bells Beach in a revamped World Surf League season. The format has been updated to increase the number of women riders, remove non-elimination rounds, and end with an enlarged finale at Pipeline in Hawaii. After Bells Beach, at the start of April, the 2026 season will move to Margaret River in Western Australia, then, in May, to Snapper Rocks in Queensland. The circuit then goes overseas, taking in El Salvador, Brazil, South Africa, Tahiti, Fiji, California, Abu Dhabi and Portugal before the 12th and final event in Hawaii in December. There, the full field will compete, with those eliminated after round nine returning. The season will feature 36 men and 24 women, the latter an increase on this season's 18, with the Tour narrowing to 24 men and 16 women for the post-season events in Abu Dhabi and Portugal. The format for the initial nine regular-season events will feature 32 qualified men, two men's season wildcards, and two men's event wildcards; and 21 qualified women, two women's season wildcards, and one women's event wildcard. "These changes reflect our commitment to honouring surfing's legacy while continuing to shape its future as the sport enters its 50th year," Ryan Crosby, chief executive of the WSL, said. "With the updated formats, we'll see higher stakes from day one, with every heat carrying real consequence throughout the season. Combined with iconic locations, the expanded women's field, and Pipeline as the pinnacle, we're building a Tour that better serves our athletes and fans, and leads the sport into its next chapter." The 2025 season has completed 10 of the 12 rounds in the championship. Gosford's Molly Picklum leads the women's series after one first and two seconds in the last three rounds. Queensland's Isabella Nichols is fourth and two-time world champion Tyler Wright is seventh. Brazil's Yago Dora leads the men's event, with Queenslander Ethan Ewing and Margaret River's Jack Robinson the best-placed Australians in fifth and eighth, respectively. The next round is in Tahiti from August 7 with the WSL Finals in Fiji from August 27. AAP
The Australian
a day ago
- Sport
- The Australian
Bells Beach to open expanded 2026 World Surf League season
An expanded 2026 World Surf League season will start at the iconic Bells Beach, with more spots on the women's tour part of drastic changes for its 50th year. The mid-season cut has been ditched and a new finals system is set to crown the world champions. Bells Beach will again host the first of three Australian events, with a rejigged order moving Snapper Rocks after Margaret River, which has been the event where the mid-season cut has been made since its inception. The three Australian events will kick off the 12-event season, with nine regular-season stops and two post-season events before a revitalised Pipe Masters that will close the season with a high-stakes, all-inclusive finale. 'These changes reflect our commitment to honouring surfing's legacy while continuing to shape its future as the sport enters its 50th year,' WSL chief executive Ryan Crosby said. Jack Robinson celebrates bafter winning the final at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach. Picture: Cait Miers/World Surf League) 'With the updated formats, we'll see higher stakes from day one, with every heat carrying real consequence throughout the season. Combined with iconic locations, the expanded women's field, and Pipeline as the pinnacle, we're building a tour that better serves our athletes and fans and leads the sport into its next chapter.' As well as the schedule changes, with the WSL covering nine countries across nine months, the majority of the season will feature 36 men and 24 women. Then the tour will narrow to 24 men and 16 women after the ninth event at Lower Trestles in the US for two post-season events in Abu Dhabi and Portugal. Each surfer's best seven of nine results from the regular season will count towards their qualification for the post-season, while the final season rankings, and ultimately the world titles, will be determined by a surfer's best nine of 12 results. The cumulative full-season rankings that will determine the world champions will be heightened by the season closer at Pipeline, where the full 2026 men's and women's Championship Tour fields from the start of the season will all compete. That's a major shift from the top five who will contest a single day, winner-take-all event this year at Teahupo'o for the world title. Australian star Molly Picklum is currently the women's world No.1, with Ethan Ewing the highest-ranked Aussie male, at number five. Australia's Molly Picklum is world No.1 Picture: Thiago Diz/World Surf League 2026 Championship Tour schedule Stop No. 1 - Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia: April 1 - 11 Stop No. 2 - Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia: April 17 - 27 Stop No. 3 - Snapper Rocks, Queensland, Australia: May 2 - 12 Stop No. 4 - Punta Roca, El Salvador: May 28 - June 7 Stop No. 5 - Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: June 12 - 20 Stop No. 6 - Jeffreys Bay, South Africa: July 10 - 20 Stop No. 7 - Teahupo'o, Tahiti, French Polynesia: August 8 - 18 Stop No. 8 - Cloudbreak, Fiji: August 25 - September 4 Stop No. 9 - Lower Trestles, San Clemente, Calif., USA: September 11 - 20* Stop No. 10 - Surf Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE: October 14 - 18** Stop No. 11 - Peniche, Portugal: October 22 - November 1 Stop No. 12 - Banzai Pipeline, Hawaiʻi, USA: December 8 - 20*** *Last regular-season event **Start of postseason, reduced field **Full CT fields rejoin postseason surfers to compete for Pipe Masters Titles
Perth Now
a day ago
- Sport
- Perth Now
Bells boost amid massive surf shake-up
An expanded 2026 World Surf League season will start at the iconic Bells Beach, with more spots on the women's tour part of drastic changes for its 50th year. The mid-season cut has been ditched and a new finals system is set to crown the world champions. Bells Beach will again host the first of three Australian events, with a rejigged order moving Snapper Rocks after Margaret River, which has been the event where the mid-season cut has been made since its inception. The three Australian events will kick off the 12-event season, with nine regular-season stops and two post-season events before a revitalised Pipe Masters that will close the season with a high-stakes, all-inclusive finale. 'These changes reflect our commitment to honouring surfing's legacy while continuing to shape its future as the sport enters its 50th year,' WSL chief executive Ryan Crosby said. Jack Robinson celebrates bafter winning the final at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach. Cait Miers/World Surf League) Credit: Supplied 'With the updated formats, we'll see higher stakes from day one, with every heat carrying real consequence throughout the season. Combined with iconic locations, the expanded women's field, and Pipeline as the pinnacle, we're building a tour that better serves our athletes and fans and leads the sport into its next chapter.' As well as the schedule changes, with the WSL covering nine countries across nine months, the majority of the season will feature 36 men and 24 women. Then the tour will narrow to 24 men and 16 women after the ninth event at Lower Trestles in the US for two post-season events in Abu Dhabi and Portugal. Each surfer's best seven of nine results from the regular season will count towards their qualification for the post-season, while the final season rankings, and ultimately the world titles, will be determined by a surfer's best nine of 12 results. The cumulative full-season rankings that will determine the world champions will be heightened by the season closer at Pipeline, where the full 2026 men's and women's Championship Tour fields from the start of the season will all compete. That's a major shift from the top five who will contest a single day, winner-take-all event this year at Teahupo'o for the world title. Australian star Molly Picklum is currently the women's world No.1, with Ethan Ewing the highest-ranked Aussie male, at number five. Australia's Molly Picklum is world No.1 Thiago Diz/World Surf League Credit: Supplied 2026 Championship Tour schedule Stop No. 1 - Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia: April 1 - 11 Stop No. 2 - Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia: April 17 - 27 Stop No. 3 - Snapper Rocks, Queensland, Australia: May 2 - 12 Stop No. 4 - Punta Roca, El Salvador: May 28 - June 7 Stop No. 5 - Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: June 12 - 20 Stop No. 6 - Jeffreys Bay, South Africa: July 10 - 20 Stop No. 7 - Teahupo'o, Tahiti, French Polynesia: August 8 - 18 Stop No. 8 - Cloudbreak, Fiji: August 25 - September 4 Stop No. 9 - Lower Trestles, San Clemente, Calif., USA: September 11 - 20* Stop No. 10 - Surf Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE: October 14 - 18** Stop No. 11 - Peniche, Portugal: October 22 - November 1 Stop No. 12 - Banzai Pipeline, Hawaiʻi, USA: December 8 - 20*** *Last regular-season event **Start of postseason, reduced field **Full CT fields rejoin postseason surfers to compete for Pipe Masters Titles
News.com.au
a day ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
World Surf League season will open at Bells Beach in 2026 with huge changes to the finals format
An expanded 2026 World Surf League season will start at the iconic Bells Beach, with more spots on the women's tour part of drastic changes for its 50th year. The mid-season cut has been ditched and a new finals system is set to crown the world champions. Bells Beach will again host the first of three Australian events, with a rejigged order moving Snapper Rocks after Margaret River, which has been the event where the mid-season cut has been made since its inception. The three Australian events will kick off the 12-event season, with nine regular-season stops and two post-season events before a revitalised Pipe Masters that will close the season with a high-stakes, all-inclusive finale. 'These changes reflect our commitment to honouring surfing's legacy while continuing to shape its future as the sport enters its 50th year,' WSL chief executive Ryan Crosby said. 'With the updated formats, we'll see higher stakes from day one, with every heat carrying real consequence throughout the season. Combined with iconic locations, the expanded women's field, and Pipeline as the pinnacle, we're building a tour that better serves our athletes and fans and leads the sport into its next chapter.' As well as the schedule changes, with the WSL covering nine countries across nine months, the majority of the season will feature 36 men and 24 women. Then the tour will narrow to 24 men and 16 women after the ninth event at Lower Trestles in the US for two post-season events in Abu Dhabi and Portugal. Each surfer's best seven of nine results from the regular season will count towards their qualification for the post-season, while the final season rankings, and ultimately the world titles, will be determined by a surfer's best nine of 12 results. The cumulative full-season rankings that will determine the world champions will be heightened by the season closer at Pipeline, where the full 2026 men's and women's Championship Tour fields from the start of the season will all compete. That's a major shift from the top five who will contest a single day, winner-take-all event this year at Teahupo'o for the world title. Australian star Molly Picklum is currently the women's world No.1, with Ethan Ewing the highest-ranked Aussie male, at number five. 2026 Championship Tour schedule Stop No. 1 - Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia: April 1 - 11 Stop No. 2 - Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia: April 17 - 27 Stop No. 3 - Snapper Rocks, Queensland, Australia: May 2 - 12 Stop No. 4 - Punta Roca, El Salvador: May 28 - June 7 Stop No. 5 - Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: June 12 - 20 Stop No. 6 - Jeffreys Bay, South Africa: July 10 - 20 Stop No. 7 - Teahupo'o, Tahiti, French Polynesia: August 8 - 18 Stop No. 8 - Cloudbreak, Fiji: August 25 - September 4 Stop No. 9 - Lower Trestles, San Clemente, Calif., USA: September 11 - 20* Stop No. 10 - Surf Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE: October 14 - 18** Stop No. 11 - Peniche, Portugal: October 22 - November 1 Stop No. 12 - Banzai Pipeline, Hawaiʻi, USA: December 8 - 20*** *Last regular-season event **Start of postseason, reduced field
Perth Now
a day ago
- Sport
- Perth Now
Revamped surf league to launch on Australian shores
The 50th year of professional surfing will launch with three events in Australia beginning with Victoria's Bells Beach in a revamped World Surf League season. The format has been updated to increase the number of women riders, remove non-elimination rounds, and end with an enlarged finale at Pipeline in Hawaii. After Bells Beach, at the start of April, the 2026 season will move to Margaret River in Western Australia, then, in May, to Snapper Rocks in Queensland. The circuit then goes overseas taking in El Salvador, Brazil, South Africa, Tahiti, Fiji, California, Abu Dhabi and Portugal before the 12th and final event in Hawaii in September. There the full field will compete, with those eliminated after round nine returning. The season will feature 36 men and 24 women, the latter an increase on this season's 18, with the Tour narrowing to 24 men and 16 women for the post-season events in Abu Dhabi and Portugal. The format for the initial nine regular-season events will feature 32 qualified men, two men's season wildcards, and two men's event wildcards; and 21 qualified women, two women's season wildcards, and one women's event wildcard. "These changes reflect our commitment to honouring surfing's legacy while continuing to shape its future as the sport enters its 50th year," said Ryan Crosby, WSL CEO. "With the updated formats, we'll see higher stakes from day one, with every heat carrying real consequence throughout the season. Combined with iconic locations, the expanded women's field, and Pipeline as the pinnacle, we're building a Tour that better serves our athletes and fans, and leads the sport into its next chapter." The current season is still underway with ten of the 12 rounds completed. Gosford's Molly Picklum leads the women's event after one first and two seconds in the last three rounds. Queensland's Isabella Nichols is fourth and two-time world champion Tyler Wright seventh. Brazil's Yago Dora leads the men's event with Queenslander Ethan Ewing and Margaret River's Jack Robinson the best-placed Australians in fifth and eight respectively. The next round is in Tahiti from August 7 with the WSL Finals in Fiji from August 27. 2026 Championship Tour Schedule Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia: April 1 - 11 Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia: April 17 - 27 Snapper Rocks, Queensland, Australia: May 2 - 12 Punta Roca, El Salvador: May 28 - June 7 Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: June 12 - 20 Jeffreys Bay, South Africa: July 10 - 20 Teahupo'o, Tahiti, French Polynesia: August 8 - 18 Cloudbreak, Fiji: August 25 - September 4 Lower Trestles, San Clemente, California, USA: September 11 - 20 Surf Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE: October 14 - 18 Peniche, Portugal: October 22 - November 1 Banzai Pipeline, Hawaii, USA: December 8 - 20
